How to Grow Amaryllis
 

• Buy only top-sized bulbs. They have lots more blooms on 2-3 stems. Even if a smaller bulb has some blooms the first year, it often will not bloom again for 2 to 3 years, until it matures. Specifically, Amaryllis sold in cardboard boxes, with a pot and a poor quality potting soil, are often undersized.

• For single specimens potted individually, choose a pot with a diameter 2 inches wider than the Amaryllis bulb. This will leave an inch all the way around the bulb. Amaryllis like to be somewhat root bound.

• Be sure the pot has a drainage hole.

• I prefer a pot that is technically called an Azalea pot. It is deeper than a bulb pan but not as deep and broader based than a standard pot. Thus it is less likely to tip over; Amaryllis grows to a height of two or more feet.

• If you cannot plant the bulbs immediately after receiving them, store in a cool (55 degree) place.

• To encourage rapid root development, soak the base of the bulb and the roots in lukewarm water, to which a little SeaMate has been added, for several hours before planting. Save the SeaMate solution to water in the Amaryllis sparingly immediately after it has been potted.

• Use well-drained, professional-quality potting soil.

• Tamp the soil firmly adding potting mix until the bulb is half covered. The neck should be entirely exposed.

• Depending upon the variety, the flower bud usually emerges before the leaves, with the leaves emerging when the flower spike is about a foot tall.

• Water very sparingly until the sprout is out of the bulb. Thereafter start watering more generously whenever the surface soil is dry to the touch. As the Amaryllis buds open and while it is in flower, it consumes large amounts of water.

• Amaryllis needs warmer temperatures (70 degrees) in the initial stages of growth. Grow them at this temperature until the roots form and the flower stalk and the leaves begin to grow. Bottom heat is ideal, but usually not achievable in the home situation. Warmer temperatures, especially when the stem is over 8 inches, promote long, weak, spindly growth.

• Once the buds open, cooler daytime temperatures of 65 degrees, in a place out of direct sun, will prolong the life of the flower, as will cool night temperatures of 55 degrees.

• Place the pot in a sunny window. Turn the pot daily to insure that the stalk grows straight up. Amaryllis has a tendency to grow towards the light.

• Amaryllis usually bloom 2-3 weeks after the shoot emerges, about 6-9 weeks after potting---longer in the winter and less in the spring. Some varieties naturally bloom earlier than others. Each Amaryllis bulb seems to have a mind of it’s own as to when it will bloom. The earliest an Amaryllis will usually bloom is mid-December. The latest is May.

• For continuous display of flowers, pot Amaryllis on 14 day intervals.

• Amaryllis makes a spectacular display when potted 2-3 bulbs in one pot. Place the bulbs an inch apart with a 1 inch margin around the bulb.

• Pinching off the yellow anthers will also extend the flower life; but this disfigures the flower and you may not wish to do this.

• After the Amaryllis finishes flowering remove the blossoms and their necks to the top of the stem. This will prevent seed formation. For appearance, you can cut the stem off just above the bulb, but if you allow the naked stem to remain for a month or so, until it browns, the bulb will be stronger next year.

• Place the Amaryllis in a sunny window and keep it actively growing after it finishes blooming.

• Keep the soil moderately moist and fertilize with SeaMate with every watering.

• After the danger of frost, when the temperature is warm in the spring, plunge the pot outdoors in a partially shaded spot. Choose a spot with filtered sun. A location with almost full morning sun is good, but strong afternoon sun is not.

• You can top dress the bulb with Bulb-Tone when you first put it outdoors.

• Continue watering and fertilizing the Amaryllis with Seamate all summer.

• Unplunge the pot and bring the plant indoors just before the first hard frost.

• Store in a cool, dry place (about 55 degrees) and stop watering completely. The foliage will gradually turn yellow and then brown. When it does, you can cut off the foliage about an inch above the bulb.

• Leave the pot dry and undisturbed for about a month or two until the shoots begin to emerge.

• Every other year, repot in a slightly larger pot just as growth initiates.

• If new shoots do not emerge by mid-January, move the pot to a warmer place.

• Amaryllis which do not bloom either have had an insufficient dormant period—too warm and/or too short or the bulb is too small. An Amaryllis that had less than 5 leaves over the summer usually is too small to bloom.