I have heard that alcohol can be used to keep paperwhites from flopping over. Is there any truth to this? How is it administered?
Cornell University has a publication entitled “Pickling Your Paperwhites,” by William Miller. Here is an excerpt:
“Recent research conducted by the Flowerbulb Research Program at Cornell University has found a simple and effective way to reduce stem and leaf growth of paperwhites. The ‘secret’ is using dilute solutions of alcohol. Properly used, the result is paperwhites that are 1/3 to 1/2 shorter, with equal sized flowers that last as long as normal.We suggest planting your paperwhite bulbs in stones, gravel, marbles, glass beads, etc. as usual. Add water as you normally would, then wait about 1 week until roots are growing, and the shoot is green and growing about 1-2″ above the top of the bulb. At this point, pour off the water and replace it with a solution of 4 to 6% alcohol, made from just about any ‘hard’ liquor. You can do the calculations to figure the dilution, but, as an example, to get a 5% solution from a 40% distilled spirit (e.g., gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila), you add 1 part of the booze to 7 parts of water. This is an 8-fold dilution yielding 5% alcohol.”