If you plan to keep your forced amaryllis bulb (Hippeastrum) to rebloom from year to year, you need to give it a good start and ongoing care. Here are some tips and trouble shooting hints to help you grow your best amaryllis flowers yet.
The biggest problems seem to be planting too deep (cover only half the bulb with soil) and/or overwatering which cause the bulb to rot, lack of light which makes the foliage weak, and lack of vigorous foliage which makes the bulb weak.
It may be helpful to review the basic planting and care instructions for growing amaryllis.
How to Plant and Grow An Amaryllis Bulb
How to Rebloom An Amaryllis Bulb
Remember that it all starts with the bulb. If the bulb is not healthy it will not flower.
- Buy the biggest bulb you can find. Make sure it is heavy for its size, firm and plump. There should be no soft spots, no mold, no smell. Often, the prepackaged amaryllis kits and inexpensive bulbs are smaller size bulbs. They should bloom for you but will not be as prolific as larger bulbs.
- Your first planting pot can be small, just an inch or two wider than the bulb itself. Use a container with drainage holes in the bottom.
- Amaryllis bulbs are often packaged like a kit with a small pot and some dry fluffy peat moss rather than a potting soil mix. If you know you want to keep your bulb, do not plant it in the peat moss. Purchase some good quality potting mix formulated for container plants and use that instead. The potting mix or soil should drain well. If in doubt, add some coarse builders’ sand or a little grit.
- When you water, make sure to empty the saucer under the pot so the pot never sits in water. Overwatering or constantly wet soil will cause the bulb to rot. When the plant is blooming, underwatering (or high temperatures) can cause the flowers to dry out prematurely. During summer when the foliage is actively growing, water and fertilize generously.
- After the bulb blooms the first time, I like to repot into a wider but shallow container such as a ten inch hanging basket size pot. This allows space for offsets to grow around the perimeter of the mother bulb. Eventually, the offsets will be large and strong enough to bloom and you will have multiple blooming stems in one pot. If you do this, take care not to over water your bulb in the beginning when it is still relatively small compared to the container.
- Replenish the potting soil after the fall rest period by scraping away some of the old soil and replacing it with fresh soil. Or repot into all fresh soil after the fall rest period. At that time you can also split off the offsets (baby bulbs) and pot them up individually if you wish. Offsets will have the same flower as the mother bulb.
- Amaryllis are native to a warm climate. If you live in USDA winter hardiness zones 8-10, you can plant your amaryllis permanently outside in the garden.
- Some types of amaryllis do not go fully dormant in the fall. Instead, they rest at a cool room temperature of 50 to 55 degrees and retain their foliage.
- There are many different named varieties of amaryllis. Look for red, white, pink, salmon, bicolor and pale green in single, double and butterfly forms. You can also find early and late bloomers. They are fun to collect. You might try hybridizing your own and growing from seed. Seedling flowers may or may not match the parent.
Enjoy!
More ideas for winter blooming flowers to grow indoors.
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