Making so many offsets is a survival mechanism. There may be a problem deep inside that you can't see. NBF attacks from underneath!
K

â¢Posted by kaboehm 9a (My Page) on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 11:39

â¢Posted by oleg9grower (My Page) on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 6:03

Hi, thank you so much for your suggestions. I went to check it again after your comments.

I still cannot tell if it is a vigorous offset or a flower bud. If this is a new offset, like oleg9 said, it is likely a result of frustration with blooming.

There is a new development, a small offset appears to have a bud coming up. I cannot believe it and I will have to wait and see.

Like you said, time will tell. So amazing that I have been checking it so frequently, given that I have not looked at it for the last month or so.

What is a NBF attack? Never mind, I googled FAQ and learned they are a fly. I don't think I have pest. The plant has been grown in relative isolation outside.

This post was edited by jujujojo on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 12:15

I do want to add that I have bizarre happening to a pot of African Violet nearby. See this thread: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/afrviolet/msg0122423321549.html

Lots of posters on this list have had problems with NBF. The make a tiny hole near the basal plate and lay 1 egg. That larva eats the bulb from the inside out. Affected bulbs tend to make lots of offsets. Those who post here, who had the misfortune, have lost many bulbs that were growing inside the house. In fact, one long time poster lost most of her collection.

My point was just that something could be going on that you can see. Don't dig up the bulb... It's doing fine and even if you were to lose the mother bulb, her daughters would carry on!
K

â¢Posted by kaboehm 9a (My Page) on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 21:39

I plan to careful lift a little dirt from one side and do not disturb roots. If the bulb is empty inside, I should see some symptom down there ...

â¢Posted by kaboehm 9a (My Page) on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 21:39

This is the plant in January 2014. The pot is the same. The bulb has grown. I chose a very large pot for the bulb. Could this be the reason for the many offsets?
{{gwi:2122256}}

This is April 2014 when I first moved it outside. As you can see, the pot is covered to avoid too much rain.
{{gwi:2122257}}

This post was edited by jujujojo on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 23:39

I don't think pot size is the reason for the offsets, and just because you lift one side, you still may not be able to see anything.
Just wait it out.

I wish I could sell PATIENCE on this forum!!
:-) (I have needed more in the past too!)

Ok, Kaboehm and everyone, here is the update:

The new items are all new shoots. oleg9grower is correct.

I watered it and moved it away from the cool location.

For the last two weeks, the pot has been at a warm and very sunny place. Now, the center bulb is growing new leaves like it has waken up. But there is no new flower stalk anywhere in sight.

My guess is that there will be all leaves for this year again. What could have happened.

I will post pictures later.

You may be surprised by blooms. It's still early...

Ok, here is the update pictures.

After watering and moving to warm place, the center bulb immediately woke up and produces many new leaves now. But there is no flower bud in sight.

Kaboehm, could it be that I withheld water too much or the environment was too cold or dark, that the previous flower bud got aborted?

The center bulb looks health, doesn't it? More complex than the descriptions on how to force blooming, it did not flower.

These are the pictures:

juju jojo's photos · More Info

It's still early...don't give up! Yes, it could have been too cold and/or dark. I typically don't water mine until they start to show some growth. I bet it will be fine. With 8-9 offsets, I think your bulb had other priorities!!

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) , wow, here is what happened.

I moved the pot outside to receive full sun and I watch the weather everyday. There was no freezing in the forecast but my plant was badly damaged by frost. There must be quite a deep freezing that night/morning because my plant normally tolerates a few degrees below zero.

All the leaves turned yellow after a few days. I was about to give up. I moved the plant back to the porch but left it outside because there is really no significant freezing in April so far.

Last week, when I checked, a solid spike has emerged now. It is a spike for sure and it is vigorous. How long does it take from showing the tip of a spike to flowering? I hope it will not be exactly 2 weeks ... I will leave it outside for now our lowest is 1 above freezing.

Photo??

You shouldn't be tempting fate by leaving your plant outside with temps hovering around freezing!! I wouldn't leave it out until it was at least 10 ° above freezing and stays that way or gets warmer!!! And why again does it matter if the scape takes 2 weeks to bloom, have I missed something?

