How to make bloom more than once a year? (Amaryllis)

I know there is a forum specifically for Amaryllis', but I havent had the money recently to become a paid member of this site (hopefully soon!!)

Anyway, I have an amaryllis flower that has already bloomed once. I was wondering, does anyone know how I could make it bloom again (more than once a year)? If I dont put it through a dormant period, would that force it to rebloom again? I goofed up after the first time it bloomed and forgot it on a drafty windowsill overnight (I live in pa, and weve had a pretty cold winter here this year, and my windows are pretty drafty). My kids were pretty upset to find that the flowers wilted 2 days after they bloomed, and I must admit, I was pretty upset about it too (upset at myself that is lol!)

Anyway, what would I need to do to try to get it to bloom more than once a year? The leaves are starting to turn yellow, but I figure its because its not getting as much sun as it used to?

Any advice would be much appreciated! My 5 year old son didnt really get to see the flowers in full bloom the first time because he was at my inlaws for a while when they bloomed then started wilting :( I would love to surprise him with it again!

As far as I know they will only bloom once a year for us in the northeast, I may be wrong but I've only had them bloom once a year, I hope there is a trick we will both learn to have them bloom again, mine is in full bloom now :>)
Christine

Here are some instructions for how you can force it to bloom out of season...but since yours just bloomed it probably needs to be allowed to die back and go through its dormant phase first. You might be able to get it to bloom again without waiting a whole year, but it's not going to be something that you can get it to do again right away. http://gardening.about.com/od/floweringbulbs/a/Amaryllis.htm

Mrs. Lidwell--

We have a Thread going in the Mid Atlantic Forum right now on Amaryllis.

Come on over and jump in! Lots of good people here and lots of good advice as well.

Gita

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1148100/

Thank you! I noticed at the beginning of March that it had started to sprout a few leaves again, but nothing else so far. The two leaves I have so far on it are quite long already (see picture) but no signs of any other new growth. We'll see what happens. I will make note here though that I did not take it out of the pot and did go about a month and a half without watering it (my hubby watered it a couple times though lol)

Gitagal...

Thank you for informing me of that thread, however I am unable to access that forum as I am not yet a paid subscriber :(

Ok, so, update...

Still only the two long leaves on it, and no signs of any other new growth anytime soon. So, I'm wondering...

Would it be detrimental to the bulb/plant if I repotted the amaryllis bulb in a larger pot to give it more root room, and hopefully by doing that, cause it to be able to start sprouting more new growth? If I repotted it now, while it still has 2 green leaves on it, would it kill it? I'm just wondering if maybe nothing new is going on with it because it doesnt have enough room in the current pot to continue more growth than what it has so far. Or should I just keep waiting a few more weeks to see if anything else happens. It has been approximately 4 weeks so far since I first noticed new growth sprouting and I started watering it on a regular basis, and I know that by week 4 after potting it up this winter, there were several leaves on it, and even the flower head started to emerge by this point... so, I'm wondering what's going on with it now and why it isnt growing as fast as it did before.

Mrs. Lidwell

NO! Your pot may even be too big! A.Bulbs like it tight.....
All the energy they need for growing and blooming comes from the stored
energy inside the bulb. Not much else you can do, except take good care of it
during the growing season, fertilize it, put it somewhere in close to full sun and
water when needed.....

I think you may be watering your bulb too much---they can go dry and be happy.
Remember again--all it needs is already in the bulb!!! Keep it moist--but let it
dry out between watering....

I see in your picture that it only has 2 leaves on it...Is it a new bulb--on the small side?
I learned years ago from an expert that unless a newly growing bulb, such as an
offshoot bulb, will not bloom unless it can grow 4 leaves.
TIME....need TIME! The bulbs enlarge slowly.....based on the good care they get.
Some people actually plant their A.bulbs in the ground in rich, humous soil and then
dig them up and re-pot them for blooming around Christmas.

Please go to the Amaryllis Thread started by Doc. There is a lot of discussion
on all aspects of growing Amaryllis.....
I will post here the link under "edit"--as I have to send this before I can open another
thread....

