All the instructions I've read for Amaryllis say that, after you dig the bulb up at the end of the summer and cut off the foliage, you should let the bulb "rest" for 4 to 6 weeks in a cool, dry spot.
How necessary is that?
My MIL just dug hers up last week, then got out the instructions I'd sent her and was distressed to think she couldn't pot it up right away for flowers by Christmas. (Granted, it's a pink one, so having it bloom for Valentine's Day would work).
And as long as we're on the topic of dormancy periods, it is really even necessary to uproot & chop back Amaryllis at the end of summer? I had 2 plants start putting up flowers before I got around to yanking them out of their summer pots, so I just let them bloom. Now am I supposed to let them keep growing leaves to replenish the bulb after bloom, or as I supposed to dig them and cut back the leaves and let them "rest?"
I thought I knew how to grow amaryllis.... until I realized I don't have a clue about the reasoning behind the standard instructions! LOL.
Is it really necessary to "rest" Amaryllis bulbs?
Let it dry out and rest for about 5 or 6 weeks. then repot and fertilize (which you should have been doing on a regular basis anyway.)
Right.... that's what all the instructions I've read say too. But I don't know the *why* of it, and I don't know what bad thing will happen if you let the bulb rest for a shorter time or just keep it potted and don't let it rest at all.... In their native (tropical, I think?) environs, surely the original amaryllis just grew year round and nobody made it rest. Maybe the dormant period is somehow needed to make it start flowering right away when it wakes up?
That would be my guess. I usually get a new one to start on the first week of Dec. After it blooms it goes into the ground with the past years' bulbs. The newly planted bulb usually blooms again in summer with the rest of them and then settles into a summer bloomer. Last years has yet to lose its leaves, so I am wondering what it has in mind. I have never kept them in pots so can't help you there.
Critter, someone gave me a red amaryllis several years ago. I've never rested it, (didn't know I was supposed to- lol ). It has had flowers at least twice a year, and has also produced 3 "offshoot" bulbs , 2 of which also flower once or twice a year. (3rd one still little). All I do is water regularly, liquid feed irregularly (when I remember), put them outside in summer and in a sunny conservatory in winter, and re-pot every other yearish,(ie when I get round to it.) Oh , I also pull off the old leaves when they go yellow. They seem to be very happy like this. I would also like to know why they stipulate a rest period.
Maggi
I believe that you send it into a dormant period to then give it the signal to bloom first, before putting on the leaves. It is annoying, but it does give you some control over the plant.
I have many that I leave in the ground. They seem to put on the leaves first and bloom much later than those I've put through the dormant period and brought in. So what looks longer may be faster.
cynthia
That makes sense. I'm thinking that unless I'm trying to "time" the bloom for a holiday centerpiece, I may just leave some of my amaryllis in their pots to "do their thing" on their own schedule!
OK, that makes a lot of sense Cynthia. Mine seem to have leaves ffor several months before they flower, and I certainly have no control over them! I just try to cover their needs in a haphazard way and enjoy what they give me if and when they give it me. Hmm, that last statement would also apply to the rest of the garden, the house , the husband and the kids....LOL.
Maggi
LOL, Maggi! Great philosophy! (As an aside, I haven't forgotten about sending you a nice packet of seeds... my dining room table is cluttered with seeds in various stages of drying & packaging... I'm just not sorted out yet! I'll Dmail you when I have a list.)
Critter, thankyou. BTW, any news of Bassetmom? I really miss her.
Maggi xxxx
Me too, and I haven't heard anything... I haven't seen much of mysticwill around DG lately, either, but if she got any news about Bassetmom I'm sure she'd post.
sorry we got off topic...
Here's a photo of my Amaryllis 'Supreme' blooming last year. I just dug up the bulb and separated 2 daughter bulbs from it. I've had daughter bulbs on a couple this year, and I sepatated any that were big enough to be putting up leaves. I just potted them right up again so they could keep growing... hope I'm doing the right thing with them! I wonder if daughter bulbs should be left in the pot with mom?
My Amaryllis are all in pots (cant plant them outside here!)and I never cut off the foliage .I used to put them outside for the summer and bring in early fall, now I just put them up on a sunny ledge in the bathroom. Sort of rest them in the fall (just keep barely moist) and start watering again early December - usually repot too as I suspect they use all the soil nutrients every year.
Wow, that's a beauty! I think you're doing the right thing with the "daughters". That's what I did with mine and 2 out of 3 have started having flowers. All mine are plain red of course, having come from the same parent bulb. Now I'm starting to lust after some different colours.... OOOOH! Look what ya dun!!!
Maggi xxxx
I also have some little Amaryllis that I started from *seed* last winter! I have no idea what color they will be, since I got the seeds in a trade, but I may try to do a deliberate cross this year and see what happens! I have small bulbs of a couple different varieties that I planned to put into the same pot, and I can't resist the idea of trying to get seeds from them, even though I'm sure that will deplete the bulb more than if I just cut off the spent flower.
Wish me luck, because you know I'll share any seeds that I get! :-)
Do they start easily from seed Critter? We'll have to trade....
Maggi xxxx
My experience is that they do not require a resting period. And the only reason to do it is that there wasn't enough room in the house to have them all inside all winter.
Well, I was sent 5 bonus seeds in a trade, and I planted them promptly, and all 5 came up! So cute!
