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What to do with my paperwhite bulbs

HortusHortus Posts: 43
in Plants
I have had paperwhites flowering in succession since mid November and others that are still going strong. I would like to reuse them next autumn for indoor flowering if possible. My question is how should I look after them now that they have flowered. Will they flower again or should I not even bother trying?

Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I've always been advised that it's not worth doing anything with them. Mine seem to flop over very quickly after flowering so getting energy back into the bulbs won't be easy, especially with the short light hours we have at the moment. You can't really replicate the heat treatment at home very easily either so getting the offset bulbs to flower next year at the right time won't work and they don't seem to do well outdoors so are no good in the garden.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • HortusHortus Posts: 43
    Oh that’s a shame as I hate to throw away what look like healthy bulbs. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    They are not hardy so you need to grow them on indoors or in a frost free greenhouse until the foliage all turns brown.  Then you could store them and re-pot next August or September and see how they do.   It won't cost anything apart from some watering and feeding now and then fresh compost so may be worth a go.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    From what I've read if you can get them to come back next season they won't flower as they won't have the energy in the bulb. They might flower the year after but as Obs says they're not hardy so will need to be grown under glass. They're an autumn flowering mediterranean variety apparently so not suited to our climate except as indoors plants. Did you plant them in soil by the way?
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That's interesting WE.  I have another autumn flowering daff - sternbergia lutea - which lives happily alongside some bits of stone wall and very dry grassy bits.   Maybe Paperwhites would like it too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Possibly. I think with any non-hardy plants in the UK you can bend the rules as long as you pick the right spot and get the soil right. No good for me up a damp, cold mountain on clay soil in Wales but in well-drained soil down south with a good aspect maybe it could work.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • HortusHortus Posts: 43
    wild edges said:
    From what I've read if you can get them to come back next season they won't flower as they won't have the energy in the bulb. They might flower the year after but as Obs says they're not hardy so will need to be grown under glass. They're an autumn flowering mediterranean variety apparently so not suited to our climate except as indoors plants. Did you plant them in soil by the way?
    As I knew that they would grow in almost nothing I planted some in a little soil just to anchor them, I planted some in a few pebbles and then I added marbles to the bottom of vases and glass jelly moulds and they all performed really well. I have now taken them out of their pots and left them in my cold frame 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Ok. For the bulbs to recoup their energy they would have had to have been planted in good soil and kept fed after flowering. I'm not sure you can keep them growing if they're not in soil as they'll just be using more of the energy from the bulb.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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