Gita

edited to add the link to part # !. There is a part # 2--and we are currently on part #3.
Just follow the new links at the end to move on to the next Thread.
If you read through all these--you will be royally educated on Amaryllis....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1063871/?hl=amaryllis

This message was edited Mar 27, 2011 4:34 PM

Gita, thank you, but I am not able to read that thread as I am not a paid subscriber yet. I wish I was able to, as I'm sure there's LOADS of great information there, but, until I am able to afford to become a paid subscriber, I will have to wait :(

Mrs L.

Here are a couple good links to look at.
They are from Google--nothing to do with DG membership.

I scanned through a couple--they are really good!

Gita

http://www.rochestergardening.com/bulbs/amrylcar.html

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/growing-amaryllis-bulbs.html

Thanks so much!! Will take a look at them now :)

Oh and to answer your previous post....

No, this pot shouldnt be too big as I got the pot, soil, and bulb as a full kit just last November from AmericanMeadows.com. The pot, at that time, was only about 1 inch wider than the bulb. I just am not sure how much the bulb grows, or how quickly.

You could be right though. I may have overwatered it. But, I would have figured if it was overwatered, then the leaves by now would have started to yellow and die? It hasnt grown at all in probably 2 weeks now. No new growth, nothing. But the leaves are still quite green and lively looking (they did fan like that in the updated picture of my daughter standing next to it, last november/december as well, especially as new growth was emerging. though this time, no new growth yet but everything still looks just as green as it was when it bloomed for me last december.) Honestly, I'm just wondering if maybe it came out of its dormancy period too soon and maybe thats why there's only two leaves and nothing else. Like I said, I kept it potbound after everything died off. I did take off all the dead leaves and flower head after they all died and turned yellow, as instructed to do. But, I left it potbound the whole time while I let it go dorment. My husband did tell me that he watered it once in February sometime while I was sick for a week and he was watering my houseplants for me. Then about 2 weeks later, I noticed it had a leaf emerging from the top of the bulb. Ever since I noticed the new leaf emerging, THAT is when I started watering it regularly, but no more than what I was watering it between November and december after i received it and potted it up.

I also wonder if maybe the fact that in november/december when i first got it, if it grew so well because i kept it on my livingroom windowsill during the day (window is directly over a heater also btw), and put it on the top of my fridge at night (for bottom heat since i dont have a heat mat). Maybe its a lighting/heat issue, since this time it has remained on my dining room table which is in front of a window as well. Maybe by putting it on my livingroom windowsill, the windowsill was providing it with better indirect sunlight than it is getting by sitting on my dining room table about 2 feet from the diningroom window?

Thanks for the links, I'll read through them now. I'll keep playing around with this amaryllis and see if i can try a few differnt things to see if i can get it to start growing new leaves/flower stems and keep ya'll posted lol.

Mrs. L.

I am thinking that maybe ???? the roots may have rotted??????

Could you pull out the whole plant from the pot and take a look?
Thick, white roots are healthy. If they look dark and soft and mushy--there is rot!

Another thing--I DO think Amaryllis like it a bit cooler than what you are describing...

My sister--who lives in Alaska--kept her Amaryllis all year in a small, upstairs balcony/room
by a very bright window. It NEVER went dormant! And--it bloomed every year.

SO! Cool...Bright...and on the dry side seems best...

edited to add: Your bulb also seems to be a bit too out of the soil.
It should be planted with the soil just up to the neck. I just saw that in one of the links I sent.
I always, also, left about 1/3 of the bulb sticking out....Now I see different directions....Hmmm...

Gita

This message was edited Mar 30, 2011 5:31 PM

My Amaryllis is confused with the season. I bought my bulb last spring and planted it. It grew until I had 2 ft leaves but never a flower bud as you can see in the photo. By Nov it was done for the season so I stuck it in the closet (in the pot) to give it a rest. At some point after I have given it a "rest", it decided to send up another new shoot that grew about 3" in the dark before dying back.

I was told it may have not flowered due to being a "young" bulb but it was certainly a large one so I don't know how young it was. It's probably the size of a baseball but mine is not buried as deep as yours. I have a good 3" above the soil line. It gets full sun now but will go in diffused light once the flower opens up.

