Amaryllis Bulbs: Easy Blooms Indoors or Outdoors!
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Easy Blooms Indoors or Outdoors!
Amaryllis bulbs, or Hippeastrum, are magnificent potted plants. They come in shades of salmon, white, pink, red, and orange. Some varieties are bi-colored. Usually, there are two to six flowers for every stalk. Planting the bulbs using two-week intervals will help you toward continuous blooms. You can keep the amaryllis indoors all year long. For growing outdoors, plant in the spring after all danger of frost is gone.
Keep the Amaryllis Actively Growing Even after your amaryllis is done with blooming, you should keep up with the care. Take out the blossoms as soon as they fade in order to prevent any seed formation. If you do not, your next year’s flower production will be greatly diminished. This step may also help in the prevention of disease. Cut off the stem right at the top of the bulb. Locate in a sunny window. Watch Out for These Problems!
Propagation
You can propagate amaryllis by cuttages, offsets, and seed. Seeds Upon pollination, the seed pods will mature within a month or so. Have your pots prepared with well-drained peat and vermiculite. Gather the pods when they have turned yellow and split open. Remove the seeds and plant right away. Add a little bit more medium on top of the seeds. Keep in partial shade. When the seeds germinate, you will need to acclimatize them to increasing light until they can tolerate full sun. Every fourteen days, fertilize with liquid fertilizer diluted at half strength. After one year, you can plant the seedlings. Offsets Offsets should be at least one-third the size of the mother amaryllis before you break them off. As with seeds, plant offsets right away. Usually you will see blooms in two years. Do not forget the mother amaryllis. Snip the leaves about one-and-one half inches above the bulb’s top, and the roots to not more than two inches of the bulb. Replant immediately. Cuttages When the amaryllis bulbs have grown for several months, you can proceed with the cuttings – somewhere between July and November. Slice the bulbs into four sections, leaving at least two scales attached to a part of the basal plate. You may want to powder the wedges with some organic fungicide dust. It will help retard disease. Plant it so that at least one-third of the piece is covered by a well-drained moist medium of part vermiculite and peat. Keep moist in a shaded, warm place. In about one to two months, you will see tiny bulbs forming between the scales, with leaves sprouting a short while thereafter. Do not transplant until at least two leaves have formed. Depending on your location, your amaryllis bulbs will bloom in two or three years. More on amaryllis bulbs!
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