I wanted to restart this thread from last year. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1063871/?hl=amaryllis
I also have a question, I have one bulb in the basement that still has green leaves, they are starting to yellow but when can I restart it. Do I have to wait till they brown, or cut them off and start watering?
I gave my Mom an Amaryllis last winter and they grew it outside all summer long and brought it inside this fall. It has gotten a nice size bud on it and I will post pics when it blooms.
Lady--
My advice is from the days of Allan Summers radio show--"The garden Club" and I still follow it.
Right or wrong--this is what I do. Probably wrong....
I bring my 5 pots of Amaryllis in--say--October. It should be done much sooner...but.....
Very quickly the leaves start yellowing and I remove the totally limp ones.
When they all have yellowed off--Take a sharp knife and cut the tops of the bulbs off about 1".
They will have grown uneven with all the foliage on them--now gone.
Then, I give them another month of dormancy.
When you see the tips of the leaves/or blooms showing. bring them upstairs in light and
start watering and normal care.
This would also be a time to transplant them in fresh soil.
Now--I cannot say that I have had much luck with all this. Sparse blooming, etc....Roots dying off.
Much of this may be due to me not properly feeding or watering them in the summer outside.
I tried to be better this past summer. We will see......Roots shriveling up and dying off has to be
due to my lack of watering them. Yes? No?
Some people keep them in good light and treat them like any other house plant.
and it blooms beautifully for them. Some dig up the bulbs in the fall and keep them dry--
like Tulip or Daff. bulbs. Be interesting to discuss here just what DO people do with their Amaryllis
for the winter and how well it works for them.
What do you think--lady? Gita
My sister is able to do this year after year. Not sure how she does this and I am trying to learn. I"d love to know if anybody has tried and true results every year.
I put one bulb out in it's pot for the summer in among my flowers, I was going to sink the pot into the ground but never got that far. I put it in the basement in Oct and didn't do a thing with it. That is the one that still has the leaves on it.
Gita from what you said I think I'll cut those leaves off tomorrow.
The other bulb from last year never got outside and the leaves all dried up, I brought it upstairs and watered it, the bulb has re-hydrated, I can feel the difference from when I first took it upstairs.
Gita my new bulbs do not have many roots on them, maybe root loss is a natural thing when the bulbs go dormant.
Holly, did they fertilize and did the bulb itself get bigger?
Lady--my A. Bulbs are all several years old.
Some of them have put out side bulbs to the point I have to move them in a bigger pot.
Will do that soon. I may re-pot all of mine this spring, but first I will lift them out and see
just what the condition of the roots is.
One thing I learned when working for the Grower is that you should NOT water on top
of the bulbs before the blooms come out. I think it may be bad to have water seeping into
the bulb's layers. So--keep the top dry!
Another interesting thing........
I planted a couple bulbs outside, in the ground, and they survived the winter and
came up the following 2 years and bloomed.....South exposure.
Then I never saw them again. Could be that voles ate them up. They like chewing on bulbs....
I am interested to hear how other people deal with these in the winter inside.
Gita
Gita, I never pour water on the top of the bulb, as you say it will rot if water gets inside the bulb.
It is good to mention things what are obvious to some of us, may not be so for others.
The CC thread is such a good thread I hope this one continues in the same spirit, share what we know no matter how small it may be, and ask questions.
I don't know if mine would survive the length of time we have below freezing weather in winter without a good snow cover.
I think you hit it lucky, was your bulbs under a thick blanket of leaves? and what about getting water in the top of them?
Lady--
My Amaryllis bulbs were planted about 4" deep--like any other bulb.
I did it as an experiment--since a man at work said he had a big, bushy one that comes up
every summer and blooms. Right by his front steps.
So--i thought I would try......I had 7 pots back then--and losing a couple was not a big deal.
Gita
Not sure if Mom fertilized hers or not. I did tell her to when she brought it in side but I don't know if they bothered. I don't know if the bulb has gotten any bigger as it was never taken out of the pot and I'm not sure I would remember the size from last year. It does have a couple of smaller ones growing along the side that weren't there last year. I thought when it was done blooming I would un-pot it and separate the smaller bulbs.
