Hello everyone and Happy Holidays!

This fall, I bought a lot of amaryllis bulbs. I've been growing then for several years, but I found it almost impossible to find the newer varieties, unless you order them. I decided to order from White Flower Farm, Amaryllis and Calcium.com and Royal Colors. I also ordered 4 from EBay. The only order I am waiting on is Royal Colors. Since our weather has been so unusually warm, I am optimistic that they will arrive in good condition. All my other bulbs came in great shape. No bruising or red marks on any of them.

As of now, I have planted 4 bulbs. Elvas(which has 2 scapes), First Love(also with 2 scapes), Popov(only has 1 so far but the bulb is huge, so I am keeping my fingers crossed a 2nd scape will form), and most impressive is my Sweet Nymph with 3 scapes!

If my bulbs from Royal Colors arrive healthy, that will give me 22 or 23 Amaryllis bulbs. My plan was to stagger the potting process so I could have amaryllis in bloom until April or May. I live in western N.Y state, and in the past, I could keep them potted in my basement, and that would keep the bulbs cool enough to keep them from growing. However, this year's winter has been much warmer than usual, and my basement has been consistently above 50 degrees.

I have read some posts here where growers store there bulbs in the refrigerator. I did some research and found out that if you do this you can't keep certain fruits in the refrigerator or you can make the bulbs sterile. One fruit that I remember was apples. Is there any other fruits/vegetables that should be avoided while storing my bulbs? Also, is there a maximum amount of time that they can be stored without damaging or killing the bulbs? I spent enough money on these bulbs where I don't want to loose them.

My plan was to pull 4 or 5 bulbs at the end of each month, and pot them up. I'm hoping by doing this, I can have flowers until April or May.

If anyone can help me with this, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you:)