On February 20th, I shared a post on how my grandsons and I placed pre-chilled tulip bulbs in a vase of pebbles and water in an attempt to bring them into bloom.

You can read the post here: Planting/Tulip Bulbs

We are watching their progress now. The bulbs have sprouted at different rates, some leafing out quickly, others plodding along, but all are showing signs of growth. A few days ago I noticed a problem that needed solving if I hoped to continue bringing the tulips into flower, yucky green mold thriving on a bulb where it touched the side of the vase.

I decided to give my trusty bottle of alcohol a try. Alcohol, safe and pure, is usually my first go-to solution for houseplant or gardening problems.

A few swipes of the alcohol and “Voila,” goodbye pesky green mold.

I realized another solution was keeping the bare portion of the bulbs away from the side of the vase and let the skin side protect the bulb from another bout of mold. I’m looking forward to showing my grandsons the progress of their tulips this week. Happy Gardening!