Amaryllis and Hippeastrums: Trimming thick basal plates, 1 by joanlc

joanlc wrote:
I thought I'd update this thread, with illustrations, since I can't seem to find pictures of this process anywhere. The photos seem to have uploaded *not* in the order I meant them to go. So: the 2nd photo is the first one I trimmed. And the result is in the first photo.

Photos 3 and 4 show two other bulbs that I trimmed. I read somewhere that it would be best not to plant them immediately, but to dust the cut surface with Captan (but I used cinnamon instead), and then allow them to dry, before planting.

For other tyros like me, I'll just observe that actually cutting these wasn't any harder than cutting a potato. I thought maybe they'd be really tough and woody, but they're not. Still, a really sharp knife is a good thing to use.

Question: how long should I expect to let them dry? 24 hours? A week?

And more questions: Do you think all these bulbs did actually need to be trimmed? Their first growing season in my care was 2011. So this would have been their fourth year, for all of them. How often do you find it necessary to trim the plates? And to what thickness? I didn't quite dare cut all the way to the bottom of the round part of the bulb, because in most cases there were some roots growing there, that I didn't want to cut off. Should I have just bit the bullet and done it?

When I dug up the bulbs in September, and trimmed the leaves off, would that have been a better time to trim the plates, and then let them sit in the cool and dry, and cure?

All of these bulbs failed to put on the bulk I would normally expect, during the past growing season. They'll probably still bloom, but I bet not as big as what they used to. I planted them into the garden last summer instead of keeping them in pots, as I usually do, in the hope that completely consistent water, rich soil, and plenty of room for expansion would bring them on; but it didn't seem to do the trick. I'm hoping that with this trimming, this will be a recovery year.

I hope the photos and your observations will help others who want to make their amaryllises last years and years. Thanks!