Growing Guides:
How to Grow Paperwhite
Beautiful indoor narcissus or paperwhites are an excellent plant for indoor forcing, and their elegant flowers have become a staple element of Christmas and holiday décor. Easy to grow, delightfully fragranced and blooming just 4-6 weeks after planting, it’s easy to see why the pretty and classic paperwhite bulb has become so popular.
Planting paperwhite bulbs:
Follow our simple step-by-step guide to planting paperwhite bulbs:
- Choose a decorative pot or container- it only needs to be around 10cm deep as Narcissus do not require much root room. Glass vessels or vases also work well.
- Fill the container with your choice of sandy soil, gravel, stones, hydro beads or marbles.
- Make sure you place the bulb the right way up - paperwhite bulbs look like a little onion with a slightly pointy head and sometimes with wiry roots growing out of the underside. Plant with the pointy head / spike pointing up. The top couple of cm of the bulb should be visible above the planting medium (don't completely bury the bulb) and try to use a minimum of 3 bulbs per container as paperwhite bulbs perform well when densely packed.
- Add just enough water to the vessel so that the base of the bulb is kept moist. You should not submerge the entire bulb in water as that will cause it to rot.
- Place the pot in a sunny location. Roots will start to appear in around 1 to 2 weeks, and shoots, buds and flowers will appear quickly after that. Indoor narcissus bloom around 4-6 weeks after planting.
