Hi,

I am completely new to gardening and amaryllis, so please my
question might be naive for most of you here. I have been given this
amaryllis, a glass container, and some polished river rocks by my
friend. I was told to put the river rocks in the glass and the
amaryllis bulk on top of the rocks, then put water in to emerge about
1/4 of the bulk in water. I guess that's all that I need to do and
expect the amaryllis to grow.

As I said, I am bland new to planting any plant, and I want to make
sure I am doing it right. I would really appeciate if anyone can tell
me if I am doing everything necessary. Thanks a lot!

Mike

On 2005-12-15 19:11:00 -0500, said:

Hi,

I am completely new to gardening and amaryllis, so please my
question might be naive for most of you here. I have been given this
amaryllis, a glass container, and some polished river rocks by my
friend. I was told to put the river rocks in the glass and the
amaryllis bulk on top of the rocks, then put water in to emerge about
1/4 of the bulk in water. I guess that's all that I need to do and
expect the amaryllis to grow.

As I said, I am bland new to planting any plant, and I want to make
sure I am doing it right. I would really appeciate if anyone can tell
me if I am doing everything necessary. Thanks a lot!

Mike


I would only put in enough water to cover the roots, NOT the bulb
itself. It will most likely rot if it sat in water.

--
PCs, like air-conditioners, are useless when you open Windows.

You can use that method if you only want to enjoy the amaryllis one year,
although I agree that the water should be only towards the bottom of the
bulb, not towards the top. But why not force it in a way that will allow you
to enjoy it for several years? Put some potting soil with a little
fertilizer in that vase/pot and set the amaryllis in it so that the top 1/3
of the bulb is sticking out of the soil. Moisten the soil a bit if nothing
is coming out of the bulb yet, and leave it be until you see foliage
emerging. If foliage or bloom stalk is already emerging, water more
thoroughly , about once a week. When the bulb has finished blooming, put the
pot in a sunny window where the leaves can get good light on them, and once
frost is over, set the pot outside in part shade , somewhere that the
sprinkler reaches. Leave them there until fall and the first frosts. Let
them dry out a bit until the foliage yellows. Let them sit in the pot in a
cool dark place for 6 weeks or so, then take them out into a warmer area,
moisten the soil again, or repot, and you'll have blooms again next year.
wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I am completely new to gardening and amaryllis, so please my
question might be naive for most of you here. I have been given this
amaryllis, a glass container, and some polished river rocks by my
friend. I was told to put the river rocks in the glass and the
amaryllis bulk on top of the rocks, then put water in to emerge about
1/4 of the bulk in water. I guess that's all that I need to do and
expect the amaryllis to grow.

As I said, I am bland new to planting any plant, and I want to make
sure I am doing it right. I would really appeciate if anyone can tell
me if I am doing everything necessary. Thanks a lot!

Mike

On 15 Dec 2005 16:11:00 -0800, wrote:
I am completely new to gardening and amaryllis, so please my
question might be naive for most of you here. I have been given this
amaryllis, a glass container, and some polished river rocks by my
friend. I was told to put the river rocks in the glass and the
amaryllis bulk on top of the rocks, then put water in to emerge about
1/4 of the bulk in water. I guess that's all that I need to do and
expect the amaryllis to grow.

Amaryllis are top-heavy and "tippy" when in full bloom; river rocks aren't
going to help the situation, alas. Me, myself and I, I prefer plain old
potting soil with some extra sand for bulb forcing and a drained plastic or
(my favorite) clay pot -- drains well enough that bulbs don't rot, heavy
enough that the pots don't tip, and much less tricky to water properly.
Plant so that about 1/4 of the bulb is out of the soil.
Put the drained pot in a decorative "cache pot" for display. Don't let the
pot sit in water, or you may get root or bulb rot started. Toss the
polished rocks on top of the soil for decoration if you like.

Kay

presley wrote:

You can use that method if you only want to enjoy the amaryllis one year,
although I agree that the water should be only towards the bottom of the
bulb, not towards the top. But why not force it in a way that will allow you
to enjoy it for several years? Put some potting soil with a little
fertilizer in that vase/pot and set the amaryllis in it so that the top 1/3
of the bulb is sticking out of the soil. Moisten the soil a bit if nothing
is coming out of the bulb yet, and leave it be until you see foliage
emerging. If foliage or bloom stalk is already emerging, water more
thoroughly , about once a week. When the bulb has finished blooming, put the
pot in a sunny window where the leaves can get good light on them, and once
frost is over, set the pot outside in part shade , somewhere that the
sprinkler reaches. Leave them there until fall and the first frosts. Let
them dry out a bit until the foliage yellows. Let them sit in the pot in a
cool dark place for 6 weeks or so, then take them out into a warmer area,
moisten the soil again, or repot, and you'll have blooms again next year.

No, don't force the bulb to go dormant. In nature, amaryllis
(Hippeastrum) is evergreen. Indoors, keep the pot near a window
where it will get strong INDIRECT light (not direct sun). Keep it
slightly moist so that it keeps growing through the winter.

In my garden, amaryllis sometimes goes dormant by itself and
sometimes does not. If it does not, then it may bloom two or even
three times in one year.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_hippeastrum.html.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/