mj wrote:

This thing is growing like crazy BUT it looks like the bloom is going
to be without much of a stem. What causes this in bulbs? My Tulips do
the same thing in the spring. Is there anything I can do?

seems a bit out of season for
forcing them in the north. are you
in the south (then it would be a
little bit late, but probably ok).

mine are just dying back as i've
withheld water, now that the light
is fading and it is getting colder.
they will take a few months to die
back and dry out the leaves, late
january i give them a drink again
and they start back up. i don't
want to start them too soon as
there isn't much light to give them
the energy they need to flower and
grow.

for mine the stem keeps growing. the
bud pushes out of the bulb and keeps
going up for 20-30 inches before the
flowers open.

or are you saying the flowers are
already opening?

if that is the case i'd say not enough
water, sunlight or nutrients. they can
take a fair bit of water when they are
actively growing.

yes tulips do the same thing. but they
are not forced into hibernation like the
amaryllis by the withholding of water. it's
the heat of summer and the cold of winter
that run the tulip growing cycle not a
forced drought. the only time tulips
should be dry is after they have died
back in the late spring and early summer
(the best time to lift them), but during
the winter months the soil should not
be left to dry out as that will kill the
roots and probably abort the flower.

for amaryllis it would interrupt them
from going dormant if you watered them in
the fall.


songbird