Amaryllis question

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by soccerdad, Jan 28, 2008.

  1. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    I have a few amaryllis bulbs which I have put outside over the spring-summer-fall, then bring indoors for the winter when I hope they will flower. This year one was left outdoors for a month after the first frost, and through several days of snow cover, before being taken inside, yet is growing well, so they are clearly pretty robust.

    For a few years they did not flower for me, but this year things look promising: two are developing flower stalks even as I write. Maybe because I am now fertilizing them and giving them lots of light.

    But one with four leaves, each 25" long, shows no signs of flowering, and recently the leaves all flopped over as if they were too weak at their base to support their weight. In contrast, the one right beside it has 3 leaves, each about 19" long, but they are not floppy at all and it is now growing a flower stalk.

    I am not impressed by floppy leaves. Nor by flower-less amaryllis. If they are getting adequate water, light, fert, and heat, what can I be doing wrong?
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    While you could be seeing some variation between different varieties it is also true that the leaves of the flowering one aren't yet as long as the flopping one. Usually when these bend over at the bulb they aren't, in fact, getting enough light. Mind that yours don't snap off when the oversize flowers begin to expand - probably best to set up and install some kind of adequate support for the flower stalks.
     
  3. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks Ron

    They are under fluorescent lights and the tops of the leaves are in fact now touching the bulbs - so they have to be moved - and that should surely be enough light: It is the same light system that I have used for several years for seed starting and growing on before planting out, and it is what I am now using for my strelitiza which are growing like mad. .

    I will stake the leaves using a 3/8 dowel and see what happens.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Be sure to stake those flower spikes as well.
     
  5. Dave-Florida

    Dave-Florida Active Member

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    Although it's unlikely in your case, leaf-flop can be due to inadequate water.
     
  6. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    Well, here is the status.

    I put 5 amaryllis plants outside last spring.

    Three of them developed long leaves - as they usually do after flowering - which remained alive all summer. One of them developed long leaves, which then died off. One of them was ignored, grew no leaves, dried up and seemed to die.

    I brought the first four inside in the Fall. The dried out one I just left in the ground, but eventually brought it in after it has snowed quite a bit.

    Once they were inside, I kept them fertilized, watered, and in a warm and well-lit area.

    Results:

    The one whose leaves died down grew a flower and is now growing new leaves

    Ditto the absolutely dried out and dead and frozen one.

    Alas the other three have grown many long leaves - say 25", 5 leaves per plant - but no signs of flowers.

    What might I have done wrong with those three?

    Should I have done something to prevent them from maintaining their leaves all summer long? If so, what? Chopping of thee leaves does not somehow sound like a good idea: I thought they were supposed to die down naturally.
     
  7. Dave-Florida

    Dave-Florida Active Member

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    In Florida, the plants tend to keep leaves all summer then go dormant for the winter. Flowering will be from now until maybe May.

    For you, I think the recipe is to keep the plants watered until maybe August, then encourage dormancy by having them dry out.
     
  8. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    I will try that. I have automatic sprinklers everywhere which I and my son installed 10 years ago when I grew tired of finding my plants dead whenever we returned from our summer camping trips, and it is not possible at this moment for me to adjust them on a small-area-by-small-area basis, but I can move the plants from a sprinkled area to one of my few non-sprinkled areas in late summer. The area will be shady, but even if they die, my current situation makes the plants not worth growing.
     
  9. Dave-Florida

    Dave-Florida Active Member

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    I had a neat little irrigation system when living in Wyoming. The house would often be untended Monday-Thursday.

    Amaryllises need only a bit of attention to thrive, so it makes sense to keep the bulbs. In Florida, they make really nice plants for the yard.
     

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