Gita, 4 inches deep that surprises me. It shoots a hole in the rule of planting with 1/3 of the bulb out of the soil in a pot.
I always remove the baby bulbs, mom use to say they take away nourishment from the mother bulb. She also learned about growing them from a horticulturist that had a TV show, he worked at Phipps Conservatory in Pgh.
Lady--
The whole hole was about 4" deep--or so. Of course--the bulb was underground..
just like any other bulb we plant.
May not have been the right way to do it--as it only lived 2 years....
As for babies growing on the sides--Allan Summers also used to tell everyone that
they would not bloom until each has at least 4 leaves on them.
I have to dig away the two I have. Not sure....Might just plant all three in a bigger pot.
Right now they are in an 8" clay pot. The bulbs are just too tight!
Gita
They are heavy feeders, if you want the bulbs to get bigger like commercial ones I'm sure you need to feed over the summer. I believe Alan Sommers has you rehydrate roots in a gentle fertlizer like SeaMate when you repot at this time of year. Which I need to do with Joyanna's- I think I see a bit of new green. I may have a few red amarylis wrapped in paper, and others I left in the garden. Man has time flown since fall when I pulled those things.!!!!!
I got four bulbs last year, one has lost its tag and is still in the pot in the sunny room, so it has plenty of leaves. The others are out in the garage and I am feeling too apathetic to go out and look at them right now. It's on the north side of the house and I'd have to suit up to spend any time out there. Last I looked though, I was surprised that one still had some green leaves still standing or leaning, anyway. I love amaryllis. My first one came with my house. What a surprise it was when we first saw it rising out of the soil between the patio and the basement door.
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' / '
o
Sally--
I don't have Sea mate. Won't buy it either..$$$$$$ Would fish emulsion do? Diluted?
Anything else you can recommend? I bet one of Doc's teas would be great.....
I may dig down a bit to see what the roots look like. If there are healthy, white roots-
-I will just top-dress the pot. I do think a bit of fresh soil will be good...
My biggest pot (16" ceramic) has 5 good-sized bulbs in it--and a few smaller ones that have grown
off of some of them. Allan used to rave about a big pot with several bulbs in it--
So I made one--years ago.
Tomorrow--I will take some pictures.....
Bed time! it's been a long day! Gita
I'd say yes, a fish emulsion. I know Sea Mate is $$ and never have bought it. I used a fish emulsion and was pleased with the nice 'real earthy' scent the potting soil developed. A Doc- tea would be perfect!
Now that I have a source for horse manure, I am making a weak tea for indoor plants. A half to one 'cupful' of manure from the garden, in roughly a gal of water. It does not smell bad, it's probably very weak.
I am a lazy fertilizer gardener. I just mix a bit of Osmacote slow release into the soil. I do mix up a liquid AP fert, but mostly use that in summer on my outside plants.
I potted up my new Amaryllis yesterday, so I'll be checking them everyday now for growth changes. Gives me something to look forward to and fuss over.
Sally--
Don't laugh now.....
If you asked me what my favorite outdoor smells were I would say:
1--Fresh mown grass as it starts drying
2--Fresh horse manure....
I know I am weird.....
I dumped out my 'Joyanna's" amaryllis today. (Voodoo or Zombie?) After blooming just beautifully last spring, it spent the summer in a flower bed getting semi nice care and sun to part shade. It's at least 2 1/2 inches across, I'm pretty sure it is as big or bigger than when I got it. Yay! It had nice white roots too. I shook all the dirt off and pulled out a few stray alien roots, and its soaking now. Just the roots, not the top!
The other A bulbs I brought in are small- the biggest barely two inches across, and those are supposed to big full size Red Lion or whatevr that red is that is always sold in kits. I had some A bulbs planted in my warmest bed, circling the Plumeria that I sunk there, so that they would both get some extra fertilizer and water. They're out there shivering now, under some leaves.
