Paperwhites have long been a staple of our winters adding a bit of life and brightness in the darkest time of the year. Given as gifts, or planted for ourselves, paperwhites or narcissus have a soft fragrance, are impossibly delicate and very easy to grow. And since they take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to blossom once planted, now is the time to start them. Jump below for potting directions:
To grow paperwhites or narcissus, we'd recommend using between 3 and 5 bulbs in a small waterproof containeranywhere between 3 and 5 inches deep. (Alternatively, to give as gifts, you can grow individual bulbs that will be about a week away from blooming by christmas.)
Fill up the pot/bowl/container halfway with small pebbles/rocks/marbles and then place your paperwhite bulbs root down on top of the pebbles and start filling in the rest of the pebbles leaving about a third of the bulb exposed at the top.
Fill your container with water just so the very bottoms of the bulbs are wet (not soaked though, if they're in too much water, they'll rot). Now you're good to go and should see some sprouts in about a week.
Monitor the water level and add it when necessary over the next couple of weeks.
Paperwhites will end up growing anywhere from a foot high to over 2 feet and can sometime fall over from their own weight. We read recently that if you use alcohol you can actually stunt their growth to keep them small.
Are you planning on planting some bulbs this winter?
[Image from Karen P]
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I love them. DW just can't handle the scent. Is there an unscented variety?
you can try amaryllis or just plain daffodils for a no-scent option!
I tried growing these last year and it started to smell like dog poo. Did I add to much water?
I ended up throwing it out because I couldn't handle the stench.
shannzu... your water went foul. it happens. perhaps your pot was too deep (too much stagnant water), there was too much water in general, or it started off with some baddies already inside (to generate foulness more quickly). i've put a dribble of bleach in the water in the past to help keep things fresh -- or simply change it a few times. the water only needs to be barely touching the bulb bases then the roots shoot out to catch more.
I saw this post and thought... Paperwhites smell like pee... and then I was wondering if I could post that observation without looking too juvenile. Thank you Shannzu!
PAPERWHITES SMELL LIKE PEE!
My freshman year of college, I grew paperwhites in tea cups, espresso cups, votive cups- whatever I could find from thrift stores- and gave them away as Christmas gifts to all my friends. My dorm room looked like there were dirty dishes everywhere, but they were cheap gifts!
I think that like Cilantro (some folks taste buds just CAN'T STAND CILANTRO, claiming it leaves a Soapy Taste in their mouth??).......
...some find PaperWhites (narcissus) plants offensive?
(Jenzo,et al)- whilst, to my nose- it's a wonderful air freshener - clean, fresh ,& "natural"; better than any
Candle / Incense / AirSticks
you can buy!
FWIW- heres a link to scientific research to "stunting" the growth of Narcissus plants, which tend to fall over before they've properly bloomed....
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/miller/bulb/pickling_your_paperwhites.pdf
Can we also use this method for amaryllis?
Oh, and do we have to plant them into soil after the bulbs start to sprout?
You can do amaryllis the same way(in pebbles, not water) and no, you don't need to move them to soil. The bulbs contain all the nutrients the plant actually needs (which is why bulbs start to sprout in the bins at the nursery). If they were planted in the ground, they might come up next year (but probably not.)
Don't over water, that's what makes the bulb rot and stink.