forced hyacinth

[Donny Wong]

Dear everyone,

This past september, I bought an indoor hyacinth forcing kit, which
included one hyacinth bulb and a forcing vase. Thinking that the bulb had
been prechilled and was ready for forcing, i put it in the vase with water
and waited...and waited...and waited. A month later, the bulb had a good
network of roots in the water...and nothing else. Now, a full 4 months
later (the kit originally promised me a flower in a few weeks!), the bulb
has a crown of leaves about 3/4 inch long and a flower bud in the middle
about a half inch long which is starting to change color (i.e. bloom)!

Is there anything I can do to help this poor little plant along? I
thought hyacinths were supposed to grow to 10-12 inches tall. Should i
transfer it to a pot with soil instead of leaving it in the water? Is
there any way I can make the bulb a little less confused?

thanks,

donny
wo...@fas.harvard.edu