Gita-- you're weird---LIKE ME. I don't know if I want to live with it, but I really kinda like that earthy horse farm smell when I visit.
Haven't had time for photos of the A's.
I am off tomorrow--and will try to take some.
#1 on the agenda is taking new cuttings of the cuttings I took of all the Coleus.
How I hoped it would not get to this! But--It has to be done. Maybe I should just
pass on the ones i am growing for other people and let them deal with it...
However--If I give the whole tray to my Manager, Donn--they will be doomed!
He has NO idea of what to do with them and has no bright light area.
Besides--they would still have to be pinched/cut back--as they are nor 6"+ tall.
I planted these in an actual tray--that I got at work. The "squares" in the tray are about
2 1/2". But--they are getting tight with the roots.
I finally can show you a picture of Donn (our SM) and myself.
This was taken at out Company's X-mas party.
He said--Look! we are both wearing blue! His favorite color.
We all love him to death! Best Manager we ever had! He is also a real cutie...He is 43...
I kid you not--I have been sharing plants for his garden now for 3 years,
I will,literally, cry the day he will be transferred somewhere else. And I won't be the only one.
Gita
Aw, nice picture and he sure looks like a sweetie
Great pic Gita you are looking good. It's been so long since I have seen you. Sounds like a nice man.
I am getting out my Amaryllis they are still upstairs in dormancy so I will try and get them started. Let you know how they do. I lived with that nice Barn smell for 18 years. Nothing better than walking into the barn and getting a nice whiff of horse. Sally I will say that pig manure tea is much better. Ric would always make me a batch for the plants. Of course it doesn't quite have the nice smell that horse manure has and after he watered the deck boxes you couldn't sit out there for at least a day. But the plants looked wonderful. Thank god he didn't dump it on my house plants. LOL
Here are my Amaryllis pots as of today.
I, kind of, cleaned off to top of the soil a bit--so if you see some roots showing--that is why.
The next step for me now will be to top dress these pots with dome good soil and fertilize them.
I have had this big (14") pot now for many years. I wish it bloomed better--but that is my fault.
Not the best seasonal care I could give them....I tried to be better this past Summer....We will see....
Jill has a very good article today on growing Amaryllis. Hope you copy it out!
This is the 8" clay pot that I need to pot up- It is too crowded--and a clay pot will not 'give".
Will work on that asap. I think the roots will be OK.
Then i have 3 more pots in this kind of a condition. These are 6" heavy ceramic pots....
This one is starting to grow new side-bulbs.....The other two are still just single bulbs.
Last year--I had very few blooms from any of them.
I had ignored them--watering wise and fertilizing wise all summer.
Moved them all where i could see them better this past summer and they got more watering.
Also tried to fertilize tham--at leas 203 times. I know that is not enough.
We will see........Gita
I saw Jill's article listed and thought how interesting that they would re-post that one now.
Holly--
They have been re posting many older Articles lately.
Jill's article is actually quite good timing--as many of us are trying to decide how to keep our
Amaryllis growing and blooming at this time. At least those of us that have any.
Wonder if that means not too many people feel like writing articles at this time?
Sally would know about this! Yooo--Hooo---Sally! What are the rules?
Anyway--I found Jill's article today very informative. I thought it was a re-Post--but it was not.
Even though I have not been doing all she recommends----what I am doing is all I know to do.
Not many of us buy new bulbs every year...at $6 each. Those kits at HD, etc. are a joke!
I can imagine that if we did--our Amaryllis would look a lot better.
The difficulty comes when one is trying to maintain our many years old bulbs to have them bloom every year,
and not knowing all the details of "how to".....
I know I am guilty of ignoring them during the summer....Out of sight--Out of mind....
I am not sure of my method of dormancy before they bloom again. Trying to learn too.
As I said--I have been following all the directions from Allan Summers--a few years ago.
He was MY "Guru" on gardening information for many. many years....
I wonder how much has changed since he went off air?
