Vodka to Shorten Paper Whites
Fern
Posted: Dec-17-2005 at 9:06pm
On "Gardening with Ciscoe" on King 5 TV today he talked about adding a spoonful full of vodka to paperwhite bulbs as they started to bloom, because it would burn some of the root hairs and they wouldn't grow so tall and get floppy. Has anybody tried it? My paperwhites always get floppy. I don't have any vodka around, do you think rubbing alcohol would work too? By the way, a lot of places are putting their bulbs on sale so this is a cheap time to buy them, just be careful what you buy.
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Fern
DebbieTT
Posted: Dec-17-2005 at 11:50pm
Gees, imagine drunken paperwhites on the front porch, flip-floppin everywhere. Snuggling up to the winter-forced blooms of a white hydrangea. Hey baby, wanna see my etchings?
Ok sorry just had a visual when you posted that. I haven't heard of it, but I have a little wire that has a hoop you slip around the greens and it holds them up in place. I'm not sure I would want to do that as it might shorten there life and on my porch they will bloom a long, long time. Did he say anything about shortening the life of the flowers?
Just a spoonful of sugar makes the vodka go down, vodka go down...
Drunken narcissus, who would have thought! Cisco if you are reading this, please tell us more.
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Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Unknown
Fern
Posted: Dec-22-2005 at 7:54am
It was a funny thing just begging for jokes. I looked it up on King 5 TV's website and found it said a tablespoon of vodka when they are 5 inches tall. It had about 5 bulbs in it. Maybe some cooking sherry would work, I'm not about to buy a bottle of vodka just for them! If it was beer it would be no problem. I just got 2 bulbs, I think I will plant them in 2 different containers and do an experiment, I will let you know how it turns out.
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Fern
DebbieTT
Posted: Dec-22-2005 at 8:43am
Too bad you can't get a hold of an airline size bottle. How about friends? Know anyone that drinks vodka, maybe they can slip your narcissus a nip? Sorry, you are right though it does beg for a lot of drunken sailor jokes.
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Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Unknown
tommyb
Posted: Dec-23-2005 at 9:17am
Cisco alway struck me as a Starbucks kinda guy...
and if'n you use beer the slugs'll find the bulbs...
must be the winter slow season for gardening tipsyers...
Three's my limit, so I'll stop now.
Seems to me that vodka is pretty pure alcohol, so maybe any straight alcohol would do the same thing.
Except chocolate liqueur of course.
Tom
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gary
Posted: Dec-23-2005 at 10:14am
A quick Google and I got this from the National Gardening Assn.:
Keeping Paper White Narcissus From Flopping
Paper white narcissus are popular bulbs for forcing indoors. The fragrant, white flowers are hopeful signs of spring. However, the tall flower stalks and leaves flop over easily, and even though they can be propped up with sticks and plant ties, their excessive height can be a nuisance.
Now researchers at Cornell University have found a way to keep paper whites within bounds. They forced the bulbs in pots filled with gravel and a 4- to 6-percent alcohol solution, made by mixing 7 parts water with 1 part 80-proof alcohol, such as gin, vodka, tequila, or rum (not beer or wine). It doesn’t matter which type of liquor you use, as long as the concentration of alcohol is the same. Continue adding this solution as needed while the bulbs grow.
The result is a perfectly normal narcissus plant and flower that grows only 1/3 to1/2 the normal height. The flowers are just as large and long lasting. It’s important to use the exact amount of alcohol because in a 10 percent solution, the plants grow and flower poorly.
Why only liquor alcohols? Rubbing alcohol is poison for us. Could plants have the sensbilities? And what would your guests say about 14% bourbon colored water?
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Gary
Lisa A
Posted: Dec-23-2005 at 11:10am
LOL, Tommy and Debbie! Tommy, don't stop at 3, please. Keep 'em coming.
