amaryllis

[janet_a]

not a houseplant, but it's a plant and it's in my house. grew these from seeds i got about 4 yrs ago. there are three bulbs in that pot .

[orchidaddict789]

Lovely flowers! And even from seeds! Wow--great job! Maybe I should try it sometime too when I get flowers...I put mine outside last summer and they're still dormant in the garage. When they bloom I'll try some seeds...thanks for sharing!

[janet_a]

careful though; i selfed my charisma last year and now i'm knee deep in about a dozen and a half babies in my kitchen.

[Maddy]

Very nice...

I'm trying amaryllis for the first time this year - I think I lucked out picking good ones. The one in my cubicle has four HUGE red flowers and a second bloom stalk on its way and the one at home had a healthy bloom stalk and the bulb has an offset.

[desertgal]

Hi Janet, those are gorgeous. Great job of growing.

[mayres]

Do you REALLY mean "seeds" and not bulbs? My guess is that it would take quite a few years to get an amaryllis to bloom from seed? We have a grower nearby that hybridizes narcissus and I believe he said it takes at least 5-6 YEARS to get a narcissus to bloom from seed. The first year they just look like a small onion top. Patience is an absolute necessity. I try to put mine outside in the spring once the danger of frost is past, dig them up in September sometime and then put in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks to "winterize" and then plant. Seems to work well - blooms every year and they are multiplying. They get really big and send up three flower stalks just before sending out two baby bulbs the following years - at least that is how it seems to work for me. This year I'm trying a double bloom (double petals). mike

[Maddy]

How big should the baby bulbs be before you separate them from the parent bulb? I've got one that's offsetting now, and I was thinking at least a year or so.

[mayres]

I left my baby bulbs attached to their mother the first season they appeared and the trio grew together through the summer. When I dug them up in the fall I separated the "twins" - at this stage they were about the diameter of my thumb. The next season I potted them together in their own pot until I put them outside again in late spring. This fall when I dug them up they have now grown to about two inches or so in diameter - maybe slightly bigger. I thinking they may (but probably won't) have a bloom yet until next year. It will be fun to see when they start growing in a little while. :-)

[Tommyr]

I love amaryllis! I have 9 going right now and have a Minerva and red double type in full bloom right now. 4 are waiting in the wings to start growing and 3 are already done.

Happy holidays!

Tom

[janet_a]

Originally Posted by mayres

Do you REALLY mean "seeds" and not bulbs?

yep. i'm a glutton for punishment.

people in places like louisiana have been known to get them from seed to blooming in 30-36 months. growing from seed is the only way to get crosses, after all.

as for peeling off babies, i wait until they're sprouting a few of their own roots. mine all like to be crammed together in their pots so i think you can leave the offsets on as long as you like.

[mayres]

Seeds - Wow! That's great. While I realized that crosses must come from seeds, I would have guess it to take a couple more years to get them to bloom than you have reported. Your growing season must be really long? Maybe that is why it takes so much longer in climates like where I live? From what period of the year can you keep them actively growing?

[janet_a]

mine are all inside in a full western exposure; i treat them like houseplants. they like to bloom in the spring, or whenever. they grow in spurts; sit around and do nothing for a couple months, then grow a couple inches, then sit around again.

from photos i've seen, ppl down in the near subtropical areas grow them oustside like tulips. they just run amok in the heat and humidity. i think one guy in LA got blooms after 24 mos from seed, but he's growing in ideal conditions. i think my first batch took 4 yrs.

let me see if i can find danny's website.... here we go

http://danny.belcher.com/Amaryllis.html

he's in FL and grows in coldframes. he likes to play with propagation.

[mayres]

Janet - that is VERY interesting - thanks for sharing. I wish there were some verbiage to go with the pictures. It looks like one thing he does is slice bulbs up like an orange into segments for dividing? I can't imagine that working? When you grow them like houseplants do you ever let them go dormant? In my neck of the woods we dry and cool them down for the winter and then start them back up again at Christmas (if you place them in a cool place like your refrigerator for a few months) or just allow them to naturally cool down in the garage and start again in late winter for spring.

[janet_a]

yeah, he explained somewhere (maybe gardenweb) how he was doing all this; i think the idea on the slices is that as long as you get a piece of the basal plate on the bottom, the bulb slice has a chance of growing roots and leaves. i think he was laying them out in damp vermiculite too. (if i were trying it i don't think i'd go more than four pieces, although it looks like he's sliced them into more.)

i don't do any dormancy on mine; the cooling period is usually to force them for xmas. i just let 'em do their thing because i can't be bothered to fuss with them anymore. the orchids get all the fussing now.

[mayres]

Okay - if I understand you right, you keep these growing green with leaves year round and they still bloom annually at about Christmas time? I don't know why but this concept is hard to accept. After working with bulbs such as tulips, daffodils/narcissus, etc. for years and treating my amaryllis like-wise it "amazes" me. I guess my "simple" mind is easy to amaze! mike

[janet_a]

they actually bloom around march, if they're of a mind. my mother's got one in NY that blooms a little later but it doesn't get enough light, IMHO. left to their own devices they're spring bloomers. i don't do any cooling or anything; they're tropicals and can't take much below 40 or 45 anyhow. i think these things are native to south africa but i could be misremembering...

that photo i posted is of a plant that grew from a seed i got from an amaryllis that was living under the onc bench in the cym house at a commercial orchid grower's. an employee had planted a bulb (in the ground) however many years ago, probably an apple blossom, and it had just gone nuts in the warmth. it had probably propagated into a cluster of more than a dozen full sized bulbs, which all bloomed (and selfed, and blew seeds out all over the floor. i picked up a few) and had even more babies.

he went out of business a few years ago and they built a housing development on the site. i hope someone dug up and saved some of the amaryllis.......

[mayres]

That was an interesting story janet - thanks for sharing. This all gives me some food for thought regarding how I might think about dealing with these next year...........

[Tommyr]

Originally Posted by mayres

That was an interesting story janet - thanks for sharing. This all gives me some food for thought regarding how I might think about dealing with these next year...........

Yes, me as well. I'll probably keep a few going non stop next year as well.

Tom

[janet_a]

here's a thing from FL about growing them outside, and also about prop; i'm just trying to convince mine that they're actually in florida so i don't have to fool with them.

(also, i'm finding neem oil to be pretty good for the dreaded red blotch.)

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP060