Amarylis and Other bulbs

[Bea]

Hi all. today I planted my amarylis bulb. It has been laying dormant in a pot, outside, for a few months, and has received some sun thru out the day. when i shook off the dried up matter it has a healthy white onion type of bulb. I planted it in the dirt with a bit of compost this morning and with about an inch of the bulb showing. what do you think will happen. I left the roots intact. These bulbs are quite expensive by Ecuador standards so i wont get another until I am sure I can re=start it.

 

[ClissAT]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippeastrum

I know them as hippeastrums and I have 100s of bulbs in several different cultivars and flower colours in my garden.
What colour is yours?
I never dig them up because here there's no need, they don't rot.
I shuddered a bit when I read that you allowed the bulb to become descicated, because there is no need.
If you have problems with them rotting in wet soil in the winter just lift them and brush them off then store in a labelled paper bag in a dark place.
I hope your bulb regrows. They are strong so it should, but it may not flower if too much energy was removed during the descication.
They need to be left in the ground after flowering until the leaves go yellow then wither and die naturally because the bulb pulls back the nutrients being made in the leaves to form the new flower for next year.
Once the leaves have died naturally, then its ok to lift them if necessary because next years flower will have been formed deep inside the bulb.
The bulb needs to be planted so its top is a bit deeper than its total height. For most bulbs thats the normal planting depth.
If it continues to get sun and dry off ontop it may not live.
So pull it up, dig a bit deeper hole, remove the old roots with sharp scissors close to but not too close to the dried skin and replant.
Hippies tolerate poor soil but don't like to dry out completely, especially the newer cultivars. The older heritage types will generally tolerate drying out in winter, even under snow but not desert conditions.
To get them to multiply, they need better soil and to be left in the ground permanently.
Mine multiply like crazy! I end up with huge bulbs about 4inches(10cm) across and in clumps of several so big and thick it is hard to dig them up.
Each of those massive bulbs will produce a stem of 6 flowers plus another within weeks of 4 flowers. However, then they will most likely die but will have multiplied several times over the previous 3-4yrs and have many pups around them.
I've also crossbred some and developed my own flower, a pink stripped white flower with feathery edges on the petals.
Once you have a few flowers coming on, the flower should produce seed pods full of papery black flat seeds. They grow easily enough but take 3yrs to flower if left in the ground. They transplant easily too.
Here's some of mine flowering mid spring.

 

[Bea]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippeastrum

I know them as hippeastrums and I have 100s of bulbs in several different cultivars and flower colours in my garden.
What colour is yours?
I never dig them up because here there's no need, they don't rot.
I shuddered a bit when I read that you allowed the bulb to become descicated, because there is no need.
If you have problems with them rotting in wet soil in the winter just lift them and brush them off then store in a labelled paper bag in a dark place.
I hope your bulb regrows. They are strong so it should, but it may not flower if too much energy was removed during the descication.
They need to be left in the ground after flowering until the leaves go yellow then wither and die naturally because the bulb pulls back the nutrients being made in the leaves to form the new flower for next year.
Once the leaves have died naturally, then its ok to lift them if necessary because next years flower will have been formed deep inside the bulb.
The bulb needs to be planted so its top is a bit deeper than its total height. For most bulbs thats the normal planting depth.
If it continues to get sun and dry off ontop it may not live.
So pull it up, dig a bit deeper hole, remove the old roots with sharp scissors close to but not too close to the dried skin and replant.
Hippies tolerate poor soil but don't like to dry out completely, especially the newer cultivars. The older heritage types will generally tolerate drying out in winter, even under snow but not desert conditions.
To get them to multiply, they need better soil and to be left in the ground permanently.
Mine multiply like crazy! I end up with huge bulbs about 4inches(10cm) across and in clumps of several so big and thick it is hard to dig them up.
Each of those massive bulbs will produce a stem of 6 flowers plus another within weeks of 4 flowers. However, then they will most likely die but will have multiplied several times over the previous 3-4yrs and have many pups around them.
I've also crossbred some and developed my own flower, a pink stripped white flower with feathery edges on the petals.
Once you have a few flowers coming on, the flower should produce seed pods full of papery black flat seeds. They grow easily enough but take 3yrs to flower if left in the ground. They transplant easily too.
Here's some of mine flowering mid spring.

View attachment 3643

Beautiful photo.

thank you. Never in my life heard of planting an Amaryllis so deep! In Vancouver BC we never lifted bulbs, including Lillies because the ground never froze. But Amaryllis was still treated as a once year beauty, indoors at Xmas. So maybe I goofed. I was relatively successful at getting them to re flower the following fall (in N Amer). and people generally had only one plant - seriously. Going into the dry season means a not quite desert like condition for a couple of months. I am now concerned that I have not planted it in a dry enough spot - difficult in my yard - but not a serious problem until about November. Note that I said that it looks like a big white onion that has been pealed.
BTW I have an asiatic Lily that has just finished flowering in the pot and wondering what to do. Again, In Vancouver I would just lift from the pot, plant, enjoy and lift and divide the plant when it looked crowded. I was frankly a bit stunned to see the lily at a local nursery.

