Narcissus growing tips: a full breakdown of care essentials

Environmental requirements of narcissus

1. Narcissus prefers a warm, humid climate, and is especially suited to places with no severe cold in winter, no extreme heat in summer, and plenty of rain in spring.

2. It likes water and tolerates fertilizer, requiring loose, organic-rich, adequately moist neutral or slightly acidic loam, but it is also drought-tolerant and tolerant of poor soil.

3. Narcissus likes sunlight and also tolerates partial shade,

4. During the flowering period it prefers plenty of water.

5. Narcissus is a short-day plant and can bloom with 10 hours of light per day.

6. Each stage of narcissus growth and development requires different environmental conditions.

7. During the growing period narcissus prefers a cool climate, with an optimum temperature of 10-20 degrees Celsius, and can tolerate a low temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.

8. In the later stage it prefers warmth; a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius and humidity of 70-80% are most suitable for bulb enlargement.

9. Narcissus has higher water requirements than ordinary flowers, and water supply must be guaranteed during the period of vigorous growth. In the later growth stage it needs to be thoroughly dried out, otherwise bud differentiation is affected.

10. Flower bud differentiation in narcissus takes place during the high-temperature dormant period in summer; no flower buds form from field growth through harvest, and differentiation begins only after a period following harvest

11. Flower bud development and bolting are best at a relatively low temperature, with 9 degrees Celsius being ideal.

12. It prefers an environment with ample sunlight; insufficient light leads to thin, weak growth and is unfavorable for nutrient production and accumulation.

Narcissus tips

Narcissus picture gallery: facts about narcissus

Many people are surely familiar with narcissus; it is a fairly common flower in everyday life, similar in appearance to garlic leaves, bearing small white flowers with a yellow center, and with very high ornamental value. So how much more do you know about narcissus? Let us get to know it through a set of pictures below!

Facts about narcissus

Narcissus is one of China's top ten famous flowers and a fine offering in Chinese folk custom; every New Year people like to display narcissus in clean water as a festive New Year flower. This is because narcissus can be grown in clean water alone without soil.

The roots of narcissus are like silver threads, spotless; its leaves are verdant and vivid; its flowers are like golden cups on silver stands, elegant and refined, graceful and varied, delicate and beautiful, white and lovely, with a rich, delicate fragrance, and a long flowering period. This precious flower has long spread across the land, crossed the oceans, and enjoys a lasting fame known worldwide. It carried away China's spring, the friendship and good wishes of the Chinese people, and earned the reputation of “Zhangzhou for the world's finest narcissus.”

Chinese narcissus is a perennial herb of the Amaryllidaceae family, genus Narcissus; its bulb looks much like an onion or garlic, so in the Six Dynasties period it was called “elegant garlic” and in the Song Dynasty “heavenly scallion.” Later, people gave it many clever, beautiful names as well, such as golden cup, silver stand, pair orchid, elegant guest, female star, and so on. There are many beautiful and moving folk stories and legends about narcissus.

The morphology of narcissus

Narcissus, also known as Chinese narcissus, is a variety of polyanthus narcissus. It is a perennial herb of the Amaryllidaceae family. The bulb is ovoid. The leaves are broadly linear, flat, 20-40 cm long and 8-15 mm wide, blunt-tipped, entire, and glaucous green.

The flower stem is nearly as long as the leaves; the umbel bears 4-8 flowers; the spathe-like involucre is membranous; the pedicels vary in length; the perianth tube is slender, grayish green, nearly triangular, about 2 cm long, with 6 perianth segments, ovate to broadly elliptic, with a short pointed tip at the apex, spreading, white, and fragrant.

The corona is shallowly cup-shaped, pale yellow, not wrinkled, less than half the length of the perianth; there are 6 stamens, inserted in the perianth tube, with basifixed anthers; the ovary has 3 chambers, each with many ovules, and the style is slender with a 3-lobed stigma. The capsule dehisces along the back of the chambers. The flowering period is in spring.

Distribution and types of narcissus

Distribution of narcissus: narcissus is mostly distributed in East Asia, Central Europe, the Mediterranean coast, and North Africa, as well as in China's Zhejiang and the coastal islands of Fujian, among other places, with Zhangzhou being the most concentrated, and it has been introduced and cultivated artificially.

Classification of narcissus: there are more than 800 species of narcissus worldwide, of which more than 10 have extremely high ornamental value. Chinese narcissus, the major Chinese cultivar Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis Roem, is one type. Among the especially famous ones are: trumpet narcissus, hoop petticoat narcissus, cyclamen-flowered narcissus, star narcissus, three-stamen narcissus, French narcissus, pheasant's eye narcissus, jonquil, yellow narcissus, and Zhangzhou narcissus.

Growth habits of narcissus

Narcissus is an autumn-planted bulbous greenhouse flower; it likes ample sunlight, has strong vitality, tolerates partial shade, and is not cold-tolerant. It sheds its leaves and goes dormant in July-August, and during dormancy flower bud differentiation takes place in part of the bulb's growing point; it has the physiological characteristics of growing in autumn and winter, blooming in early spring, and going dormant in summer.

Narcissus likes light, water, and fertilizer, is suited to warm, humid climate conditions, and prefers fertile sandy soil. In the early growth stage it prefers cool conditions, in the middle stage it is somewhat more cold-tolerant, and in the later stage it prefers warmth. It therefore requires a climate with no severe cold in winter, no extreme heat in summer, and plenty of rain in spring and autumn. During the day, the narcissus pot should be placed in a sunny, south-facing spot to receive ample light.

This is because plants need chlorophyll to provide nutrients through photosynthesis, which is what allows narcissus leaves to be broad, thick, upright, and fresh green, with a fragrance that assails the nose. Otherwise, the leaves become tall and thin, limp, and withered yellow, and the plant may even fail to bloom. Alluvial sandy loam that is loose, fertile, and deep is most suitable, and it grows well at pH 5-7.5.

After reading the introduction to narcissus above, you surely know a little more about it. Narcissus is a warmth-loving plant, so it is fairly widely distributed in China's coastal cities. There are many varieties of narcissus, and there are some differences among them.