How to make amaryllis bloom?

last year

last modified: last year

I'm looking for authoritative advice on how to make amaryllis bloom. But I'm not sure what "authoritative" means in this case, because the authoritative sources I've found all say different things.

For example, Holland Bulb Company says to cut the flower stalk off once the blooms have faded, and make the bulb go dormant by letting it dry out in a sunny place in late July or early August. University of Minnesota Extension says to cut the flower stalk off only when it has turned yellow, and make the bulb go dormant by letting it dry out in "a cool, dry, dark location such as a basement or closet." It doesn't say when to do that, but implies "before the first frost," which in northern Minnesota is mid-September, and my locale (zone 9b) is sometime between mid-December and never.

(As a side note, in zone 9b "cool" and "dry" are mutually exclusive in the winter.)

Perhaps the best guide is experience. If you have been successful at making amaryllis bloom, particularly if you live in zone 9b, how do you do it?

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Comments (4)

meg_w (9b) Bradenton
last year
Hi C_V,

I’m also in 9b but, it’s a Florida 9b. So, our winters do tend to be on the dryer side. I don’t have any particular plan to make amaryllis bloom. I only get about half of my potted amaryllis to bloom each year and they bloom on their own schedule. Usually this means March with the occasional late February or early April. Blooming seems to depend on how well they have grown during the year and the dryer/cooler period in the winter. They do tend to lose a lot of their leaves during the cooler weather but, I don’t cut green leaves away. I usually repot bulbs in early summer after the blooms have faded unless something seems to be having an issue and needs a repot to address it.

I also have some bulbs planted out in the garden but, the bloom rate for those is lower. Those bulbs are not in ideal soil, aren’t watered other than rain and possibly some overspray from the lawn irrigation, and are attacked by lubbers all summer which sets them back a great deal.

Sorry, that’s not the information you were looking for but, that is my experience.

Meg
central_valley
Original Author
last year
It's actually encouraging that yours bloom some of the time without any special treatment at all. I suspect that whatever I'm supposed to do, I'm supposed to have done it long before now.
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katob Z6ish, NE Pa
last year
I am not zone 9, far from it! but haven't really encountered much trouble in getting my amaryllis to rebloom. In general a healthy, larger bulb will bloom, but most bulbs grown at home are not well-fertilized and as a result don't flower well.

Have you thought of just finding a spot in the garden for them? When I lived in a warmer zone it wasn't uncommon to see big patches of former holiday bulbs crowded with blooms in the spring in people's gardens. Like Meg already mentioned, they do fine on their own, probably even better if you have some time to fuss over them with soil prep and fertilizer.

I give mine a decent amount of water, and tomato or some fertilizer geared toward flowers as a feeding throughout the summer. They should be putting out four or more leaves if they're going to bloom well.
central_valley
Original Author
7 months ago
I've just started a semi-related new discussion of the same plants. See the link if you're interested.