flowers from Teddy

I am going to give it one heck of a shot! I sure don't want to confuse them(I am confused enough for all of us)! I will just leave them in the windowsill then. I never thought about how it might confuse them and make them think that it is time for them to grow again so soon, my one neighbor's bushes is trying to grow and bloom again. This weather is weird, it makes the flowers think it is time to bloom again. I don't know what color they will be, it will be exciting when and if they bloom!

hey Pirl, when you started to grow your Amaryllis, were they small bulbs like mine or were bigger? And when you started did you have them in the same window that you have them in that picture? I guess that I will keep them in the window and TRY TRY TRY to ignore them except to check on whether they need water or not. Love those flowers, if I ever have ones that beautiful, I will feel like there is nothing I can't do! Especially if I can look at them when the snow is falling and I can send pictures of my flowers over the Internet and show everyone that I was not crazy or obsessed with my flowers and birds. One more question, how long after you planted them inside did they start to grow?

I bought them and received them as large bulbs. In order to get the best blooms you will have to feed them over the summer so they can store up the energy to bloom. They have always been in that window, 8' wide, and now I have about 30 of them to enjoy. Once you see the actual green tip of the flower stalk you're just about 3 to 4 weeks from bloom. Go very easy with the watering.

Papillio:

This Minerva blooms twice every year.

My bulbs are like small onions, not the tiny pearl ones but they are not very big, I have them in the windowsill and are hoping that I get a lot of blooms. Do you think seriously and I want the truth, do you think I have a chance of any blooms at all? The 3 I got from my neighbor did bloom this summer, so Pirl tell me the truth am I going to be happy or mad? I can take the truth;) These are the size of most of the bulbs. They all have roots now.

If the bulbs have bloomed before they will bloom again but it may not be this winter. It could be spring or summer. Make sure you feed it/them when they finish flowering so they can build up the energy required to bloom again.

This bulb is pictured next to a full size can of spray paint. The larger the bulb, the more blooms.

Some facts you might want to know:

They prefer temperatures from 68 to 77 indoors.
They can remain in the same pot, without a problem, three to four years.
When you plant a new bulb in LIGHTLY MOISTENED GROWING MIX, do not water again until you see growth.
Then water two more times until you see the COLOR of the flower on the bud. Resume watering but go easy.
The roots are deep in the pot so put water in the saucer not the surface of the soil!
If you keep the soil wet you risk losing the bulb.
Do not water the top of the bulb: it encourages rot.

should I lightly fluf up the soil? I put some water on them the 4th. I think I might need to put more soil in the pots, what do you think? Should I check the roots again to make sure they are growing? The one in water has grown good roots so far, when I first put it in there I did not have very many and you had to look hard to see them, these you can see real well. I hope I get some good results in the one in water at least.

What would fluffing up the soil do to help the bulb grow???

As long as one half to one third of the bulb is exposed to light it will grow. Leave it alone.

Do not take it out of the pot to check the roots - leave it alone.

This photo shows you far the top of the bulb is out of the soil.

Do not remove the papery covering. It helps protect the bulb.

This one, Nagano, was planted January 11th and bloomed April 30th, 2011.

Here is Nagano in bloom:

I thought you would like to see that the roots of this Amaryllis bulb is growing quite well, that is one of the things that I like about growing them in glass, you can actually watch the roots grow! I looked at it real closely and I had to empty some of the water it was actually touching the basal plate, so I made sure it was not touching it anymore. Thought you might like to see that.

Good!

We have a movable thermometer and I took it over where the bulbs are and the temps are above 70, with just the one lamp on. So until they start growing more, I will leave the clamp on light off for now. Sorry to be such a pest, but I would like to be able to show people that you can grow flowers like that inside. Would you have to do anything different to have them bloom for the holidays?

They are regulated by their hormones and can't be rushed into bloom.

Next year you can give them the right treatment all year to try and get earlier blooms but since yours has already begun to grow you just might get a Christmas surprise.

pirl, i have to comment on your amaryllis- they are stunning! you clearly take good care of them and have a good window for them. the papilio has such a striking color set. by any chance did you get your bulbs from easytogrowbulbs.com? i recognize the types and since they were such large bulbs i thought they might be from their company..?

This message was edited Nov 7, 2011 5:19 PM

I think the one with a sprout might start growing again, and the one in the water it might too. It would be one of the most exciting Christmas gifts I could get!

Thanks, CZP. Minerva was a gift from my son for Christmas of 2005. That got me buying them. The more I learned about how vital size was I bought from Blooming Bulbs (Nagano, pictured above). Papilio is very tall and so gorgeous. It came from Dutch Gardens (not to be confused with Dutch Bulbs). Last year a neighbor died and at the estate sale I bought all of her amaryllises and most have bloomed. Now I'll have to look at the site you mentioned. Thank you for mentioning it.

They will start growing.

youre welcome, and i appreciate the info, i checked out those sites. blooming bulb is my favorite of the 2. i looked at the amaryllis page....clicked on super mondo amaryllis....looked at the picture..and nearly lost it! they are HUGE! i never dreamed of any bulb that big! ive had elephant ear bulbs that are the same as the big amaryllis bulbs, but super mondo?! insane! - sorry for my little rant&rave there :p
teddy, if you ignore them you will be surprised with how quickly theyll grow :) watering only starts bulbs into growing, after that they generally use stored food, until they leaf/flower. the instructions pirl gave you are excellent. just forget about them a day or two.

