Amaryllis not flowering
 

I have a four year old amaryllis bulb which has never flowered, every
year it gives me an abundance of leaves. I have re-potted but it makes
no difference. Help.
--
Ellen Connell

On 14/2/05 11:03, in article , "Ellen Connell"
] wrote:

I have a four year old amaryllis bulb which has never flowered, every
year it gives me an abundance of leaves. I have re-potted but it makes
no difference. Help.

I don't know much about these but I think the re-potting could be the
problem. They seem to do best when their roots are restricted. We have one
here that was a present about 4 or 5 years ago and it has never been
re-potted and is practically bursting the pot it's in. It flowers
extravagantly once a year and slightly less so a second time. Certainly,
I've always been told that they like to be 'cosy' in their pots!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Ellen Connell
] writes
I have a four year old amaryllis bulb which has never flowered, every
year it gives me an abundance of leaves. I have re-potted but it makes
no difference. Help.

Repotting is a bad idea. While life is good and they have plenty of
soil, they are happy to continue growing leaves and getting bigger and
fatter. When they are running out of soil, there is a need to move into
new soil via seedlings, and therefore an impetus to flower.

So 1) don't repot again. It's fine to stay in the same pot, even to the
extent that the pot becomes misshapen!
2) don't use a high nitrogen fertiliser (which stimulates leaf growth) -
use a high potassium one istead, for example a tomato fertiliser.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 14/2/05 11:03, in article , "Ellen
Connell"
] wrote:

I have a four year old amaryllis bulb which has never flowered, every
year it gives me an abundance of leaves. I have re-potted but it makes
no difference. Help.

I don't know much about these but I think the re-potting could be the
problem. They seem to do best when their roots are restricted. We have
one
here that was a present about 4 or 5 years ago and it has never been
re-potted and is practically bursting the pot it's in. It flowers
extravagantly once a year and slightly less so a second time. Certainly,
I've always been told that they like to be 'cosy' in their pots!
--
Sacha

Bizarre thing - I bought two of those 'amaryllis + pretty pot + soil' setups
for someone the xmas before last. I immediately gift wrapped them, but
unfortunately didn't get round to giving them and they just sat in a corner.
A few weeks ago I found and unwrapped them to find that, despite not having
been watered or given any light, both of them had a fair amount of crispy
foliage and one even had what was clearly a large, crispy, white flower.
They were also apparently still following the seasons as they both had just
started growing some new non-crispy (but yellow) leaves - I've got them on
the windowsill now and they're green and healthy.

On 14/2/05 13:01, in article , "Glen
Able" wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message
snip
Certainly,
I've always been told that they like to be 'cosy' in their pots!
--
Sacha

Bizarre thing - I bought two of those 'amaryllis + pretty pot + soil' setups
for someone the xmas before last. I immediately gift wrapped them, but
unfortunately didn't get round to giving them and they just sat in a corner.
A few weeks ago I found and unwrapped them to find that, despite not having
been watered or given any light, both of them had a fair amount of crispy
foliage and one even had what was clearly a large, crispy, white flower.
They were also apparently still following the seasons as they both had just
started growing some new non-crispy (but yellow) leaves - I've got them on
the windowsill now and they're green and healthy.


They do seem to thrive on neglect. The one we have here gets stuck in a
corner of the prop. House when it's not flowering and if someone remembers -
rarely - it gets a splash of water. The pot is bulging and misshapen and
the roots must be just huge. But, as I say, it flowers superbly. I once
had one of those you describe given to me as a present. By luck rather
than judgment, I treated it very badly and it rewarded me with wonderful
flowers every year!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)