Amaryllis Saving
Step-By-Step Keeping an Amaryllis
Bright, almost audacious colors and enormous flowers make amaryllis plants (Hippeastrum hybrids) an exuberant antidote to gloomy winter days. These large bulbs send forth 1-2 hollow stems that elongate quickly before unfurling 3-4 lilylike blossoms in vivid tropical shades of red, pink, salmon, orange, white, or various bicolors.
Usually we acquire our first amaryllis as a holiday gift, enjoy its blossoms that winter, then discard the plant, not realizing that amaryllis (like many gift plants) can live to brighten winter days again. True, the bulb uses up its reserves of energy in putting forth the first round of flowers, but with faithful care through the year, you can coax it to renew its strength so it will bloom again.
- Initial Planting
- An Amaryllis blooms best when somewhat pot-bound, so choose a pot that is about 7 inches deep but no more than an inch or 2 wider than the diameter of the bulb. A clay pot is preferable to a plastic one, because its weight will provide stability when the plant becomes top-heavy.
Be sure the pot has one or more drainage holes; the roots of an amaryllis will die if the soil around them is constantly soggy. Cover the holes with pieces of broken clay pots or fine mesh screen to keep the s oil from washing out.
Fill the pot about halfway with commercial potting mix, packing it in fairly firm. Then set the bulb in place and pack more potting soil around it, leaving an inch of space between the soil line and the pot's rim. The top third of the bulb should protrude above the soil line so the water won't accumulate around its neck and cause it to rot. When the bulb is packed in, water it well once. Don't water again until the bulb shows growth.
Place the pot in a bright, warm room (65 to 75ºF by day, 5-10 degrees cooler at night) while the roots are developing. Within a few weeks, the first signs of bud stalk will appear. Leaves usually begin to appear later.
Water the plant whenever the top soil feels dry, and feed it twice a month with bulb food or a liquid fertilizer (5-10-5 is best). Rotate the pot daily to encourage even growth of the broad, strappy leaves. You may wish to support the heavy bloom stalk with a wire stake. When buds begin to open, move the plant into a cooler, shadier room. Heat and bright light will cause the flowers to fade and wither more quickly.
- An Amaryllis blooms best when somewhat pot-bound, so choose a pot that is about 7 inches deep but no more than an inch or 2 wider than the diameter of the bulb. A clay pot is preferable to a plastic one, because its weight will provide stability when the plant becomes top-heavy.
- Care After Bloom
- Your amaryllis bulb has just invested all its energy in producing flowers. It now needs plenty of water, fertilizer, and sunshin e to allow its leaves to carry on the process of photosynthesis and replenish the bulb's food supply.
Pinch off spent blossoms so the plant doesn't waste energy forming seeds. Don't remove any foliage yet. Move the plant to a sunny window, continue to water as needed, and fertilize twice a month to promote healthy leaves. The more leaves the plant grows in summer, the more flower stalks it will be able to produce the following winter. If you wish, move the pot outside once spring has truly arrived, or put it in a greenhouse or on an indoor windowsill. Try to find a spot where it will receive at least four hours of sunshine each day.
- Your amaryllis bulb has just invested all its energy in producing flowers. It now needs plenty of water, fertilizer, and sunshin e to allow its leaves to carry on the process of photosynthesis and replenish the bulb's food supply.
- Dormancy and Storage
- To some extent, each amaryllis bulb seems to set its own timetable for going dormant and then reblooming. Usually, however, the foliage begins to turn yellow and die back by late August (sometimes later, sometimes earlier), signaling the beginning of the plant's dormant stage. When this happens, stop watering and fertilizing. If you had set the pot outside over the spring and summer, lay it on its side so that rain won't moisten the soil, and bring it in before the first hard frost. Cut off dead foliage and store the bulb, still in its pot, in a dark, cool (about 55ºF) spot such as a basement for about two months.
- Revival
- Begin awakening your amaryllis bulb from its rest 6-8 weeks before you want it to bloom again. Gently remove the top inch of soil with a spoon and replace it with fresh potting mix. Then water the plant well and fertilize. Follow the same schedule of care as last year to bring the plant into bloom and through the summer again.
An amaryllis may reuse to bloom again if its roots have been disturbed too ofter, so don't repot unless the bulb looks really crowded (once every 3-4 years is usually enough). You'll disrupt the plant least if you repot it at the start of the revival, or new-growth, period.
- Begin awakening your amaryllis bulb from its rest 6-8 weeks before you want it to bloom again. Gently remove the top inch of soil with a spoon and replace it with fresh potting mix. Then water the plant well and fertilize. Follow the same schedule of care as last year to bring the plant into bloom and through the summer again.
Occasionally, miniature plants (called 'pups') appear around the mother bulb. If you want a clump of amaryllis in one pot, leave them be. If not, you can remove them and pot them separately at the beginning of the new-growth stage. Pups develop slowly bu should bloom once they are three years old.
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a revived amaryllis bulb sends up 2 new leaves but no flowers. Don't despair! If the plant seems healthy and strong, give it another chance by carrying it through another growing season - it may just need more time to gather the strength to rebloom.