Indoor Daffodil - growing tip above or below soil level?

celcius_kkw

I’ve bought some indoor daffodils - paperwhites, grand Soleil d’or and Earlycheer. 

Having looked up online it seems most people recommend growing them with the growing tip protruding just above the level of the compost/gravel.. but a few others recommend burying the tips with a few inches of soil. I’m growing them indoors in pots.. so I’m confused as to which way I should plant them... Any ideas? 

Also, I have come across some rather disconcerting reviews of the Israeli Ziva paperwhites that I have bought.. that they have a repugnant smell.. all the sellers of this variety claim that they’re very fragrant, which is the reason I bought them. I understand that smell can be subjective but to be described as high fragrant on one hand and repugnant on the other seem to much of an extreme..?? I feel as though I might be setting myself up for a great disappointment..

strelitzia32

I have a small pot/dish of indoor daffs, mine are buried and no tips exposed. I don't know if that's the right thing to do but it works for me every year. Not sure how helpful that is!

celcius_kkw

@strelitzia32 Thank you.. that’s reassuring, I think my feeling so far is that it doesn’t matter whichever way I plant them lol. This is my first year growing daffodils so I’m well excited.. especially the thought of fragrant blooms during winter!

JennyJ

My OH always says that paperwhites smell like something electrical burning.

Lyn

I’d go a bit further with repugnant smell of Paterwhites, I treated my mum, daughter and myself to some, planted them up as a gift,  we all agreed they smell like dog do.💩

We had to put them outside, I wouldn’t buy them again.
Some people like the smell though, I think everyone smells thing differently🤥

celcius_kkw

@Lyn I can’t wait to smell it for myself.. it’s rare that a flower’s scent could produce such polarised opinions.. surely the nurseries should put a disclaimer warning people of potential unpleasant perception of the ‘fragrance’ given a significant number of people find it repulsive..

B3

I had to put mine outside too.
I was planting some Thalia the other day and the packet said they were fragrant. I can't say I've ever noticed - maybe I've never got close enough😒

strelitzia32

Daffs are one of my favorite plants, but I've never been able to smell a scent from any of them. Even the supposed high scent ones barely register more than an arbitrary nose tickle!

B3

I can't smell wallflowers.

celcius_kkw

@B3 @strelitzia32

I haven’t so far come across anyone who personally finds the fragrance of paper white pleasant.. the only people who claim it otherwise have been the sellers.. some of whom are fairly reputable, like Sarah Raven. 

I have come across a random daffodil by the roadside before that smelled heavenly.. but never got to find out its name..

Dovefromabove

Modern paperwhites seem to me to smell differently when compared with  the ones I grew years ago. The scent from modern ones seems much stronger and I must admit I preferred the ones I grew before.