Andidandi, that sounds like a good reason.... If I keep on with getting "just a couple more" each year, I shall have to do the same, I'm sure! At least they don't need large pots, so it's fairly easy to tuck them in between the other plants in the morning room.
I have a lot from seed this year too, and I was also surprised at how well they did in a single season.
I grow mine in pots and they have leaves all year round so I don't rest them, I just let them grow as they will. I know I should feed them more though.
Some Hippeastrums keep their leaves year-round, but should be rested nevertheless, to promote blooming. Papilio is one evergreen that people complain about not getting good blooming from, and I think that they don't rest them by cutting back on the watering and withholding fertilizer, keeping a bit cooler as well.
Small bulbs of Hippeastrum will sometimes not be rested until they're two years old to get a larger bulb sooner. I have had new bulbs (from seed) bloom the next summer sfter they were palnted a year before. Small offset bulbs surrounding your mother bulb can be reluctant to shed their leaves. I just let the pot go quite dry and put in a dark place.
raydio.
I've had some for a couple of years now, and they seem to like being repotted. However, they don't mind a smallish pot... I think it's better for them to be a little potbound than to be in an overly large pot where the soil stays too wet, which may promote rotting of the bulb. I've been putting them into pots sized so the diameter of the pot is no more than 2-3 inches larger than the diameter of the bulb.
I've had the same bulbs for up to 15 years, some younger.
I plant them in 6 inch pots on New Years Day in new soil and get flowers by Valentines Day.
They go outside on Memorial Day and come in on Halloween for a rest. Any leaves that are still green by Thanksgiving are cut off. Rest is no water and a cool basement floor.
They bloom every year, sometimes in August, too.
Baby bulbs are treated the same, they generally bloom at age 3.
Andy P
Wow, thanks for posting, Andy! We needed some input from somebody who'd been keeping them year to year for longer than just a few years... 15 years!! Jeepers!
I'm amazed they still fit into 6 inch pots! :-)
I treat them like all my houseplants, lean and mean. LOL
So, when they go outside.... you don't plant them in the ground, you just keep them in their pots?
I'm asking because I didn't see as much growth on the bulb this year when they were in pots as I did the previous year when I planted a couple of them out into the garden.
It depends on how lazy I am at the time. Sometimes I put a group of them in a large window box and just fill in around the root balls with new soil. (The boxes are just used as containers, not for windows. Easier to handle one or two boxes than 7 or 8 pots.)
On lazy years they stay in the pots, the bulbs don't get too big but always give me 1 or 2 stalks of flowers.
I started buying bulbs as gifts for my mom at Christmas and was disappointed with them in the following years. So then I started taking them back after they bloomed and would return them the next Christmas. This way they were always nice and I didn't have to keep buying them only to watch them die. Plus I'd get some babies.
Mom has been gone for many years now but I still have her Amaryllis.
Two colors, A deep red and a white/pink. The red is the oldest, the white/pink makes lots of babies. I only keep 6 or so and give the extras away.
Andy P
My older amaryllis have started making baby bulbils too... I'll hope to do some trading with you & others here in the future, Andy!
Now that I have a digital camera, I'll be able to post pics next February.
I don't think mine are any special or rare varieties though.
I got one of them from a surplus store. They had a giant box full of loose bulbs for a buck each.
www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com has a bee-yoo-tifull red and white double called "Blossom Peacock". Mmmmmmmmm.......and about 20 other pretties.
I bought some Arum dracunculus from them and I'm peased with the quality and service they offer. Also got a copy of their catalogue thrown in for free. Lots of color pictures, many narcissus and tulips as well as some out-of-the-way items.
raydio.
I had a 'Blossom Peacock' last year, and it was gorgeous! It sent up a bloom when I brought it in this fall, just before we went to visit my in-laws in NC. I took it along so we could all enjoy it, trying to make it clear that I wanted it back (they have one already bec. I bought two last year & shared), and yet somehow when DH stopped in on his way back home my MIL "forgot" to send it back with him. *sigh* Clearly, I need another one!
What a beauty! My newest favorite (last year) is this one, not sure of the name because it didn't match what the label on the box indicated but I liked it better!
I like those shorter ones. Mine are all so TALL!
OOPS, that was the wrong picture. Here is the one I wanted to show you
.
Here is my favorite from the year before.
Ooooh! Picotee!!! I love anything that's picotee.
Mary E, I have the oops pictured one posted at 10:02, don't know the name. I also have a deep red one.
Andy P
The oops came in a box that said Apple Blossom. I've enjoyed them all even if they aren't properly named.
That name rings a bell, sounds right. Mine came in a box also from the super market.
This is the one that makes a lot of babies.
Andy P
The picture you posted at 10:02 looks just like Appleblossom to me. Here's a link to the picture on the Brent & Becky's site, http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/index.php?sku=40-0106
Note that their sale is now 50% off on remaining bulbs! I ordered 14 amaryllis bulbs from them last night after midnight (when the sale started). I got 10 of their 'Pink Impression' amaryllis because their cost worked out to about $3.30 each including shipping, and I thought they'd make great hostess/neighbor gifts. And I got myself another 'Blossom Peacock', so my MIL is off the hook on that one! (Yes, I got her a couple of new ones too, including 'Double Queen' which I think she'll love.)
I think I'll take a couple of plastic nursery pots with me to the dollar store and try to find some decorative continers that they'll fit into. We sure won't have to wait for spring daffodils to have some bright flowers around here! :-)