This is what I did to get a twofer out of last year's bulb.
When the flowers dried up, I cut them off. Similarly, when the flower stalk dried up, I removed it.
I put the amaryllis in a sunny window for the rest of the winter. The leaves are graceful, curving structures.
In the spring when the nighttime temperatures were reliably above 40 degrees F, I moved the plant outside to our sunny porch.
The amaryllis went a bit feral outside. Weeds grew in the potting soil, and a spider took up residence in the leaves.
I intended to give it some liquid organic fertilizer, but that didn't happen.
If the leaves wilted, I removed them.
In the fall when the thermometer started to drop below 40 F, I brought it inside.
After a while, I cut off the few remaining leaves and moved it to the basement. I didn't water the bulb while it was in the basement.
I'd read that the bulb was supposed to stay in the dark for 6-8 weeks.
At 7 weeks, the bulb had grown a 10" stem with a flower bud, so 6 weeks seems right.
I brought it upstairs, watered thoroughly and put the plant in a warm, sunny spot.
Flowers happened.
4 comments:
That's a real beauty, Ann, thanks for sharing it and your handling of it. I have copied and pasted those for future reference. I do like the bicolor with delicate veining more than solid colors, though I shy away from double flowers.
Thanks, Tim. I've found that often the white petals are more translucent than the solid colors. I often try to photograph with back lighting. It's tricky to get the light to shine through without the flower being in shadow.
Very cool. You should send a short article to a gardening magazine along with a photo.
Thanks, Buffy. There's a lot of information out there about overwintering amaryllis. They do make a nice summer porch plant, though.
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