 

[Bea]

Here is a shot of the bulb. it is going to bloom! Yaaay. the stem is about 3'"high. So, I just followed generally acceptable treatment of the spent bulb from other climates. Later I must decide if I will lift it again to dry out or leave it in the ground. ?????? BTW one of the secrets to this success may be that this appears to be a fave spot for one of the cats to pee. Nearly every day I am out there scraping scattered earth back on the bulb LOL I guess I will now start to water the bulb?

 

[ClissAT]

Yes it needs leaves for photosynthesis and to produce next year's flower. Otherwise it will use up the (onion)layers that form the bulb and get smaller and smaller until it can't produce food anymore.

If you get some firm thin sticks like chop sticks or kabab sticks and push them into the ground all around the bulb, they would protect it from the cat damaging the bulb.
The bulb will only produce 3-4 leaves which are very fragile so if the cat snaps them off, the bulb will exhaust itself producing more.

 

[Bea]

this picture is when I first brought the plant home. I lost the last pictures but this is what it looked like this time round after planting in the ground. I am so happy it bloomed. two huge blossoms. I cut off the spent blooms and it is just the stalk, now, with two lovely leaves growing rapidly. from what you wrote I should just leave it alone and let it whither? What about watering right now. it rains off and on for a day or two then everything just dries out in the sun and heat (dry season). so i will water after about two days and then every four days until it rains again.
anyway at $8USD per plant I feel more confident about picking up at least one more

 

[Bea]

Now, about asiatic lillies. I have grown orientals and other varieties in Vancouver BC - mostly Mediterranean Oceanside climate with a not very cold winter - ground doesnt freeze - and just left all int he ground, including tulips and other spring bulbs. . Now of course iam in the six month dry/six month rainy sub troical Andes. I have an asiatic with spent blooms still sitting in a pot. What do I do in this climate. Am wondering if i should plant it close to the areca palm so it will get eastern sun and a bit of southern during the day. wow it gets hot as the sun moves to the west so am thinking it needs this bit of shade.

 

[ClissAT]

Your amaryllis was certainly a lovely blossom. They certainly pay for themselves.
The bulb being in such a small pot bothers me a little if you plan to keep it and hopefully get it to set new flowers for next year and maybe even divide.
Bulbs will only divide if there is enough space. Or they will divide but maybe not make a new flower inside.
If you really don't want to leave it in the ground, pot it up into a much larger pot now. I would go for a 12inch pot at least.
This is achievable without root disturbance by simply lifting the rootball from the current pot and placing in a larger pot with new potting mix under and around. There will be a good mat of roots in that small pot now to hold it all together.
Your bulb should then divide quite quickly and set new flowers inside each new bulb for next year.
What you do to it now will either be an investment or hinderence for next year!
Leave the flower stem to wither naturally and the leaves should last at least 6mths then naturally yellow.
When you repot, give it a good dose of fertilizer with added potassium to help the new flower development.
Mulch thickly to prevent drying out right over the top of the bulb.

Re the asiatics, they require quite similar conditions to the amaryllis.
In this country commercial growers often grow the two in the same greenhouses.
However we don't leave the asiatic bulbs in the ground and I'm not quite sure why. Could be due to disease.
So you could plant both types of bulbs in close proximity or put them all into larger pots and group together. If your summer is wet, they all might be better off in heavily mulched pots in a part shade location.

Black plastic pots cause the growing medium to get very hot so heavy long mulch that hangs well over the sides is preferable.
You could use cut up palm fronds. Put finer mulch directly over the potting mix first, then lay some fronds across your lined up pots so the cascading leaves shade the sunny sides of the pots. Any green growing bulb leaves would be lifted to grow out above the mulch. If you are getting rain there shouldn't be any need to water til next dry season.

 

[Bea]

I dont know what happened to my reply. anyway, the bulb is in the ground. I posted the picture in the pot because I lost the picture of the bloom. blooms have died, stem has died, now have a fourth set of leaves. I am going to lift both the amaryllis(when the leaves die off) and the lily and replant in front of the areca palm. It is drier there and they will get eastern sun followed by a wee bit of southern sun. I saw the note a bout a fertilizer - I only use compost unless i am growing tomatoes or another veg. and then perhaps a seaweed spray later when the new plant appears - what about watering? will this prompt the bulbs to start growing again. should I just leave them for awhile???
thanks for the discussion BTW