Butterfly Amaryllis

I've had a butterfly amaryllis for about 15 years. It never bloomed until two years ago. But it has not bloomed since then. I've seen one at the library of the university where I worked - it bloomed constantly with a multitude of blooms. I must be doing something wrong. How should I be treating this dude?

If you are referring to H. papilio (the one in the bulb trade) they are truly an evergreen plant and if you have been forcing them into dormancy, that might somehow have affected the blooming cycle. Possible, but not certain that it is the cause of your problem.)

So, that leaves us looking at how you have been growing them otherwise.

Do you feed them regularly when in growth?
They are on the "hungry" side of plants that *need* to be fed to increase in size and prosper. And that means to bloom, too.

And along with that: Do you water regularly so that they never dry completly out? And *never* is the pot sitting in a saucer of water?
Too wet or too dry can mean root damage and worse (Rot if they are kept too wet.)
Ample watering and then allow to become half-dry before watering again. In summer my outdoor amaryllis dry out each day just-about, so I water nearly every day anyhow, but everyday many times this summer during August.


Are they getting plenty of good light?
I have mine outdoors in summer and the get about a half-day of direct sun. In winter, I have them in a south-ish facing window and they get direct sun as much as possible.It would be better all day long in winter here, since the light is so much weaker.

Are they in a good soiless mix, that is rich and free-draining?
H. papilio seem particulary demanding of an "airy" mix.

And is your plant in a clay pot?
Unglazed terra cotta is the only kind of pot I'll use for any other bulb than a seedling. The clay gives off mositure easily and this helps avoid overly damp conditions. But likewise, the moisture-retaining plastic pot helps keep seedlings from drying out too quickly and suffering root damage.

Be sure that they aren't over-potted.
Papilio is said to be one of the few amaryllis that prosper from being quite rootbound, but I don't agree. Too much soil can hold too much moisture for too long......

So, maybe one or more of these might be the issue with your plant not reblooming.

I got two papilios in 2005 and they bloomed that winter and repeated again in 2006. I fully expect them to bloom this winter (and/or possibly this fall as they are known to do.)

Here's a pic of one of my plants (with the green stick-tag) on 12/23 in an 8" pot:
(2 scapes that winter. Only one the previous year. And there are offset coming.)




This message was edited Oct 27, 2007 3:15 PM

And here is the same plant in a 10" pot, this month. Even without the pot, the foliage is about two feet tall. The offsets have grown too.

Hope you get your plant to bloom!

R.

Great advice! I realize that I'm not watering and feeding it enough. Thanks

Glad to have helped out. I'll be looking forward to seeing a pic of a nice, fat bulb and a scape or two.

:-)

R.

raydio- What are you using as your soiless mix?

bmattingly38 - Here's what happened with mine: It was a good sized bulb (baseball) when I acquired it. I potted it up and it was slow to green up. About two years later I brought it in from it's usual summer outside. I did not force dormancy, but I accidentally forgot about it for about 2-3 weeks. At that point I went in into water it and it was in bloom. Since then it hasn't bloomed again but is producing offsets like crazy. It is offsetting more rapildly that any in my collection, but hasn't bloomed again. Maybe that's because I potted it up as Raydio says they don't like.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 3:04 AM

I have been using Miracle-Gro potting soil as a "base" and will amend it with some fine vemiculite and perlite. If I have fine wood chips on hand and the bag of mix I have seems low on that, I will add some and lesser amounts of the others two. I've been happy with it so far.

[But......Seems like Mir-Gro is somewhat inconsistant form run to run, and some batches just aren't as good as others.........]

I used a lot of Fafard a few years ago, mostly for Hosta, and think I'll be trying it the next round of amaryllis potting I do. Maybe some Pro-Mix too.

R.