Forcing bulbs indoors/have questions

I bought some Paperwhites to force. I've never done this before.
The instructions say to set the bulbs in a dish on some marbles or stones and have the water level just under the bulbs but not touching. How will I know if the water is at the right level?
Also will a sunny east window provide enough light?
Do they like to be misted?
Are you suppose to peel the brown paper off the bulbs?
Thanks for any advice. :)

I actually prefer to pot them up in houseplant soil....they are more secure and steady in the pot then. In the past, I've had them fall over when growing in pebbles. Immediately in an east window should be OK, although the more sun, the stouter the plants will be. Don't keep them too warm or they will again tend to flop. Leave on the brown papery coating. There is no need to mist them. They are essentially annuals and can be thrown out after they bloom. The fragrance is VERY strong...almost too much.

I wouldn't describr them as annuals! I have always planted all my bulbs out in the garden after forcing, with a pretty high success rate, and I have lived in some pretty cold places from time to time too.
It is a waste to throw them out - put them outside, in a shed or similar, to die back naturally when they are done flowering then plant in the yard somewhere as soon as the ground will let you in the spring. they probably won't flower next year as its too short a time to regenerate, but they should leafup and die back naturally and the following Spring you will get your reward.
I have my paperwhites in a North Facing window right now. They haven't had a ray of sun, but neither has Texas for the last 10 days!! They are now about 12" tall and about to open. I will be staking them tomorrow as once the heads open they get pretty top heavy, which might be a problem if they were just in gravel.
To check the water level, how about you put the gravel in a glass container so you can see where it is up to through the side? You can grow them in specially shaped glass containers with no medium other than water. Its pretty cool watching the roots grow and fill up the whole of the bowl - kids love it.

I love forcing bulbs and now i noticed at walmart here they are starting to carry the forcing containers. also lat time i forced Parks has some for smaller bulb forcing like for crocuses and some for bigger bulbs like hyacinths.

i would get a clear bowl so you can see the water level. and kids can watch roots form if you have kids.

no dont peel the brown stuff off.

the most sunny window will do.


yes plant them outside when done forcing. in a couple years they will bloom agian.