Spring Awakening - Day 1

One of my friends at work gave me a paperwhite growing kit, and now that the days are getting longer and warmer, I thought a little greenery would be a good addition to our household.

How does one grow paperwhites in a small apartment without a balcony, patio, or other outdoors-ish area in which one could garden?

First, the mise en place (such as it were):

Notice the little plastic-wrapped hockey puck-looking thing. That's my potting soil, and in order to actually pot something in that soil, I was instructed to add "2 cups or one liter water". That's not the most exact measurement I've ever heard of, but what the heck...

Note, by the way, my sweet manicure.

According to the directions, the little hockey puck is supposed to expand as it absorbs the water, until it fills the pot.
I have my doubts.

After one hour, it looks like this:

That certainly isn't much progress.

After three hours, it looks like this:
This calls for some intervention. Perhaps if I stir it up a little, things will get a little soil-ier.

This cannot be good for my manicure.

I can't deal with this right now. Let's have a break for some delicious irish soda bread from a local bakery.

Okay, back to the paperwhites. Five hours have elapsed at this point, and it's still really soupy.


Do paperwhites grow in primordeal stew?
Maybe if I leave it in front of the window for awhile, it will dry up a little.