Question
I'm in the 8th grade and I am currently searching for previous tests on the affects fertilizer has a Paper Narciuss's growth. I want to know what you think and if there are any other web sites who confront this subject. Thanks.

Answer
Your problem description is a big wide and therefore difficult to answer, but this is a few things I think you should know:

1. THE PRODUCTION OF PLANT ENERGY (CARBOHYDRATES)
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- fertilizer is not plant food, plants create their own food through a process called photosynthesis.

- fertilizer is basically building blocks (basic elements) which can be compared to "raw materials" used in the photosynthesis process to create energy.

- plant "energy" is basically carbohydrates (fructose = plant sugars).

- the fertilizer is dissolved in water in the soil and carried through the roots up to the leaves of the plants.

- In the leaves, the carbohydrate energy (fructose) is produced by taking water, carbondioxide (from the air) and fertilizer nurtients and combining them.

- It is the sun rays which are captured by the leaves of the plants which powers this production.

E.g. plants produce plant energy (sugar and starches) by using carbondioxide from the air, water and fertilizer transported from the roots to the leaves, and combining these through a molecular process into plant energy. The sun is powering this process.


2. THE USE OF PLANT ENERGY
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- Plants utilize the sugars (plant energy) to create starch. The starch is used to create new stems, leaves, flowers, etc.

- Excess sugars (when production exceeds demand for growth and flowering) are transported to the roots and stored. The energy (sugars) are actually flowing slowly inside tubes in the plants.

- Depending on the plants, this excess is either stored in roots, stems, or crowns.

- In trees, for example, the starch is mainly stored in the trunk of the tree. Maple syrup (plant energy = sugars) is produced by cutting a slit in the trunk and "bleeding" the plant energy from the trunk.

- In some plants the excess energy is stored as swollen roots or stems. E.g. a potato (starch) is a swollen root in which the potato plant is storing the energy.

- In most perennial flowers and plants (ferns for example) plant energy is stored in the crown which is the hard part between the roots and the green stems. Although the stems may die back to the ground in winter (due to frost), the stored energy in the crown will allow the plant to re-sprout next spring.

- in "Paperwhite Narcissus" excess energy is stored in a swollen part of the stem just below the surface of the soil. This part of the stem turns into what we call a "bulb".

Therefore: when Narcissus Paperwhite plants have developed green leaves and the sun shines, plant energy is being produced inside the plants. The Narcissus is taking water and fertilizer from the soil and combining it with carbondioxide from the air, using the sun's energy as a power source. The result is that plant energy is produced. Some of this energy is used for the plant to grow flower stems, leaves, etc. The rest is transported to the bulb and stored here for next year.


3. THE EFFECT OF FERTILIZER
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Without fertilizer, an important component of the photosynthesis process could not be carried out (the production of sugars and starches). In the extreme example that NO fertilizer is available the plant would shows signs of "nutrient deficiency" and eventually die as no food would be produced. The plant can not produce plant food (sugars) without fertilizer even if water, carbondioxide and sunshine was available.

However, for plants which develop bulbs and other enlarged storage units (such as potatos, onions, etc) you have to look at the effect of fertilizer over a longer period:

A. Short term
If you planted paperwhite narcissus in a container with planting mix which was completely free of fertilizer (e.g in playground sand for example) the plant would not be able to produce food (no fertilizer = no plant energy production)

The plant would instead pull on the stored resources in the bulb to flower. The plant would put up leaves, flower stems and flowers, but these would not be fueled by energy produced by the plant. These would be fueled by the stored energy (from the "money in the bank").

This would cause the bulb to shrink (as the energy was pulled). However, short term (this season) the plant would grow and flower no matter if fertilizer was available or not.

B. Long Term
Next year, if you continued not to fertilize the plant, the bulb would shrink and shrink until no more stored energy is available. At that time, the plant will die.


SUMMARY
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Short term, fertilizer would not have a direct effect on the growth of Paperwhite Narcissus as the stored energy in the bulb would allow the plant to grow and flower.

However, to continue to flower and grow in future years, the plant needs to combine fertilizer with other elements to produce plant food (energy = carbohydrates). The plant needs to produce enough energy during a growing season to replentish the energy withdraw from the bulb.

If fertilizer is lacking, or not available in sufficient quantities, to replentish the withdrawn energy (what borrowed from the bank) the bulb will eventually shrink and in the end the plant will die.

I hope this gave you some ideas of how it worked.

-- Kenneth