I have been enjoying success with my amaryliss (Hippeastrum) bulbs in recent
years, after many years of less success. Now I just leave them on the
window ledge all year, and cut back on their water from September through
December. They get a natural chilling period during winter because the
window ledge is quite chilly. (Winnipeg, Canada).

I used to force dormancy by puting them in the basement in the dark. It was
never very successful.

I notice that some of the posters here say they don't force dormancy, but I
also notice that their bulbs are in locations where they get a natural cool
spell. I think the cool period is necessary for flowering.

You know, commercial growers sell bulbs that are guaranteed to flower, and
do. They know exact methods for reliably producing flowers. I wish I could
find details on what they do.

Andrew

"Jim Shaffer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:15:09 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

The latter might fail to bloom if it is over-watered or under-watered.
If it's over-watered, it might be rotting and not salvageable. If it's
under-watered, it could be salvaged by giving more water. The soil
should be constantly moist but never soggy.

They're hippeastrum.

I scraped a little soil away from the top of the bulbs on the two that
aren't blooming. One of them seems OK, the other one, which also has
much less leaf growth than the first one, seems to be a little soft on
one side. But it's not liquifying or malodorous, so I'm hoping I can
dry it out and at least salvage the plant for next year.

Another problem with hippeastrum not blooming is if it's forced into
dormancy. This bulb (quite unlike true amaryllis) is evergreen and
should be kept growing year round. Of course, it might go dormant in
the winter on its own if grown outdoors where there is light frost. One
of my did indeed go dormant this winter; it now has the start of new
leaves. Another did not go dormant and is now in full flower.

They were dormant when I got them, and as I said it was an
end-of-season sale, so maybe they were dormant too long. The roots
were almost totally dessicated.

I'm puzzled by what you say about them blooming without dormancy.
Years ago when I hadn't heard they were supposed to have dormancy, I
tried re-blooming one without doing anything other than moving it
indoors before frost and it never bloomed. My girlfriend currently
has one that she's been forcing into dormancy by withholding water in
the fall, but *not* chilling as I do, and it's never rebloomed either.
(I only chill mine in an unfinished basement, it rarely gets below 45
and often is warmer.)