A little vodka can keep paperwhites shorter

Q: I forced a bowl of paperwhites and they are nearly all finished blooming. Two questions, if I may. First, they grew really tall, 19 inches tall to be exact. I needed to insert a dowel into the pebbles and tie the plants up with a piece of ribbon to keep the whole kit and caboodle from falling over. They seemed to be reaching for the light. Is there anything I can do to keep the paperwhites a bit more stunted so to speak? Next, what do I do for this bunch now that they are for the most part finished? — E.F., Albuquerque

A: I was taught that when you’re forcing, it’s the light that plays the biggest role needed to ensure success. You want to offer the brightest — yet coolest — light you possibly can. If the forcing bowl is in a spot that gets really warm but not so bright, see if there is an alternative, perhaps cooler, brighter spot for them.

Next, I am in the habit of taking my containers for a “walk.” Every day I turn each container of bulbs I force, giving the container a turn, a quarter to a third of the way around. That way, the plants get a light on all sides and don’t stretch towards the light. I do that for my houseplants too. It just seems to help keep them more rounded, shape-wise.

I’ve been taught that if you add a bit of vodka, a teaspoon per cup, to the container as you fill it using the water forcing method, the alcohol in the vodka keeps the plants shorter. I don’t know how it works, but I have seen it help.

Once the bulbs are finished, you have two choices. Pitch them, making sure you dislodge all the pebbles or marbles entangled in the roots to keep for your next round of forcing. If you compost, pitch them in the pile so they’ll decompose. It sounds harsh, I know.

The other option is to cut them down to about an inch tall and plant them in the garden. Bury the bulbs completely, leaving just the snipped off stems exposed. Make sure to water every so often during the winter months and one of two things will happen. They’ll either settle in and grow next spring, or they’ll die completely, becoming food for the earth.

I hope you’ll take your next forcing out for a toddy and offer really bright, cool light to help keep them “stunted.” Here’s to the next round.

Q: We planted a young cherry tree early this past spring and it has done well for us once we got the watering on schedule. Our question is, how do we tend to it through the winter months to insure its continued health? — H.S., Albuquerque

A: Congratulations on the newest addition. As to what I’d recommend, it would be to paint the trunk.

I suggest that you invest in a flat white latex paint. Do not use acrylic paint or an oil-based paint, as either of them could poison your tree. Using the white latex paint, literally paint the trunk of this youngster, and here’s why.

During the winter months, we often have absolutely lovely sunny days. Sometimes the sun hitting the trunk warms it enough that a certain amount of sap starts to move and then, wham, it gets truly cold again and that sap freezes, sometimes cracking or pushing its way outwards. Not good in the least.

Having coated the trunk with a flat white paint the sun is reflected, keeping the trunk from heating up so to speak. I will suggest that you push the soil away from the base of the trunk, about two inches deeper than existing ground level, and then paint the whole trunk from where it branches out all the way down to that used to be buried place on the trunk. Once the paint is dry, be sure to push the soil back around the trunk as it was. By doing that you’ll help prevent that warming up of the trunk, keeping the cherry tree healthier in the long run.

Also, by having painted the trunk below ground there is a certain amount of protection offered from trunk-boring critters. Trunk painting is a great thing to do.

Next, be sure to rework the water moat if needed. Keep those walls sound. Then, monthly, offer the tree a good drink of water. Keeping the roots damp assists with the overall health of the tree going forward. If we’re blessed with precipitation you don’t have to water but keep tabs so if it does dry out and stay really frosty, you’ll be there to water.

But really, I think painting the trunk of your young tree will be one of the smartest things you can do.

Have fun painting while you’re out there Diggin’ In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.