Care questions after growing from seed

Hi, everyone! I'm not new to DG but new to this forum. A few years ago, on a whim, I decided to try to fertilize and grow my own amaryllis from seed. To be perfectly honest, I am a poor record keeper and have a terrible memory. I may have crossed it with something else or tried to self it OR who knows! Bottom line is I wound up with several 4" pots with anywhere from 5-8 bulbs in them. The "pots" I used were plastic containers that chicken livers come in. This past year they started blooming. The pict attached is one of those grown from seed. The real color is more pink. Anyway, I removed the pot from this one and just put it into a 6 inch pot. There are 5 or 6 bulbs, the one in bloom and another bulb with a new bud.

First question......I would assume that ideally after blooming I should remove all the bulbs, clean them off, then store them till next fall, but why? Eventually all the bulbs will attain blooming size and I might have quite a show. Is there some logical/horticultural reason to let the bulbs rest?

Second question......For those of you who have grown bulbs from seed, what is SUPPOSED to be the process? I have more seed I'd like to sow but don't recall how I did it before. I am NOT intending on marketing these. I realize most cultivars are patented, but my goal is to create new cultivars only for my own fun and pleasure.

I'm sure I'll think of other questions but for now, if y'all can help me with these I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!
Sharon

OK! Just saw the post below mine about "to divide or not divide". That helps with the question about multiple bulbs/pot, but what about how to grow bulbs from seed?

Sharon

This message was edited Mar 2, 2008 8:18 PM

tervherd~

The question of dormancy in Hippis has been covered here and there in the forum. I won't into all the details, but will cover some of it.

"...I would assume that ideally after blooming I should remove all the bulbs, clean them off, then store them till next fall, but why?"

Do *not* dry your bulbs after flowering-- ever. They are just beginning their annual cycle and are ready to grow leaves and make more flowers. Drying off is the worst thing you could do at this point.

For most hybrids like yours, total dormancy isn't needed either. If you have enough light in the winter, they'll stay green. That would be the preferred way to grow them. At some point from fall into winter, you can back off the watering a bit and give the plant a "cool rest" to promote any scapes that are mature enough in their development to emerge during winter or spring.

The older books and even tag information supplied with the bulb will direct you to do this in the fall. It is something that you might choose to do, depending on your situation, but if at all possible, don't. And if you must rest your plant in total dormancy, allow it to remain in the pot--it helps the roots survive.

I think you are doing it right as far as growing from seed to flower. Seedling plants BTW, are even less amenable to total winter dormancy. It could mean losing some of them if they are very young. Very young bulbs will resist losing all foliage under the same conditions that cause a mature bulb to "sleep". By keeping your young bulbs growing in good light year-round, they will reach blooming size sooner.

Most people that have seedlings in pots let them get a little crowded at first, then pot up as they need it. *Be sure not to over-pot them though.* Some will pot up in multiples for a time and some go ahead and give each it's own pot when a year or so old--depends on the person and on how large the bulb is at the time.

Is your new plant a seedling from 'Vera'? When you self a large-flowered hybrid like Vera, the seedlings are usually much like the parent in appearance, but are generally inferior in size, form, color etc. I think a lot of the super-bargain bulbs we see marketed are seed grown from hybrids--and that's one of the reasons we have so much trouble identifying them--they are close to named cultivars, but not quite the same. Nice, but not as nice as the original that must be vegetatively cloned to be true.

R.

Thank you so much, radio, for your input! Glad you included the info about the "super-bargain bulbs". That is all I've ever bought AND when they are 50-75% off. I'm careful, though, to make sure the bulb is firm and relatively healthy looking. I've never gotten one that didn't grow and bloom, OTOH, it also might get me to try some quality bulbs and see how they might produce better quality plants and blooms. This info about not needed a dormancy is great. I've always let amaryllis plants grow year round and get arguments from people about not doing this. Just seems to me that allowing the leaves to grow feeds and strengthens the bulbs. OTOH, this might be difficult for many folks. I've had some that have leaves nearly 3 feet long.