Thanks for digging up that info, Gary. What I'd like to know is how this experiment started in the first place. Did someone accidentally tip over their drink during the company holiday party in the lab and conjured up this "experiment" to cover it up? I'm always curious about the basis for new scientific discoveries.
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Gardening in Sunset Zone 6, USDA Zone 8.
gary
Posted: Dec-24-2005 at 4:33am
Ever been to Cornell Lisa?
- Great Ag. school
- Half way between NYC and Buffalo
- 50 miles SSW of Syracuse
- Lots of INDOOR garden time in the winter
Seriously, Cornell is a very good search site for gardeners. They pride themselves as having the only Hort. school in the Ivy League. Lee Reich, Weedless Gardening and AP garden writer, used to work there. They are the Co-op Ext. school for NY state. I know of apple, potato, and garlic varieties that they developed.
Here is their "Floriculture, Ornamentals, and Turfgrass" Web site:
"Cornell Landscape Publications"
On the food side of the garden, I see that among the varieties they recommend for greenhouse raspberries are Tulameen and Canby. Wonder where those were developed?
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Gary
Fern
Posted: Dec-24-2005 at 6:54am
Yes, I can see myself now, going around the neighborhood asking to borrow some 80 proof alcohol for my plant. New Year's Eve should be timing it just right! Seriously, thank you for finding out more about it for me.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
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Fern
Fern
Posted: Jan-17-2006 at 10:36am
Here are the results of my experiment. It did work, I waited till they were 5 inches tall and replaced the water in one of them with the 7 to 1 part ratio of water and alcohol. It did stay smaller and didn't flop as bad as the other one and didn't need stalking. I definitely will do it again next year. Another thing that probably helped is that I used the variety 'Ziva' which has shorter and stronger stems, also definitely worth getting and not hard to find. Last year I tried the Chinese Sacred Lily, Narcissus tazetta var. orientalis, and I did not like it at all. They were very big bulbs and it had 4-5 flower stalks but each flower stalk only had 2 very small flowers on it and it was very tall and floppy. I do hear it is the plant to have for Chinese New Year, kind of like we have poinsettias for Christmas.
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Fern
DebbieTT
Posted: Jan-17-2006 at 6:46pm
Thanks for sharing your results, Fern. What alcohol did you use?
Today I received a newsletter with the experiments done at Cornell as Gary shared. A Dr. Bill Miller is the one that tested the booze and you can use one part booze to 9 parts water if it is 40% alcohol, or adjust the water to booze ratio to compensate for stronger or weaker booze. The ideal is that what you pour over the bulbs in a gravel medium is a 5% solution of alcohol. Use gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila (with or without the worm?) and schnappes. Do not use wine or beer or it will kill the bulbs.
I wonder if a friend will share his expensive whiskey for my paperwhites next year?
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Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Unknown
Fern
Posted: Jan-18-2006 at 8:06am
A friend gave me a couple of tablespoons of "Everclear', a tasteless, 190 proof, or 80 percent alcohol liquor. You can't buy it in this state, he's had it for about 20 years, and he said it is really good for flambeing dishes. I diluted it with water to get to 80 proof. I figured it would be the purest with the least smell. I'm sure I have enough for a couple of years now.
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Fern
DebbieTT
Posted: Jan-18-2006 at 6:03pm
And here I thought Everclear was just used for punchbowls and college fraternity parties. Wow! You really wanted to "stunt" their growth! They probably didn't know what hit them, until it was too late.
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Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Unknown
gary
Posted: Jan-28-2006 at 4:57am
The Sea PI prints a short piece on this today. It is excerpted from the NY Times and quotes the Cornell Prof. Dr. Bill Miller. It includes discussion on the use of rubbing alcohol.
You can read the piece at:
"Booze Stunts Growth of Paperwhites"
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Gary
silver_ creek
Posted: Jan-28-2006 at 2:14pm
I like the inclusion of the info on rubbing alchohol. I'd hate to make a trip to the liquor store just for paperwhites!
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Terry M.
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