Why you should still be forcing Paperwhites…and how to keep them upright

If you’re like me, you love the smell and beauty that the dainty Paperwhite blossom can bring during the drab winter days. Aside from grabbing a boring & odorless grocery store bouquet to attempt to bring spring cheer to my winter table, forcing bulbs is the main way I cultivate indoor beauty during the darker months. Forcing Paperwhite bulbs is incredibly easy, and for very little effort in a matter of weeks you can have containers full of gorgeous blooms that last for over two weeks. I try to keep them on rotation in my home from Thanksgiving until April, as I find that I’m just desperate for beauty during these five months.

But Paperwhites, unlike their winter counterpart the Amaryllis, are notorious for flopping stems once the blossoms open and are at their most beautiful stage. I often stake with curly willow and wrap with a pretty ribbon, but this can be a hassle, and honestly detracts from their natural charm in my opinion.

I’ve experimented with the alcohol method for keeping stems from flopping in the past (if you haven’t heard of it before, read on). It certainly stunted growth, and that helped keep the stems upright. But, I still found that they would flop toward the end of life. After a bit of research, I discovered a second method which purported to solve the problem and I decided to experiment with both methods on a round of bulbs this winter. The methods are:

• alcohol

• complete darkness

First, alcohol. Yes, it really is encouraged to literally give the bulbs a drink. A study by Cornell University demonstrated that Paperwhites (& so far only this variety of flower) have been found to respond to a liquor-water solution with stunted growth by 1/2 to 1/3, with flower size and longevity untouched. And the thought is- shorter stems equal less flopping.

The details for the diluted alcohol solution are pretty specific. As with humans, moderation is key. Too high a concentration of alcohol will be toxic to the plants. Shoot for a 4-6% alcohol concentration by combining 1 part liquor (40% alcohol) to 7 parts water. Avoid beer or wine, as the sugars won’t pair well with the bulbs. I used a cheap vodka, and made a large batch of the solution to keep near the plants until they were ready to bloom. If you prefer not to use liquor, you can substitute rubbing alcohol, but due to its very high alcohol content, you will need to adjust your ratio to 1 part rubbing alcohol to 11 parts water.

Paperwhites can be planted in dirt, gravel, stones, marbles, glass beads, etc. Substitute the alcohol solution for water each time you water the bulbs (and generally I water 1/4 cup about twice a week until blooms open). You should see the effect on the stem length within a week or so.

Method two? A coffin. Weird, I know. Just when you’re trying to bring Paperwhite bulbs out of dormancy, this method suggests you send them into a cocoon of complete darkness for ten days to two weeks. First, you pot them up as you normally would, and “wake them up” by giving them a small drink of plain water. Roots that are dormant are incredibly sensitive to the presence of water, and will go searching (ie: growing) toward even the smallest amount. Then, you find a spot in your home that won’t see any light (under a cabinet, in a rarely used closet, the basement) and you put them back to sleep for ten days.

The idea here is that the roots of the bulbs will reach for the water, but without a light source the plant won’t try to photosynthesize and leaf out. So, for a period of time, you allow the roots to grow strong and robust without the plant putting on any height. Granted, this method does not purport to stunt the growth, but the idea is that more well-developed roots will hold bulbs & stems in place better, leading to less flopping.

Alcohol+darkness on the left; Darkness alone on the right

Combining the two methods? A true winner. To test the hypothesis, potted up two containers of dormant paperwhites. I already knew that the alcohol solution would stunt growth, but it still wasn’t 100% great in the battle against flopping stems. I wanted to see if the darkness method alone (with more robust roots) would hold them up better as they aged.

Here’s what I did: I watered each slightly with plain water, and then put them in a completely dark, cool place for 10 days. After the dark period, I moved them to the brightest spot in my house, and began to water one with the alcohol solution a couple of times per week, while giving the other plain water. After about two weeks, the stems on both were healthy and straight, but the alcohol + darkness pot were considerably shorter.

They both bloomed beautifully. Neither method seemed to inhibit scent (these were Ziva) nor bloom size.

As the flowers fully blossomed, I moved them out of the sunny spot to try to extend bloom time. At this point, the darkness-only planter began to flop considerably. My memory from experimenting with alcohol-only in years’ past was that the stems lost straightness at about this point, also, so I was interested to see what would happen as the blooms began to fade on the planter I had used both methods.

As you can see below, it did beautifully. I really think this is the key to straight stems through the entire blooming life of Paperwhite bulbs. While I ended up trashing the darkness-only planter early, I never had to resort to staking and tying the other. The stems continued to grow slightly, giving the blooms varying heights, and the scent was moderately strong until the blooms became brittle.

We tend to think of Paperwhites as a December-only flower, but a bag of 50 is inexpensive and you can pot them all up in ANYTHING and pull one or two out of darkness every 10 days to have a continuous supply until the daffodils and tulips save the day!

Hope you’ll give this a go!