What to do with amaryliss I'm bringing indoors now?

Hi, I'm in zone 6b/7a and I have 2 amaryliss that I'm bringing indoors now. They are very healthy looking and even have baby bulbs growing.

Can I get them to rebloom indoors this winter?

Should I repot into bigger pots (they are really tight in the pots they are in now), less that 1" around perimiter of pot.

And do I withhold water and put in a dark place?

Thanks
Maureen

Glad you asked that question. I just received one in a trade, I potted it up, but don't know what to do now. Hope we get some comments.

Let them dry out and put them in a dark spot indoors for about 1 1/2 to 2 months. When you see white new leaf tips pokeing up water with slightly warm water and put in a bright spot. If they got enough Sun and food over the summer they should rebloom.

Tom

HI Tommyr22006 - thank you very very much for this help. I really appreciate it. I'm bringing them in today and will let them dry out and then put them in a dark spot for 2 months. Mine did get lots of sun over the summer and I did fertilize (but only 1x) with bulb food.

Thanks
Maureen

I grow them year around, never do the dormant thing. They are outside in the summer and in the kitchen in the winter. They bloom twice a year, reliably. I leave them out until night temps are forecasted to go below 40. I put them out when day temps reach 70. Never had a problem, never dry them out, feed annually with a nine month time release fertilizer in spring. One bulb has divided into 9 in one pot - one big pot! I repot every three years (or when winds from a storm blow the pot over and break it). They are tougher than you think. They like strong direct sunshine if you have it. There is no need to push or force dormancy. I get two blooms a year from them this way. They will sometimes put out a whole new set of leaves when they come in to the house. About once a month I put the pot in the shower for a soft soaking.

Wow, that is amazing. Something to think about instead of doing dormant. Your large one is amazing.
Thank you for this info
Maureen

I'll second the advice to bring them indoors and grow the year-round if you have the room. Treat them as houseplants indoors in an area with as much light as possible. Dormancy is not necessary.

good to know that. Mine bloomed last year in the house and was beautiful. I left it in the house all summer, never thought of putting it outside, never fertilized either. Something to think about. I was just thinking I'd have to put it in the dark soon but think I will leave it where it is. It gets lots of nice sunlight there. I cut the leaves back and nowits starting to grow again and they grow fast. I should just leave it go then? Thanks for the advice. Yvonne

vonny53-
Yes, leave it alone. Just treat it as a houseplant. You might repot it in fresh soil if you haven't been feeding it all this time. You do need to feed it, like you would any other plant. No reason to cut the leaves back at any time. You want it putting energy into blooming, not more leaf production. It's growing leaves quickly because you cut them off. Cutting off the leaves is something people do only before forcing dormancy.

You have two basic choices:

You can stop watering and let the leaves die back. Remove from pot and wash off roots. Then cut the plant off just 1" above the bulb (cut a "clean nose"). Then store them dry and dark. Give them a rest of about 7 weeks at room temperature (after dying back) to restart bloom. Once the new leaves or flower spikes show above the nose of the bulb, then I replant immediately. If you do not want to replant immediately (e.g. wish to delay bloom) then store the bulbs cool (40-45F) but wait for atleast 7-8 weeks after leaves have died back to ensure that they are ready to bloom again.

They need a cool period (40-45F) or a dormant dry period to bloom again. Note: they do not need a cooling period necerssarily (and should not be exposed to freezing) but you can use this cool period to "program" flowering. You can also give them a dry, dormant period instead. Repot as soon as you see the new flower spikes or leaves appear at the nose of the bulb.

You can also grow them indoors as house plants but they require high lights. Their blooming will not be so predictable (they will bloom when they are ready). Sometimes they will skip a year of blooming if you do this (especially if you can not grow them cool).

I prefer to dig the amaryllis in late fall, stop watering, let leaves die back, cut nose 1" above bulb, and then store for 7-13 weeks until new growth starts. This "programs" the amaryllis to bloom again. You can also grow them as houseplants without a pause, but flowering is less predictable.

Sorry if I repeated myself a few times...

A few notes:
- if you amaryllis has been growing outdoors for the summer, they should have build enough energy for flowering
- a cool period is not required, but it can (or a dry period can) be used to program and ready the bulb for flowers
- if you prefer to grow it as houseplant you can, but I like to program it for flowering
- if it is rootbound, you can put up slightly (e.g. a pot one size larger. they grow dramatically in one year)

-- Kenneth

I treat my amarylis as house plants in the winter. I put them out in the sun during non-freezing weather. I keep them in a sunny window ( west facing, bright) in the winter. They begin putting out blooms in January and then bloom one by one until the weather becomes warm enough. I have about 8 of them. Generally, every one blooms every year at least once.
I have friends who cut them back and put them in a dark place for awhile. Theirs never bloom again! Maybe dark works some places, but not here in New Mexico.

I think it can be done successfully both ways, but growing it on as a houseplant does give the bulb a greater opportunity to store energy. I think the forced dormany routine really began because the growers wanted a uniform showy product that could easily ship and bloom on command. It is a lot easier to ship and package a dry leafless bulb with a pot, maybe some soil mix and some instructions than handling a growing bulb with large leaves. Mine has grown without interruption for several years. What I should be doing is dividing it but I just can't seem to find the courage. It is going to happen though, because it is just getting too large to handle. Pretty soon I am going to need a fork lift. LOL

There was a thread last year about whether or not to give amaryllis a dormancy period -- same conclusion that both ways work. I've got quite a few amaryllis out in the deck bed to bring in this weekend, and I'm not going to force dormancy with them this year. I think there are enough of them now that at any given time over the winter I'm likely to have one blooming without needing to "program" them, but we'll see. I have removed small baby bulbs and potted them up (pot just larger than the little bulb) separately.. when I find all of the plants in that bed LOL I will know how well that worked out!