In Feb, I hauled the thing out of the closet, gave it some water and already it has a flower that will soon open plus two additional plants growing alongside the bulb. I'm hoping it will be finished up by Sept so I can put it away again and bring it out in Dec so I can get it to bloom in the winter months. Like you, I am attempting to force an additional flowering season this year so I can get this thing blooming in the winter rather than in the spring. But either way I will enjoy it.

I will submit a photo when the flower opens up. After two years, I no longer remember what color I picked out so in for a surprise no matter what.

Gita,

I planted it as the package described me to... up to 1/3 to 1/4 the way. Am I able to remove it from the pot to look at the roots now, even though there are green leaves on it? I messaged the company that I bought the bulb from, and they said it basically sounds like I didnt give it a long enough rest period. It had a 2 month rest period though, and according to that company's blog, all it really needs is about 6 weeks to rest.

It could very well be root rot, since I know I kept the soil more moist than it needed (according to a new moisture meter that I bought recently that listed that amaryllis is a class b for moisture, meaning, as you said, a little on the dry side. I just dont know if I can pull it out of the pot now with the green leaves out, or if i need to wait till the leaves turn brown again before lifting the bulb out of the pot to take a peek at the roots.

And to make it worse... my 4 year old daughter was over by the table that I have all my plants sitting on, and I'm assuming hit one of the leaves and made it break halfway through... its now just hanging by half a leaf. Hope that dont hurt any chances it has for its next blooming season lol!

Ahh, gardening and kids... fun, but at times can be a little frustrating LOL! Gotta love them tho :)

carol... Id LOVE to see a picture of yours when it opens!! When mine flowered last december, it didnt take long at all for it to go from flower bud to opened flower! Id estimate about a week... two tops! I was upset though because after it opened, I forgot and left it on the window sill one night, when it was very cold out (in a slightly drafty window) and the next day the flower died back :(

Mrs. L---

Hopefully, I wil be able to answer some of your Q's....But--not right now....

I need to go to bed--as tomorrow is an early day for me.....

Hang in there! Gita

Thanks Gita! I think when my daughter ripped the leaf halfway through, it may have "killed" it this time around. Both leaves are starting to hang low now, the way they did before when it started going through its "rest period", before the leaves turned yellow. I'll let it take its course, let the leaves turn yellow on their own before I clip them off, I just hope this wont hurt its chances for its next blooming season

I'll chime in from the south since this thread is still active. I also bought a bulb 2 years ago and followed all package directions. I kept mine inside on a table getting filtered morning an noon sun from a south facing window. It bloomed rather quickly. Mine also started to turn yellow and die back (the leaves), This much I do know, various bulb type plants do that naturally... the bulb feeds off the dying leaves to use as energy for the next blooming season. Now weather Amaryllis is one of those I have no idea, but it makes sense to me.... this is why,... after my leaves died completely back I took it out of the pot and planted it in a shady area on the east side of my house that gets good morning light only. By the following March it had sent out 2 new leaves, same as the year before, And yes mine bloomed the first time with only 2 leaves and it was a rather small bulb. By that following May it was blooming again for spring. Then it died back again and stayed dormant until this March.once again 2 new leaves.... So I figure by this May, it should have blooms. Best I can figure is that my plant adjusted to my climate and is now on a once a year blooming cycle again, only in the spring now. I will know in a couple weeks to a month or so. Will keep you posted.

Mrs. L, your Amaryllis will go through dormancy in the fall. The bulb has been forced into blooming at what is a unnatural time compared to its' bloom time in the garden. If you lived in a southern zone and had bulbs in the garden your Amaryllis would be blooming in the springtime. As it is, your Amaryllis is gathering up strength for its' bloom time next fall/winter because that's what it has been forced into by the grower.
I don't know of a way to fast track the process. I recommend setting the plant outside over the summer where it will get sunshine. Keep it watered over the summer. Bring it indoors in September and let it go through dormancy. You should see flower buds sometime in late fall or early winter.