A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum watering bulbs

Hi there,

I planted some bulbs in a pot a while back and put them in the dark on my freezer- in hopes of putting them in my coldframe or greenhouse in 12 weeks for some show. they started growing so well that i ended up putting them in the greenhouse early. I was planning on trying an experiment this year with them- to get their stem grows shorter. I've read that if you dilute the water with hard liquor in will stunt the stem growth but the blooms are not affected. The directions are for bulbs grown in water with rocks- such as paperwhites- but what about if they are planted in soil- would it still work to water them with a mixture of water and alcohol (4pts. water to 1pt. alcohol, if i remember right)

anyone know?

Thanks,

Tessa :)

yes, alcohol does stunt growth in some plants. It will stop the plant from growing too tall, but the flowers will retain their size and colour. Plant,s like humans can die of alcohol poisoning, so be sure you're proportions of water to alcohol is right. I remember reading 7:1 water to alcohol. I'm not sure if only drinking alcohol works, maybe the rubbing alcohol does as well. The alcohol experiment is often done to narcissus, but it will work for amaryllis as well. As to whether or not it works in soil, I honest have no clue Bulbs that haven't been cold enough will bloom on short stems (that's how you tell you had a mild winter: the tulips, daffs, and hyacinths have short stems)