A while back, my mother-in-law gave us some narcissus bulbs. I guess they grow hydroponically, which is sorta cool. available light set them up out on the balcony with a big dish full of glass stones until they produced flowers. Until she brought the dish inside, they were acting normal, standing up straight like a plant should.
I never knew a plant could move so damn much.
When we first noticed the narcissuses weren’t vertical, they were splayed out every which way. a.v. tried tying a ribbon around the lot of them, but now they just move as a group. You can’t see it, not in real time. During the day, they lean towards the sliding glass door, trying to get back out on the balcony. Whereas earlier this evening, I left the kitchen light on when I went out so a.v. wouldn’t be in the dark when she got home. When I got back several hours later, the narcissuses were leaning way the hell over the other way, towards the kitchen. Some of the flowers were even brushing the table.
I set up a stack of books and a desk lamp directly over their rebellious little heads. Maybe they’ll stand up straight overnight. In any case, we’ll have to find something stiff but not ugly to keep them in line.
Get yourself six or so reasonably attractive stakes about 3/4 as tall as the blooming stalks. Plant the stakes around the outside edge of your planter. Then get yourself a reasonably attractive length of ribbon (the stuff with wired edges works pretty well.) Gather up all your floppy foliage so it’s inside the stakes, then wrap the ribbon around the stakes and tie it in a purty bow. Voila! Corralled narcissus.
They are desperate for light. I like the supplemental lighting idea. There is almost no way you can give them too much light indoors, but be careful of the heat the lamp puts out. My african violets get 12 hours of fluorescent light a day, and that’s enough for them, but a narcissus needs more.
Well, yes, they’ll still be tall, but they won’t bend as much. At least that’s been my experience. Staking’s still a good idea, though, because the heads might get heavy and the stakes will help support them.
(I’ve got some amaryllis bulbs that have gotten about 2.5 feet tall and are blooming fit to make me go squeeeeee! :D)
Your bulbs are not normal narcissus. They are alien narcissus. They are attempting to signal the mother ship. They have been gathering data on your everyday living habits and are attempting to communicate with their bulbous overlords.
You should cover any and all windows in the room with the flowers with aluminum (or aluminium) foil immediately. I would also be suspicious of your mother-in-law. Where did she get these bulbs? Was she particularly insistant that you grow them now?
We once had a peace lilly that liked to watch television. Upside down. Damned dirty spy.
I’m familiar with heliotropism, I just didn’t think it would be so dramatic. I mean, the entire plant is bending around, it’s weird. I’ll see about finding some nice stakes. The stalks that were bent way over last night weren’t able to straighten on their own.
Now that the narcissuseses have been staked and put back outside, they’re doing much better. I had to lean the most bent ones against a stack of books for a few days until they recovered a little.
Ve-e-e-e-e-e-ry interesting! I was ready to roll over with my legs in the air (It’s a DOG reference, folks! Geez! Such filthy minds! ) because it was Cornell University.
But you have been to The Place and heard The Growers themselves. Can’t argue with that cred.
Maybe Merkin alcohol is different from that thar foreign stuff.
) because it was Cornell University.