Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Indoor gardening, Mid atlantic, 2015, 2 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Jeff--

You can remove the whole Amaryllis from the pot and shake off as much
soil as you want--even all of it. It won't hurt the roots. They are tough!
You can then rinse the roots off to make sure they are clean--then re-pot it.
It is good to do this every other year or so.

Then--mix fresh soil and carefully, start re-potting it.
Put some of the soil on the bottom first. Then hold your Amaryllis in one hand
and start dribbling the new soil in the pot, letting it settle well between the roots.
Press the soil in so there are no air pockets. Continue this way until it is, once again,
solidly in the soil. Water well to settle it in. You can cover the exposed roots on top
with some soil as well--just keep the top of the bulb 1/3 exposed.

It will thank you for the fresh soil and bloom gloriously.
To prevent Fungus Gnats from entering the soil--you can put a 1/2" layer of sand
over the top. The Gnats will not go through this--as it is too sharp for their tiny bodies.
No harm to the Amaryllis either.
I use Systemic Granules--but I know you do not use them.

It is, pretty much, what I did to all my Amaryllis last winter--and they bloomed
with amazing vigor and size of blooms. ( I mean the re-potting).


As we speak--I need to do this again. I already cut the "necks" back.
If you have not done this--DO IT! Take a sharp knife and cut straight across the
"neck" about 1"+ above the bulb. Do this ONLY if there are NO new leaves
or bloom buds showing yet.
Pic. #1
Pic. #2 shows the bulbs growing afterwards.
See pic. #3

Dug pic #1 and #2 up from Feb. 2011. My big pot of bulbs just cut back.
They have already scabbed over. This is my 20+year old pot of Amaryllis.

I have since removed the bigger "pups" and put them in their own pots.


Hope this helps....Gita