The plants I grew from seed were in my greenhouse for the first 3 or 4 years of their lives so they grew quite well. I only recently brought some of them inside. I built my own house and made sure there were lots of windows so there is lots of good light, other than the fact that I live in Ohio and our winters are pretty dreary. Unfortunately, I have not a clue what the cultivar was. It was just an experiment with something I bought cheap and decided to play with.

One more question, if you will, please.....is there such a thing as winter hardy amaryllis bulbs? I'd love to leave them in the ground outside but our winters can get down as low as zero or -10.

Thanks again!
Sharon

Hi Sharon~

There are amaryllis that are hardier than others, but the "reliable" cut-off zone is somewhere around zone 7. Colder zones push the limits of the bulb, but with the right situation, they can survive further north of Z-7. I hear stories of bulbs surviving the winter as far north as Chicago, but cannot personally vouch for them. Hardy to a point, but not what we really think of as "hardy".

There are some bulbs being market currently by one vendor as "hardy", but I take that with a *huge* "grain of salt". There aren't any naturally-occuring species with the kind of hardiness we'd like, so I can see where a hybrid could get anymore hardiness than we have already seen. It would really be a matter of breeding a more adaptable hybrid than we already know of. Not sure if the results could be really significant... I'm going to get some to experiment with at some point, but not until I have grown back-ups. And really, many of the already released hybrids have a good chance here in Zone7.

I'm all for people "pushing the zone" and encourage well-imformed attempts, with the experimenter knowing that they are taking a big chance, and would suggest they use bulbs that they don't mind losing.

I've always envied the lower and deep south where one can have greater success with outdoor planting, but that was mostly because I wanted a way around having to store my bulbs indoors for the winter, where I didn't have to worry about trying to meet their light/warmth needs. Most of the progenitors of the hybrids are from semi-tropical to tropical climates and aren't used so very cold winter temperatures during dormancy, and the evergreen species even less so. Even those from the mountainous areas don't have the same protracted periods of winter cold (and wet!) we get here, even in Z-7. A dry dormancy deep in the sandy soil of their homeland is different from what they'll get here!

I mean to try some in the ground at some time, and have decided to plant only the smaller-flowered ones. The large-flowered ones just seem so out-of-place due to their scale and it kind of seems an insult to their grandure to place them amongst other garden flowers anyway. I like having them in a pot and treat them as something "special", rather than as another focal point in my already mish-mashy yard. The small-medium-flowered varieties fit in a lot better (to me) and those are the ones I intend to put in. "Someday". (Actually I have a few bulbs here and there that I left in last fall, withouth much special preparation beond adding a dried-leaf mulch. I sometimes put bulbs in the ground for the summer only for the wonderful growth it yields.)

If you wanted to try some in the ground, in a protected micro-climate (if you have one) you might try mature bulbs of xjohnsonii, Red lion, Apple Blossom, Ackermanii or Naughty Lady. Those are noted for superior "hardiness", but that is still based on a Zone7-and-therabouts nothern limit. Properly planted, they can survive unmulched in most yards here. The further north you go, the more you have to be sure they are in soil with superior draining abilities and apply mulch or other protection. One of the worst things for them is wet, sodden winter soil. Cold + wet = trouble! It would be better to plant under an eaves so that the bulbs do not receive any winter rain. Get them in early and plant with the eye below soil level. Exactly how deep is variable, but the top of the bulb must be *below the frost penetration point*. Even here, if the bulb itself freezes, all can be lost.

My concern for your northerly zone would be the short season of growth they'd have, So brief a time for a plant to grow the next batch of flowers. The season starts late and ends early. Another challenge.

So, is all that "iffiness" worth it? It's all up to you.

The outlook isn't at all good, and despite the stories I hear, I won't really urge you beyond saying, I'm rooting for you, if you decide to experiment.

R.