The cote leaves, the small round tipped leafs that first appear when the plant germinates, are not the first set of "true leafs", those are next, the first set of single leafs that form right after the cote set. Then the second set is usually 3 leaf sets, with 3 tips on each leaf, then you might get one more set of 3 or it might go to 5 leafs, or 5 tips on each leaf - at any rate, you've got the cote' leafs, then the single leaf set or first true set of leafs, then triple leaf set or second true set of leafs. Okay? Work your way up from there, right now your at node 2 and working on node 3, lol!
cotyledons ? - the first leaves formed or?
UB.While reading about gardening myths, I stumbled upon some research on how to make a plant shorter and still retain proper flower size. Have a read and let us know if you've heard about this.
Pickling your Paperwhites - Using Alcohol to Reduce Growth of Paperwhite NarcissusWilliam B. Miller
Professor of Horticulture
Director of the Flowerbulb Research Program
Cornell University
The paperwhite narcissus is a popular bulb for indoor forcing in the winter months. Unlike most other daffodils, paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) do not require a cold period. They are simply planted in pots with soil, or even more commonly, in dishes or bowls with gravel, marbles or other decorative material. With a little water, they rapidly form roots, grow leaves and shoots. The white, fragrant flowers usually open up within 2-3 weeks of planting.
A common problem with paperwhites, however, is that they often grow too tall and flop over.
Recent research conducted by the Flowerbulb Research Program at Cornell University has found a simple and effective way to reduce stem and leaf growth of paperwhites. The "secret" is using dilute solutions of alcohol. Properly used, the result is paperwhites that are 1/3 to 1/2 shorter, with equal sized flowers that last as long as normal.
What to do
We suggest planting your paperwhite bulbs in stones, gravel, marbles, glass beads, etc. as usual. Add water as you normally would, then wait about 1 week until roots are growing, and the shoot is green and growing about 1-2" above the top of the bulb. At this point, pour off the water and replace it with a solution of 4 to 6% alcohol, made from just about any "hard" liquor. You can do the calculations to figure the dilution, but, as an example, to get a 5% solution from a 40% distilled spirit (e.g., gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila), you add 1 part of the booze to 7 parts of water. This is an 8-fold dilution yielding 5% alcohol.
Then, simply use this solution, instead of water, for further irrigation (watering) of your bulbs. It's as simple as that. The result will be a plant that is 1/3 shorter, but with flowers just as large, fragrant, and long-lasting as usual. But, the plant will be nicely proportioned and won't need support stakes, wires, or other gizmos to keep it upright. You will see results within just a few days. You can have some fun by doing a simple experiment having one bowl of bulbs given normal water and the other given the alcohol. You will see a dramatic difference, as shown in the picture. This could be a neat activity to occupy kids during the upcoming holiday season!
A few other thoughts
- Do not use beer or wine, as the sugars in them will cause major problems with the plants
- As with humans, paperwhites can also suffer alcohol overdoses! We suggest 4-6% alcohol as a normal and safe range. If plants are given much more than 10% alcohol, growth problems will start, and 25% alcohol is dramatically toxic. So, moderation is the key!
- It is not strictly necessary pour off the water after the plants are rooted (as we suggest above). You can just as well add your 5% alcohol without pouring the water off. The result, though, will be a lower than optimal alcohol concentration around the roots, and, ultimately, growth will not be reduced as much as you expect. The reason to pour off the water is to simply maximize the alcohol level around the roots.
- Basically, the higher the alcohol concentration (within reason), the shorter the plants. So it is not critical whether you use 4, 5, or 6% alcohol. Just stay well below 10%, where growth problems become noticeable.
- If you do not have alcohol for consumption in your household, rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) works just as well. Since this is usually 70% alcohol when purchased, a dilution of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10 or 11 parts water is appropriate.
- Why does this happen? We are currently working on this, but we feel it is simply "water stress", where the alcohol makes it more difficult for the plant to absorb water. The plant suffers a slight lack of water, enough to reduce leaf and stem growth, but not enough to affect flower size or flower longevity.
- I thank Erin Finan (Cornell '05, horticulture undergrad) who worked on this as a senior project, and to Leslie Land of the New York Times who first posed the question "Does gin affect paperwhites?" to me in early 2005. Jan Doornbosch of International Bulb Co. in New Jersey graciously supplied bulbs, and Group 1 of the Royal Dutch Wholesalers' Association for Flowerbulbs and Nursery Stock, Hillegom, The Netherlands, provided financial support for this work.
The effect of alcohol on growth of 'Ziva' paperwhite narcissus. Left: Untreated plant, growing in pebbles with water. Right: Plant in pebbles, grown with 5% alcohol instead of water.
Well I kinda think it's a good idea to wait. Having some decent roots before topping certainly can't hurt and that's why it's recommended. Now to check out that link, thankscan you top a plant at that age?
Uncle Ben is recommending to wait until the 6th node, but is that reallly neccarry? I definately dont see 6 nodes on that plant
does anyone know how the harvest off of a single plant having been topped to 4 colas, would comare to a plant topped to 2 colas and trained into a CCOB such as Hobbes' does with his plants? ...I guess I shoudl find the link... here it ishttps://www.rollitup.org/smoke-reports/244210-kali-mist-serious-seeds-3.html
lol I kinda fucked it up... I topped them all and everything was clean and I think I did a good job but... I didnt keep track of which top came from which plant... so now Im not going to know which one was the mother of which clone... ahhhhhI hope your cloning endeavors are a success as well