Thick? Do you mean wide or the actual wall is thick? There are posts here where listers have posted scapes over 1 inch wide. I don't see amaryllis for sale as cut flowered much near me, but they are much more popular in Europe. I would a GUESS that the hybrids used for cut flowers are selected for sturdiness to avoid breakage in shipping and handling.

Something cool... If you buy cut amaryllis, make 4 cuts in the scape at the base, sort like you are cutting it in quarters. When it sits in water, over time, the scape will curl up and look extra special.

Don't forget to turn the scape over and fill it with fresh water every 3 days or so. That will prolong the life of the blooms.
K

I mean the stem itself is unusually wide - many flower stores around here display whole bundles of huge Hippi scapes in bud in large vases - these are true monsters, both in terms of length and the breadth of the stem - so it got me wondering, if it was some special kinds of Hippi they grow for cut flowers or it was something else. It's even difficult to imagine what kind of bulb it takes to produce such huge flower stalks. Should've taken a picture, of course...

When I was in Lisse at the Keukenhof Hippeastrum competition a few years back, one of the classes was cut flowers. I would think that the larger scapes can hold larger blooms more erect. Recall that many of our scapes require staking. These thicker scapes don't need any support and hold up quite well in an arrangement. I'm almost certain that the varieties are selected for this trait. Lucky you... Access to all this pollen!!
K

I suppose that these bundles of flowers are grown primarily for the cut flower market and the varieties are chosen for their extra sturdy stems?? We don't have them around here either...Next time take some pictures if possible, it would be interesting to see which varieties they were. And of course as you say, it may just be their having been brown in optimum greenhouse conditions.

Kristi,
not only the stems are very thick, the flowers, too, are exceptionally large. Like you rightly pointed out, it takes a sturdy stem to support those flowers. They are perfectly upright which means perfect growing conditions - like Donna says...
Have you been able to grow anything similar to those cut Hippis you saw in Holland in your conditions? Did you get to see the actual bulbs they use for cut flower production? I saw your pics from Holland - they are beautiful!
You have an interesting point about pollen - I just realized you don't need to wait for several of your own plants to bloom when you can buy a cut flower as pollen donor! The kinds i have seen around so far are mostly deep red, snow white, light greenish and some striped ones I guess, not sure which exactly as they were still in bud.
I'll see if I can snap some shots...
Lena

Here's an interesting way to display amaryllis. If I had access to lots of cut stems of blooms, I would try it. The stem is hollow and they were just keeping them filled with water. No vase needed!!
K {{gwi:395124}}

A great way to attract customers to a flower store - i'm sure such an arrangement would catch many a curious eye!

It could also give you a stiff neck! ;-)

A "To be viewed from a safe distance" sign might be in order! :)

Parodise these are greenhouse- conditions with a special fertilizing mode, heat from the bottom, CO2 threatment, additional light and so on. These are normal varieties You can buy as bulbs too.
Only new varieties are first for the cutflower market and then sold as bulbs. If You are lucky, buy 2 cutflowers, handle the stem well, crosspollinate and have seeds from cutflowers!
best regards

If I had a big staircase, I'd put a stalk between each railing. I love this idea. I just noticed yesterday that the designers put a leaf into the end of each scape. Wonder if it serves as a funnel?
K

Fishing-dentist, you are right, perfect growing conditions is probably all it boils down to at the end of the day... What's that CO2 treatment you mentioned? Do they pump some extra amount of CO2 into the greenhouse? To promote growth?

Kristi, could it be that the leaves are there to lend some sense of completion to the arrangement? Or maybe to prevent water from evaporating? serving as a funnel might also well be the case.

Yes... It softens the harsh cut edge! I hadn't really noticed til I enlarged the photo and looked yesterday. That photo made me recall the fantastic trip I made a few years ago to France and The Netherlands.
K

Kristi, how many bulbs did you come back with from that trip? ;)

Yes they do! They put extra tubes in the ground for watering, heating. and CO2. Soil is covered in plastic too!
Best regards

Because the bulbs for sale in the marketplaces were not packaged for export to the US, I was only able to bring one special bulb back. The kind people at RC had a bulb hand-delivered to my hotel.

I was very disappointed that I couldn't bring back lots of bulb, as the bulbs were huge in the market in Amsterdam! There were no unique varieties for sale in the Netherland (nothing I didn't already have). The bulb I brought home is not available commercially (yet).
K

Well.... what was it??? Don't keep us in suspense!!