Donna

dondeldux , kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) ,

These are the pictures today! In the past two weeks, the bud is healthy but grows slowly in the cold outside. We have no freezing in forecast but it could be as low as 1 degree above freezing. The plastic bags are not for keeping it warm, rather to repel squirrel attacks. Normally squirrels do not eat Hippeastrum, but around the time they wake up, some are really hungry. The plastic bags look like sticker trap, they tend to avoid.

After the freezing off a month ago, the center leaves turned blackish brown; you can tell they have not pulled the energy back before the frost got them. Gladly, those leaves were thin and light. I assume those are not significant; their pictures before freezing are in an earlier post.

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Forget oleg9grower .

??

More update, now the flowers are about to open. This year, the flowers are much larger than last year, hmm ...

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Yesterday's photos, as you can see the buds are maturing fast:

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You'll have pretty flowers in the next day or two.

SEE.... I told you NOT to give up!!

:-)

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) you also told me that is may have NBF attacks from underneath!

Yes,,,that was a possible cause of all the the middle dying off or all the offsets! Then you said the bulb was still firm...Just like Donna had posted that she had a bulb that put out many offsets due to a NFB attack. Since my x-ray vision isn't working too well these days, it's hard to see what may have happened, especially in a photo (:-). Weren't you going to lift the bulb to look at it?

baboehm, ok, how could I separate these offsets? I think they will be 2 year old by the end of this year.

I would let them grow through the summer and if you separate them, do so after making sure they all have good roots. If it were me, and it's not, I'd buy a larger pot and let them grow as a happy family!

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA), yes, I have seen a large pot of multiple flower stalks. It was really powerful. I will post some update photos shortly.

Ok, here are the updates. Do read the measure on the ruler. The flowers are significantly larger than last year.

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Update -

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Very pretty!

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) , now, go back to my first post. Why was that flower bud aborted?

Who knows and it doesn't matter. You have lovely blooms so just enjoy them. I'm not going to go back and address a problem that no longer exists! :-)

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) , the specific problem did not vanish. That is: the first flower bud was thin, and it was aborted by the plant. That is a historical fact, isn't it?

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA) , also, do you see that the flower is 25 cm or 10 inches across!

I gently removed the anthers from the filaments before the flowers were open. I could stick a finger or two into the almost mature but unopened bud. Because I removed the anthers before the pollens were mature, the flowers are never pollinated. So they bloom continuously.

I notice their flowers fail immediately after pollination. I assume in South Africa, many herbivores are around and ready to eat the flowers.

Let's see how many days they last.

Correction, this genus, although called Amaryllis, is American native.

?? Hippeastrum Apple Blossom was registered with KAVB (NL) in 1899 by Holford and again in 1954 by Ludwig & Co. What American native are you speaking of?

Nothing to be confused about, the genus "Hippeastrum" is predominantly from America :)

Yes, Hans, and genus " Homo" is predominantly from East Africa, and there are still savages running around on the slopes of Kilimanjaro ;))

Here I thought they were of South American, South African, and Dutch origin. Hmmmm....

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA), are you Asian?

The last few comments in this thread are quite amusing. It appears that Hans and Oleg are engaging in a bit of playful "leg pulling." Thanks for the mirth guys!

-Blanca

Thanks Blanca, most of this thread has me baffled!!
;-)

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA),

Normally, if you are not Asian, you would have said something.

This thread has become very "mysterious" - I think I shall resort to Gladiolas...

Hmm, from the Apple blossoms to a small sword (gladiolus in the Roman Empire). That such an evolution in the dark, "mysterious" oriental light? ;))

I have switched to growing butterflies. Much less obtuse!

For an example, "houzz" is quite different from "house".

Well, well, we can still winking ;))

my mind 'sploded. i feel much better now. thanx all.

Ok, here are some updates.

Each flower lasts for 10 days. The pictures were taken on the first flower's last day.

juju jojo's photos · More Info

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This is the SAME flower on its FIRST DAY. Now compare this to the next picture which is the SAME flower on its LAST DAY.

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I have also bought Orienpet lilies. Lets' see if they will do well or not.

That is even better.