Any sentient being can get Amaryllis to bloom. Hundreds of articles say how to do it and they all agree on the (simple) process. I have been growing mine for several years. I started out with a few seeds and now have about 14 plants; they'll be 20 when I detach the pups from their parents and tease their roots apart. Every summer and fall I grow them outside - in full sun although logistic issues forced me to grow them in partial shade this year. Attached are current photos of what I end up with at the end of a summer. When it gets too cold, I bring them inside. Eventually I put them in a cold dark place and let them sit there for months. They dry out and look dead but when I re-pot them, put them in light and start watering them they perk right up and start growing. At this point, says every article, they bloom. Then leaves emerge. Give me a break! I may, in a good year, have one plant bloom. All of the rest simply grow leaves. The leaves are not exactly ugly but I was rather hoping for a bloom on more than one plant. Am I missing some step? Is there some incantation that I should chant on October 31? Some obscure fertilizer that I should apply?