What fun! I just went to easytogrow and love so many of the amaryllises. Dutch Gardens only carried Papilio, no others. The Blooming Bulb amaryllises were great! Now I'll have to go back to see the monster bulbs.

I listen to a radio gardening show each Sunday morning and the host, Mark Viette, had on a man from the Netherlands who has raised amaryllises for many years. He strongly advised watering them just twice, then NO water at all until the flowering stem comes up with the bud on top. It's supposed to create a flower that doesn't require a stake. Some of these are VERY tall and will flop (and could break) so a stake is very helpful as is turning the plant a quarter turn every day.

thank you czp and pirl, I will try my best to ignore them. Sorry to be such a nuisance and a pest, you have given me great advice and suggestions and I appreciate ALL the help everyone gives me on this site, that is why I love it so much.

Great news! My Amaryllis in water is making more roots, I just checked it and it IS making more roots! It is fascinating to watch, almost makes me want to have more of them in water so I can see it grow, but I assume that if the one in water is growing more roots, then the ones in potting soil are too. I am NOT taking them out to check! I am leaving them alone like you said. But that is good to see, just keeping you in the loop on what is going on.

Here is a couple of pictures of the Amaryllis bulb that I have in water! As you can see, they are growing!

here is the other view, as you can tell there is another root growing out, so it is growing okay.

Good - get it back in the water pronto.

I have it back in the water now, I am trying to ignore them but it is hard not to check and see if any growth is happening. How are you supposed to change the water and make sure the level is right without taking the bulb out?

You can take it out of the vase to clean the vase quickly and then put the bulb back in place or you can use another vase and just change it from one vase to another. The first vase can be cleaned while the bulb remains in water. Use tepid water - not cold and not hot for the bulb in water.

Ok, I will check at the local dollar store and see if they have any small vases, if not, I willhave to go with the first suggestion, take out the bulb, clean the vase and put it back in, I think I could get the water a little closer to the bulb or do you think it is close enough, if so I may mark where the water should stop so it don't touch the bulb.

Check nearby thrift shops, too. They sell them for $1.00 around here.

You don't want to risk losing the bulb to rot so maybe marking the vase is your answer.

I just put tepid water in my Amaryllis vase, I think I am going to leave both lamps off for a while and see what happens,every page and link I go to says they need 2-3 weeks of cool and dark, well, don't have the dark, but certainly have the cool part down pat, so trying another experiment, got the one in the little green pot that had started to sprout in the windowsill and turned off the lamps on the bookcase, so the only light they will have is what little there is during the day in the house. Going to see which one starts growing green shoots first. Wish me luck, not saying that all the help you have given me is going to get ignored, NEVER think that, I just am trying different things. I have remembered everything you good people have told and showed me, I am trying different things to see what works the best for me, and I did mark the vase, I could not remember how much water from one time to the next.

You've tried many things with the amaryllis and will just end up confusing the bulb. It won't know if it's supposed to grow or go dormant. You're giving the poor plants very mixed messages.

Just from the lack of leaves you can tell it has gone through dormancy. Give them warmth and light and be ready for a Christmas surprise.

amaryllis bulbs respond to warmth and light, as pirl said. bulbs that like it cool and dark for a while are the ones growing roots before top growth, like spring bulbs daffodils etc. i guess you can try one bulb in the dark, but really if you want them to grow, they need to light. reach for the light dear friend, reach for the lliigghttt!!! -- sorry, little moment there :p

Ok, I turned on the lamp on the ones on the bookcase and left the one in the window, don't think it is going to get much sunshine today, it is raining and cloudy, but I will leave it in there and see which ones start first. I am confused enough, I don't need to confuse my poor plants too!hee, hee.

I will quit bugging you poor people for now and just see what happens, maybe the next post I put on here will be a bulb with a green sprout on it! Wish me luck!;)

You should see my Morning Glory, it is starting to vine! I had to water it, it was very dry and the leaves were a little wilted so I watered it. If I leave it alone will it lay on the windowsill? I will try to post a picture here.

Here is my MG, it is vining already! If I leave it alone, will it grow along the windowsill and trail on the edges? I wish I could have it grow around the picture window, but there are not very many ways to put it up to stay, there is no way to put fasteners on the area around the window itself. Any suggestions would be helpful. I may take a wire and hook it to the curtain rod and have it grow up there, there are so many things you can do with something like that. It sure likes being in the window. I put it there and just forgot about it, maybe I can do that with my bulbs.

its looking good, healthy leaves. be careful that it doesnt take over your house as they can get quite vigorous. it most likely will stay confined, considering that its indoors. it can grab hold of pretty much anything.

Try putting the pot with the MG into a hanging basket and let it trail down in front of the window.

I will have to try to find a hanging basket. Unfortunately hanging baskets and anything to do with gardening is pretty much put away until spring. But i will check.

can anyone tell me a cheap and easy way to make a indoor hanging basket for my Morning Glories? Money is a little tight right now, and I would like to try themoonhowl's suggestion of hanging it up and letting the vines trail down the window.