Sounds good. I'll give it a try with side by side pots and see if I can compare.

Hope the cats don't think to take a drink :-)

I did find a paperwhite variety called 'Inbal' that is supposedly not as tall as Ziva.

Interesting idea. Definitely let us know if it works. If this works would love to try to force the parrot tulips or doubles which are just too tall for inside. For the flopping problem, I only force shorter varieties: single early tulips are usually 10-12" or the mini daffodils and usually force in soil in pots. Can you force tulip bulbs in water too?

Sue

Note that the Cornell experiment used only paperwhites but I am definitely going to try it on some other bulbs too--tho not my expensive amaryllis. And Sue, I don't know if you can force tulips in water. If they were pre-chilled as usual, I'd give it a shot.

Definitely a tip to try. Thanks for passing it along.

Funny though - you's think that drunk plants would flop MORE.

I seem to recall Home Depot having tulips that were in water in vases that were as tall as the flowers (to contain the floppiness?). The vases were interesting, but I don't remember the details.

Deb

ginny, you hot ticket you! thank you SO MUCH for this info. how very helpful.

and sue, what a great idea to try it on tulips; when you force bulbs, do you just chill them in the frig or do you have to chill them IN THE DIRT in the frig? i know i could look this up but i'm tired!!

thank you both,
mindy

Glad you found the tip helpful, Mindy. The usual way to force most bulbs--except paperwhites--is to plant them in soil in pots and put them somewhere cold, like under the deck or other protected place outdoors. Water well to start the roots and leave them there for about 8 weeks. Then bring them to a cool place indoors til they have put up some top growth of leaves. Then bring them to where you want them to bloom.

You can buy some bulbs, like hyacinths, pre-chilled. And some bulbs force more easily than others--a good bulb catalog will note this info. But think of all the bulbs in bloom at the New England Spring Flower Show--they were all forced so I guess anything is possible.

It's pretty messy in the fridge, especially in soil. Most bulbs force better if planted in soil in pots, chilled outside as described above, and then brought in. And what fun in January and February to see them coming along inside. You can stagger the pots' timing too to keep the show going.

Hi Mindy,
Yes Ginny has some good advice. The ones that I water force I wrap the bulbs in cut up brown paper bags secured with elastic bands and put them in an extra fridge I have that doesn't have fruit in it. I write the variety and the date on the paper then put them in for the required amount of time. I have water forced hyacinths, paperwhites, jonquils, and crocus.

I also do some forcing of tulips in pots with soil. These I put in pots in my unheated garage for the required amount of time. If you put them outside just be sure they don't freeze solid or the bulbs will be killed. Carol Stocker just ran an article on Boston.com that she recommended burying the pots under heavy layer of bark mulch to prevent them from freezing solid.

Good luck!
Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Carol Stocker Article on Boston.com

In this PictureTrail album I have a set of photos that show a hyacinth being water forced (at end of album). This is just using a vase I had on hand. Russell's Garden center has inexpensive hyacinth glasses you can buy especially for this purpose if you don't have a vase that will work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hyacinth Forcing

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden just sent out an email including the use of alcohol to control growth in paperwhites.

Also note the item on using canned chicken to attract yellowjackets (unless you have a good source for canned kangaroos).

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: BBG Newsletter

Ah, but you heard it here first! :)

speaking of paperwhites growing in water, how do you know how much water to give without drowning, when you can't see the base of the bulb?

I started this question in the bulb forum, but didn't get much input.

Here is a link that might be useful: trick to watering paperwhites in stone question

I'm trying to figure out the math here. Ginny's reference article says 1 part alcohol to 7 parts water. But the BBG reference says 4% ethyl alcohol. If distilled spirits are 40% alcohol (80 proof divided by 2), wouldn't a 4% solution consist of 10% distilled spirits and 90% water?

Not only that, but the BBG reference says 5% is too much and can cause damage, so don't want to overdo here.

And both articles reference the same Cornell study! How interesting!

A couple of mine are starting to sprout and are ready for their drink!

The Cornell study, as reported in The American Gardener, magazine of the American Horticultural Society, went into the math of it. I'm sure you can track it down online, via Cornell or the AHS. They were adamant: 1 part distilled spirits (not beer or wine) to 7 parts water.

Yes, that was easy. The Cornell Chronicle article calls for a 4 to 6% solution and states that 7:1 yields a 5% solution. There is a great photo in the link below that shows the results with various percentages from 2% to 10%.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March06/drunk.flowers.ssl.html

correction. the photo shows the percentages from 0% to 10%

Anybody have any results on this yet?

I think I do, but I forgot to do a side-by-side comparison. without it, I can't be totally sure of the affect.

I gave two pots a drink last Wednesday. The next day I saw the beginning of a bud on one of the shoots. Now I see several buds. Problem in that some of my bulbs seem to be duds, they are not shooting, but thats non-booze related.

Encouraged by this, I gave one of my Amaryllis's a drink on Saturday morning. One shoot was 17" high and heading for the ceiling. The buds did not look ready to open. On Sunday one bud is starting to open.

Could be coincidence, but I think I like this trick.

Btw, I went with 8 oz. water 1 oz. whiskey. I think that puts it at the low end around 4%, which I thought would be a good place to start.

Note that the Cornell test was done only on paperwhites, Wendy; not any other kind of bulb. Also, their results showed the best proportions. Too much alcohol will stunt the plants and affect bloom.

Yup, I saw that, Ginny, but they said they were going to try Amaryllis next. I thought I would try too. I'm a cutting edge type!! I applied it to the amaryllis when it was already too tall, so I'm not sure I will get the right affect anyhow, but not much to lose. I have 4 other amaryllis pots going. two early types and 3 later types.

On the paperwhites, I did go by their recommendations. They recommended a 4-6% solution. Judging from their pictures, 4% seemed adequate to me. Their 1:7 ratio yields a 5% solution. Mine was 1:8 so mine is closer to 4%, definitely not too much alcohol.

I tried this a few weeks ago after my paperwhites ahd started to grow and they are blooming now and not flopping over at all. I used vodka at the recommeded ratio. I do not have a "blind" set of paperwhites to see if they would have been flopping over without the alcohol but in years past I have had to stake them up somehow or put them in a tall sided vase.
Merry Christmas and thank all of you for your great ideas/tips this past year!