Tip on growing Amaryllis bulbs-soak the roots

[bwatcher]

This gals loves amaryllis bulbs. I watched several of her videos today, and I decided I was going to subscribe to her channel. Maybe I can figure out what I don't do right. LOL, I can only hope. My amaryllis bulbs are just starting dormancy, so I'll have to wait to try this in a couple months. 
I do have the 1 new bulb I just bought last weekend. It only has a few roots. I'll have to see how this works on that bulb.
 

[luvmyb_b]

Nov 9, 2024 20:30:19 GMT -5 bwatcher said:

This gals loves amaryllis bulbs. I watched several of her videos today, and I decided I was going to subscribe to her channel. Maybe I can figure out what I don't do right. LOL, I can only hope. My amaryllis bulbs are just starting dormancy, so I'll have to wait to try this in a couple months. 
I do have the 1 new bulb I just bought last weekend. It only has a few roots. I'll have to see how this works on that bulb.
 

Mary, you have inspired me to give this a try! 

[bwatcher]

She apparently only uses plain water, but I wondered what would happen if you put a tiny bit of blooming plant fertilizer in the water. I have so many different experiments I could do, but I'm gonna have to wait a couple months before I try them.

[luvmyb_b]

Well, Mary, just so you know I am going to be trying this tip firsthand this year. I just got back from the store with an amaryllis bulb. LOL! I'm not sure if it is your doing through the power of suggestion 🥰 or me trying to soothe myself in trying times with DH. Maybe a little bit of both. Either way, I am looking forward to pretty blooms on my 'Stargazer' amaryllis. Thanks for the inspiration and tip!    

[bwatcher]

Karen, I had to go look up that name for an amaryllis bulb. Wow, I've never seen one like that; it's beautiful. Hey, I'm using my plants and crocheting to get my mind off of 'stuff'. 
Here's a picture of all of what I had for bulbs last year. All of the ones on top of that table are sitting still in their pots in the old grill bottom. I read last year that you should put them in a pot and leave them in there. That was last years experiment; yeah, only 1 bloomed. So, they're still in these pots, but some may get pulled and put in water. I have NO CLUE who should bloom, but by the size of them, everything on top of the table should bloom. They have to be coming up on 4 yrs. old at least. Everything under the table are still babies, toddlers, and juvenile plants, and they are right back there again this fall. No, my pineapple doesn't look that good, but it's still alive. LOL
 

[Gayle]

Mary, I put my pots outside for the Summer. On Oct. 1st I bring them into my unheated garage,  leave them in the pots, stop watering & let them go dormant.

When all the foliage dies I cut it off.

Jan 1st,I repot,bring them in the house & put them in a window that gets bright light but not direct sun.

When & if they sprout I put them in a sunny window & start fertilizing with a liquid mixed in water whenever they need to be watered.

Some re-bloom, some don't.

Every yr. I say I'm going to get rid of the non-bloomers but I keep forgetting to mark them.  Or I decide to give them One More Chance.

Right now I have 5, but 3 of those are babies which probably won't bloom.

And I buy new ones every yr. usually when they go on sale.

[bwatcher]

Gayle, I've done everything you did, and I'm at the sitting and waiting stage now. I checked back on past pictures I've taken, and my pink one last bloomed in March of 2020, and the one red one bloomed in 2017. I did have a red one bloom last year, but I had a couple different red ones. Sad, I know. I'm gonna try the roots in water this year, but it won't be until probably Feb. as I just had the last leaf die off this week. They were so slow to die off. Update: I discovered some of them had a massive root system grown into the dirt underneath their pots. That's where they got moisture. 

Both of the flowers on my wax dipped amaryllis have grown probably 1/4" this past week. I'll have to get the other one planted. 

[bwatcher]

My morning was productive as far as amaryllis bulbs. As much as I hated to do it, I went over ALL of my bigger individually potted bulbs to remove any roots that were outside the pot. I also removed at least a dozen baby bulbs and threw them away. I hated to do that, but I definitely DON'T need or want any more bulbs of what I have. I don't even know what I have. I took inventory; I have 21 bigger bulbs that should bloom, and 36 baby to juvenile bulbs. 

So, I'm gonna start a new experiment with the 21 bulbs that should bloom. I kept 7 in their pots, and took the other 14 our of their pots. I didn't take the dirt off of the roots. I just left them all standing side by side waiting for time to pass. They are still sitting on top of dry dirt that is in the old grill bottom. I covered them lightly with plastic, and laid the pots in a row on top to block most of the light when the basement light gets turned on. 
Now, my experiment plan is to water those still in their pot in two months. The ones not in pots I'll soak the roots and then repot. I can't do any worse than nothing blooms. Which very well may happen. 

[luvmyb_b]

Mary, my amaryllis roots just began soaking right now. I had to come check your video to make sure I was doing it right. I'm disappointed that my roots are nowhere near what those are in the video, but I am sticking with the concept none the less. I'll let you know how this goes! I plan to plant tomorrow afternoon.   

[bwatcher]

Karen, If you have any roots, then you have a head start. I've seen bulbs that don't have any roots, so first thing they have to grow some roots to get going. I've watched videos where people have 6"-8" or more of roots and cut them off down to 3". Why? If you have 6" of healthy roots to start with, keep them. Dried up dead roots don't cut it, but if you have roots with some life, go for it. 

My waxed bulb just started showing the THIRD bud for a stalk. It has the tips of 2 leaves coming up right in the middle.

My bulb kit I bought and planted on Nov. 11, has 7 leaves and no bud. It's only been in the dirt for 4 days, so I'm just surprised that it's pushing those leaves out so fast. I think those leaves have grown at least 3/4" in just 4 days. Sadly, my sun has disappeared.

[luvmyb_b]

This is what I have, Mary. Nothing big or exciting, but I expect something to come of it. Maybe just growth this year? I feel like in the past I have had both success and failure with amaryllis bulbs. When they didn't bloom, I just pitched them. Wish I hadn't now! You getting something so quickly from what you planted 4 days ago is encouraging. 

I am super impressed with your collection of bulbs!  

[bwatcher]

Those look like some good roots, so it should take off and do well. Mine looked like that but I only put it in water for a little bit. My leaves were already a couple inches long when I bought it. I got them both Nov. 1, but the one in the box didn't get planted until the 11th.