It's called Bonfire.
I know... You were hoping it was that mini near black!!
I don't really love the reds, but this one has a good shape and readily has offsets.
K

Oh my, Kristi, you got a little treasure by mistake! It was well worth the trip! I found one of the older threads here on Gardenweb and will include a link to some great pics and discussion of Bonfire - which sheds more light on Kristi's story.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/amaryllishippeastrum/msg0402491527777.html

BTW, which "mini near black" did you mean? Really curious!

Fishing-dentist, have you had the privilege of peeking into a large commercial greenhouse? I'd love to see what one where Hippeastrum are grown actually looks like... I've seen only one for Cyclamen - was very impressive...
And why do they cover the soil? To lock the moisture in?

Hmmm.... Working from my phone, but if you search for the word "Black" on this forum, you should be able to find it. It is Hippeastrum No. 1500 (as I recall... It had no name, only a number), the overall winner from the 2010 Keukenhof show.
K

Here's the thread with photo of "nearly black mini".
K

Here is a link that might be useful: Winner of 2010 Keukenhof show

Oh, I absolutely loved the black mini and read the whole thread on it! It's definitely on my wish list now!

We should all start bugging Kristi again about the black mini when its coming out, and why she's hording them. J/k

I guess Kristi has reopened an old can of worms by posting a link to that thread :))

You're right Devon...hahaha!! I have 100s of them. I've quit my day job so that I can care for them and watch them grow!!!! I'll post a daily blog and photos of the scape watch! NOT

Ok... Let me write a few emails and see what I can find out. Will report back, sir! (Hey, I can't be the only one with a few connections!!!!)
K

Parodise You have a facebook account?
PM please!

Kristi where is the like- button?

Here's another....these are H. Amalfi in the foreground. I want to go (photo from C. Barnhoorn).....
K

This post was edited by kaboehm on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 13:23

I wonder if those flowers in your first picture are new varieties or older ones. The green double when enlarged looks like what I would expect a perfect Jungle Bells to be. Mine was green but couldn't hold a candle to those in your picture. Maybe the one in front is Zombie...?

Donna,
They were all taken within the last month, at the time that the H. Pixie mislable was coming to light.

BTW, my H. Trentino (not H. Pixie) scape shot up 2" in the past 2 days, so it is finally waking up!
K

Fishing-dentist, sent you a PM.

Kristi, holy cow, I'm ready to quit my job and volunteer at that hippi farm - plain speechless..... Do you have any more such pics by any chance?! The hippis in the second pic - any idea whether they are grown for bulbs or for cut flowers?
Lena

I think I have one more at the office...but it would break your heart...it's the green house with new blooms and they are culling the ones that just don't come up to their expectations.

I actually emailed asking if I could come over and volunteer for a week (jokingly said he could pay me in reject bulbs!).
k

Kristi this is South africa or Brasil?

Kristi this is South africa or Brasil?

South Africa.

Charles says that they grow all their Hippeastrum for the dry bulb trade, not cut flowers.
K

Hmm, I got another dumb question then: correct me if I'm wrong, but blooming emaciates the bulb. Why would they then let all these plants bloom so profusely and sell them as dry bulbs? To maintain the natural growth cycle of the plant? How long do they normally grow the bulbs before they are put on the market?
Thanks.
Lena

If you could have fields of blooming Hippeastrums, wouldn't you let them bloom? Seriously, that is a good question. I wonder why.

Nearly half of the Hadeco bulbs I have ever received have been mislabeled, so I am almost surprised to see that their varieties are not all interspersed within the same bed. I suspect the resellers are to blame for this, but I certainly have had a lot of bad luck getting the right Hadeco varieties.

These may all be young in the field blooming for their first time..I don't know. Funny....I ordered "loads" of Hadeco bulbs this year and last and so far, other than the H.Pixie mixup, I've had very few mix-ups. You are good to remember that there is a middle man in there (distributor) that also introduces a chance for error.

This year I've bloomed out over 20 and only had Pixie and 1 other mix up ....it was supposed to be H. Razzle Dazzle and I think it's H. Rozetta. Nice double.

I get about 50% mislabels from another big seller....yet I still order (maybe because I have a rolling credit from year to year and only order a few bulbs!).
K