my amaryllis have been outside for the summer, but show no sign of dying back yet. how do i get them ready to rest so i get blooms again? oh, and at what age can i expect a bulblet to be big enough to bloom? should i pot it seperately when i repot the parent? (it's 2 years old & quarter sized) lee
llama mama wrote in news:Xns93FD5D79E5FB1enigmaempirenet@199.125.85.9:
Good questions. I have an amaryllis that I got from Home Depot a few years ago at the end of the season. I planted it and it grew and bloomed. After it bloomed I put it in the garage and didn't water it. It finally died back. I put it outside again and it grew and bloomed nicely. I left it outside all year since I live in the south and it has rebloomed again this year, without dying back.
We'll see what happens next year, as I don't plan on bringing it indoors this fall either.
Dan Harriman Orange, Texas
Where do you live (what zone)? Do you have freezing temperatures in winter?
If you have freezing temperatures you should dig your bulb and let it dry. You can pot it and cut back on the water gradually or just cut the water off completely now. The leaves will die. Then the bulb needs 6 or more weeks in a cool place, 55 F or cooler. During this cool time it will produce flower buds inside the bulb. Then replant it and water it at your convenience.
Too bad there are no websites with information on growing Amaryllis or bulbs in general nor is there such thing as a google search to find them.
We may never be able to find any way to get the answers to your basic questions.
If you are in zone 9 you can leave them outside in a sheltered spot. I have
6 by my front door that started out as just one bulb. I leave mine in the ground and let the grass grow up around them as mulch. They love to be crowded and mine have survived flood, drought, being mowed, weed whacked, and replanted three times within 2 weeks. I get blooms twice a year between 25 and 35 blooms. Basically mine have naturalized in the spot by the front door. I don't fertilize either, just what they get from decomposing grass clippings.Shell
We grow them in the ground here in Zone 8. But we also keep some in pots for winter blooming. After years of playing with the timing we've hit on a fairly good pattern. Grow them with lots of water and fertilizer until mid to late August. The number of bloom stems is directly related to the number and size of bulb scales added and therefore also to the number and good growth of leaves. We then dry them off completely until most foliage is dead. Then we clean them and divide if necessary (roots can live more than 1 year- remove only dead ones), dip in insecticide for possible insects; treat cut areas with powdered sulfur; dry some more; repot in barely most soil and don't water (you can mist some to prevent further dehydration if that seems to be a problem) until the tops start up. Some of ours are already sending up bloom stems and others have some new green growth tips. Most of ours go through multiple bloom periods this way without any further treatments. I know some people do what we do and then refrigerate to delay the bloom stem until the holiday season. Ours usually send up a second bloom stem around the holiday season, so why bother with the refigerator? Plus they have a lush green growth with the bloom instead of a naked stem. Dwarfs will flower when about 1-1 1/2 inches across but we've rarely had a full sized flower from a bulb less than 2 1/2 - 3" across (4-5" is better for full sized blooms). Hope this helps you. Gary
"llama mama" wrote in message news:Xns93FD5D79E5FB1enigmaempirenet@199.125.85.9...
"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in news:ECjbb.4736$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:
yeah, sad isn't it? :) BTW, Google can't find any info on ox harness... or ox harness. you'd think *someone* would have info on making a bow & chain set-up... lee
With the recent overhaul of the Opuntioid genera as well as the naming of a number of new species, all the available field guides are now completely out-of-date. Its about time for something newer than Lyman Benson's 1983 monograph anyway.
Do not use the internet as your primary source of information either. Most of the pictures on-line are posted by amateur entusiasts and many are either with obsolete names or misidentifed.
Often, there is confusion between Amaryllis belladonna (commonly called "naked lady" or "belladonna lily") and various species and hybrids of Hippeastrum (commonly called "amaryllis"). While both are natives of similar climates, their care and culture differ. See my .
The directions that came with my first Amaryllis said "after the leaves die down and before first frost..." bring the pot in to overwinter in a cool, dry place. Well, my leaves didn't die down either, and I found myself in the back yard with a flashlight after hearing a late forecast of "frost tonight." Have since learned a light frost isn't lethal. :-) If the leaves haven't died off, just bring the pot in around the time of frost and store it, without watering, for 2-3 months. The leaves *will* die then. The bulb may signal readiness to grow by putting up new leaf shoots, which is the time to bring it inside and begin watering. Otherwise, after a cool dormant period, bring it indoors and water, and new shoots should appear.
Amaryllis is said to enjoy being "crowded" in the pot, so I transplant infrequently. If a 'baby' bulb looks viable (quarter sized bulb would seem well-established), I split it off and give it its own pot then.
In addition to amaryllis, I thought I had hippeaster, an amaryllis lookalike, but a landscape architect pointed out it was actually chrinum morea (not sure spelling is correct). In my garden books, all three look very similar. In my climate (Los Angeles, Sunset zone 23), I don't remove from the ground except when bulbs get very crowded. They seem to bloom at least twice a year. I give them water when it is very dry. Some of the stalks grow to be almost 3 feet high--the amaryllis that is. The Chrinum gets very large and spreads out, also has offsets, and look great when crowded. The flowers are long lasting, but plants blooms only once a year.
Judy
It's Crinum moorei, which is closely related to Amarillys belladonna.
I've never tried to smell an Amarillys belladonna. Hippeastrum has no great aroma. But the Crinums are pleasantly fragrant.
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