Marie, They don't have to be forced into dormancy as most of the hippis are evergreen.

Sometimes, the reason they are forced is to get blooms at a certain time - like Christmas. After their initial bloom, I let them bloom naturally which, for me, is in the early Spring.

Also, as many here have found, when you fall in love with these wonderful bulbs, CHAD, will kick in and you will look around one day (usually as you are bringing pots inside after summer), and realize you have run out of space on windowsills, tables, hangers etc. on which to put all the bulbs that have mysteriously appeared. At this time, forcing dormancy is a wonderful way to store these bulbs until next Spring/Summer when they will grow and bloom again.

As for your gritty mix, since hippis resent cold, wet environments, this should work well for you over the winter.

OMG do I agree with you!!!!! I swear there's a hippeastrum fairy that constantly leaves bulbs at my door...but I'm not complaining :-))))

I've grown them before but fall out of love when I get tired of feeding them and the poor things shrink to nothing. Thanks for the help