Carol,
thanks you for your reply. It is very interesting if I do not have to=20=
let them go dormant. I do have the window space, so that is not so
much of an issue for me. Can I ask you couple of more question about
your method?:
1- Since you do not let them go dormant, do you keep feeding them all
year long, or do you stop feeding them at some point?What kind of
fertilizer do you feed them?
2- Are there any tricks or things I have to watch for when not letting=20=
them go dormant?
3- When will they bloom? Can I control that if I do not let them go
dormant?
4- Do you mean by "to make a cut so I get more bulbs" is to remove a
new little bulb that is attached to the big older one? How is that
done, since I have several of these babies?
5- do you notice better results when not letting them go dormant (bulb=20=
size / flower size / etc)?
Layth
time
lows
growing
of
dormacy
You can ask me as many questions as you like, but Kathryn is the real exp=
ert!
1) I repot them now and then (like every three years or so) and mix in so=
me compost, or, lately, coffee grounds. In December-January-February I g=
ive them a tiny bit of organic feed (pellets one can buy in Denmark) and =
water them a tiny bit more than the rest of the year.
2) Not that I know of. This is the first year, or second, I don't let min=
e go dormant, and I see no difference at all.
3) I am lucky enough to be very poor, and therefore most of my house is n=
ot warm at all in winter. It's enough to bring one of them into the heat =
of the livingroom (about 80F) and they feel like blossoming. I have no id=
ea what people do otherwise, but Kathryn can tell you. Maybe a sunporch, =
or a room that you don't have to heat from fall to blossoming time?
4) The cut is something Kathryn told me about. You have to let your bulb =
dry out (dormancy) and then you make a cross on the bottom. It will then =
produce more sidebulbs.
I don't remove sidebulbs, but at some point they do remove themselves fro=
m the mother bulb. I find out when repotting. Kathryn says they will blos=
som faster if they have their own pot. I was just letting the sidebulbs g=
et very large, sometimes larger then the mother, but only the mother was =
blossoming!
5) No difference!
Carol, with a bow to Kathryn!
> the plants around) or to make a cut so I get more side bulbs).
> 2) Refrigeration should not be necessary. They grow just fine outdoors=
e
s
g
> in October, so I would have them flowering in Nov- Dec., here is what=
> I
> though I would do:
> - I taper off watering in July
> - Move to dark dry area in August
> -Cut back dead leaves and let rest from middle August till middle o=
f
y
Carol
Your faith in my is frightening!
However, this particular question involves how to force the bulbs for early
flowering and I think that she's going to need a spell of dormancy. What I
don't know is what the dormant season temperature is in their natural
habitat. So I went to look! Try
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8529.html which has everything
you could ever need to know about growing hippeastrums. And I'm afraid the
answer is that its too late to get them to flower by Christmas. You need
eight to ten weeks of either dormancy or growing (either will do but the
latter is best) at 55F or lower. Which tells you about the temperatures
Carol and I have in our houses in winter - my conservatory and Carol's
spare room are chilly places. Then bring them back into 70ish.
Anyway the website will tell you in great detail - its a good one.
Incidentally Carol, the people at North Carolina obviously have no
difficulty getting Amaryllis offsets to flower in the same pot as the
parents bulb so you and I must have another go. They don't mention the
cross cut method. Probably because if you aren't careful you can kill the
bulb - hope it works for you Carol
Can I remind people that if you are looking for good growing information on
the net its always a good idea to search by generic name - the link above
is the very first you get if you search on hippeastrum with Google
kathryn
Yeah, but most of us don't have the word "hippeastrum" on our tongues or our fingertips. I don't and I am crazy about amaryllis (and other showy flowers).
Carol
