2 comments for “Tubes & Blocks for Daffodil Shows

  1. Hi, Dianne, This is a company I’ve ordered plastic test tubes from for my own use (after I got tired of cleaning up broken glass).    http://www.lcmlab.com   I push the tubes into a thick block of Styrofoam, for a lightweight way to transport daffodils to a show.  If you have blocks you are trying to match, you can order individual tubes to be sure they will fit before you make a larger purchase.

  2. As the American Daffodil Society is a non-profit, tax exempt organization, I’m not going to use its forum to recommend or endorse any supplier of equipment, but I do have a small bit of advice. My local society did switch from glass to plastic test tubes because they are less breakable, but the generally available maximum diameter is 16 millimeters. Glass tubes are available in larger diameters that may be needed for fat tazetta stems. Manufacturers are more concerned about the inside diameter; the outside diameter can vary. Therefore you should buy a lifetime supply (so you don’t need a different batch in the future), measure the outside diameters of the bottom ends of the tubes, and make new wood blocks with holes of the appropriate diameter. I’m not aware of any manufacturers of wood blocks for holding test tubes, so you have to make your own. How fancy you get is up to you. Probably the simplest method is cut 2×4’s into squares, drill a hole into (but not all the way through) each block, sand the rough ends, and spray paint black. The Northern California Daffodil Society copied the Fortuna Garden Club properties in which the blocks are made of redwood and in two pieces that are nailed together. Redwood, unlike pine 2×4’s, looks nice enough that it doesn’t need painting. The Oregon Daffodil Society uses single piece square wood blocks made from a nice wood that looks good without painting.

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