Forcing Amaryllis Bulk in Water?

[chibrina]

Hi,

I am completely new to gardening and amaryllis, so please my question might be naive for most of you here. I have been given this amaryllis, a glass container, and some polished river rocks by my friend. I was told to put the river rocks in the glass and the amaryllis bulk on top of the rocks, then put water in to emerge about

1/4 of the bulk in water. I guess that's all that I need to do and expect the amaryllis to grow.

As I said, I am bland new to planting any plant, and I want to make sure I am doing it right. I would really appeciate if anyone can tell me if I am doing everything necessary. Thanks a lot!

Mike

[Tom Randy]

I would only put in enough water to cover the roots, NOT the bulb itself. It will most likely rot if it sat in water.

[presley]

[Kay Lancaster]

Amaryllis are top-heavy and "tippy" when in full bloom; river rocks aren't going to help the situation, alas. Me, myself and I, I prefer plain old potting soil with some extra sand for bulb forcing and a drained plastic or (my favorite) clay pot -- drains well enough that bulbs don't rot, heavy enough that the pots don't tip, and much less tricky to water properly. Plant so that about 1/4 of the bulb is out of the soil. Put the drained pot in a decorative "cache pot" for display. Don't let the pot sit in water, or you may get root or bulb rot started. Toss the polished rocks on top of the soil for decoration if you like.

Kay

[David Ross]

No, don't force the bulb to go dormant. In nature, amaryllis (Hippeastrum) is evergreen. Indoors, keep the pot near a window where it will get strong INDIRECT light (not direct sun). Keep it slightly moist so that it keeps growing through the winter.

In my garden, amaryllis sometimes goes dormant by itself and sometimes does not. If it does not, then it may bloom two or even three times in one year.

See my .