How to Care for a Pre-Planted Bulb Gift

When to plant: Nothing to plant. Water it the day it arrives.
Depth: Already set. Keep the bulb noses above the surface; do not bury them deeper.
Spacing: Already spaced. Do not add bulbs or move them into a bigger pot.
Sun: Bright light near a window. A few hours of direct winter sun is fine.
Water: Damp all the way through, never soggy. Top up when the medium is dry an inch down.
Soil: Supplied and ready. The moss on top is decoration. Lift it aside to check moisture, then put it back.

Step by step

Unbox it the day it arrives, take off the shipping wrap, and set the container somewhere with bright light.
Lift the decorative moss aside, water until the growing medium is damp all the way through, then lay the moss back on top.
Keep the room around 60–65°F. Warmer rooms bloom faster, but the flowers fade sooner and the stems stretch.
Check every few days and add water when the medium feels dry an inch down. If your container has no drain hole, tip off any water that pools.
Turn the container a quarter turn every few days so the stems grow up rather than toward the window.
Expect paperwhites to bloom 3–6 weeks after that first watering, and amaryllis 4–8 weeks.
Stake any floppy paperwhite stems with a thin bamboo cane and a loose loop of twine, or use the alcohol method below.

Good to know

To keep paperwhite stems about a third shorter without affecting the flowers, water with dilute alcohol. Start once the roots are growing and the green shoot is 1–2 inches above the bulb. Mix one part 80-proof spirits (gin, vodka, whiskey or tequila) to eight parts water for growing medium, or one part to seven parts water for pebbles and water. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol works at one part to 10 or 11 parts water. Never use beer or wine (the sugar damages the plant), and never go above 10 percent alcohol. For loose paperwhite bulbs, set them on a bed of pebbles in a shallow dish and keep the water just below the base of the bulbs; sitting in water rots them.

Warm climates

Hardiness zones don't apply; these live indoors. Heat is the biggest risk. Above about 70°F, paperwhites especially stretch, go leggy and flop over the rim, and every flower fades faster. Keep the container out of the path of heat vents.

After bloom

Paperwhites won't rebloom indoors and are hardy only in zones 8–11. Compost them and keep the container for next year. Save the amaryllis. Once the last flower fades, cut the flower stalk 1–2 inches above the bulb. Keep every leaf; the leaves rebuild the bulb. Move the bulb to a pot with a drain hole, water when the top 2 inches of mix are dry, feed it through spring and summer, and give it your sunniest window. In fall, let the leaves brown and dry, then cut them off. Rest the bulb and start it again for next season.

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Step by step

After bloom

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