There are people of more means than I--that can refresh their A-Bulbs every year.--Or any
another bulbs. I am NOT in that category. I just try to keep what have going until I fail.
And-I mean ME failing--NOT the plant....
Gita
Doc had one that he grew out by his compost pile over the summer, it looked like it was a good size. I was going to do that but realized that it might get damaged as hubby helps out with sifting the compost and is not as careful with plants in the area. Also I was afraid I would forget to bring it in in the fall.
The one that I did put out for the summer I placed it in a flower bed so it got fed and watered whenever I did the bed. I am not the best at feeding, I actually prefer the dry time released verity, I am a forgetful and lazy fertilizer-gardener. I guess too many irons in the fire at once.
I do enjoy buying new bulbs when they are on sale, but don't over do it.
Gita, I like the multi bulb planting. Maybe I'll try that next year after I see how this years bulbs do.
We lost some writers with the change in ownership. and Christmas time many people are so busy with other things, there wasn't much new articles submitted.
Gita, I think you could lift up those 'multi bulbs' and add some soil underneath. At least I think I would.
we have a community garden nearby. One year I saw a whole plot about twenty by twenty feet or something, full of A bulbs plants. Full sun.
2 buds and 2 leaves are starting to grow on my "Full House" the 2 buds were just starting to show when I opened the box.
If you look really hard "Novella" the pink one, is showing a hint of what I think is a bud.
YAY!
I read quickly thru the posts.
Gita, nice to see you. You are lovely! I loved your pots of bulbs.
Chris, I can't wait to see photos.
I brought Mom's home after she passed and it only lived and bloomed a couple more years. With cats, I haven't tried again. I look forward to everyone's bloom photos!!
Gita -
You are beautiful and I can see what a beautiful spirit you have as well.
I am looking forward to everyones' photos as well. I am very surprised at how many of these gorgeous bulbs do not have familiar names. I know we have all heard of Red Lion and recently I had seen some types that I had not heard of previously, but the continues to grow.
Chris - I am really looking forward to Novella. That is another one that is not familiar to me.
Since no one has a bloom yet, I'll throw in a picture of Mom's. I wish I knew why it died. I don't know how old it was but the last few years we were planting it out and bringing it in to winter over. It seemed to lose it's rhythem after that and also kept green leaves far too long. I never fed it either :o(
It was pretty vivid pink, so the color is about right. This is 2007
My Mom's is blooming now but I haven't been up there yet. I'm feeling better but so tired. I thought I might get up there today but wasn't up to it this morning and they had appointments this afternoon. We have some ugly weather coming in tomorrow.
That reminds me----
I DID pull up all my Amaryllis and shake off some of the old soil around the roots.
The roots looked very good--so I filled the bottom of the pot with fresh MG Potting Mix
set the plants back on it and filled in around the side and topped it off with fresh Mix as well.
The pots are all still downstairs (cool dark basement).
Time to bring them up......I had forgotten that I had to do this...Too much going on....
Last year--among all 5 pots--I got 3-4 blooms--so something was not right....
Gita
I have to post pictures this week all 3 of my new bulbs are growing buds.
Billy, that is a really pretty pink.
Gita, maybe the MG will give them the extra boost that they need.
Billy, I like that pink also.
Holly--feel better
Gita- when I had so few blooms I started ditching the smallest and 'trying' to fertilize more in summer. They always say 'heavy feeders' Maybe these that keep their leaves so long and stop blooming are because of the need for more food.
ladyg- looking forward to them!
Still waiting on new signs on my Zombie/ Voodoo--I've got to look up the right name and get it in my journal.
Gita, nice picture of you & yer boss. Going to put pix on of the Hippeastrum plants I have and if I have flowering pix, will include them, too. Here is Hippeastrum striatum which surprized me with a bloom for the first time last year. Lovely little miniature.
I got Hippeastrum cybister "Lima" for a terrible price on eBay and this picture was taken by the grower. I can hardly wait til mine blooms.
