Did I get your attention? I just learned a great trick to keep my Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus) from flopping over. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine; I plant the bulbs up, water them, turn the pot every other day to keep light exposure even on all sides, and then suddenly the leaves and flower stems grow freakishly long and the whole affair flops over. Truth be told, I’ve abstained from growing Paperwhites for the past few years because of this problem. Resorting to staking a potted plant is a solution but one that requires one step too many for me. That is until I read Cornell University’s aptly named article ‘Pickling your Paperwhites, Ginning Up Paperwhites That Don’t Flop Over’. Cornell’s Flower Bulb Research Program found that adding a solution of 4-6% alcohol (hard liquor or rubbing alcohol) to the water you use to water the bulbs will result in a plant that is 1/3 as tall without having any effect on the size, quality, or duration of the flowers produced. Ingenious.
Paperwhites take 2-3 weeks to flower from planting, so if you start now you’ll have blooms in time for Christmas and the New Year. After potting up your bulbs, water as usual and after a week (when roots have begun to grow) switch to the 4-6% alcoholic pickling brew. Cornell has the ratios in its article here. I suggest we raise a glass to beautiful flowers and the holiday season. Happy indoor gardening!
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