Swazi Amaryllis

Potting Bare Bulbs – Your bulbs should be firm and healthy looking on arrival. You may see last season’s withered roots, plump new roots, some of each, or neither! The outside of the bulb may look fleshy and green or have papery brown layers. You’ll see a blunt cut at the neck of the bulb where last season’s leaves were cut away. You may or may not already see the tips of buds or new leaves emerging. You may see a small amount of blue gray mold on your bulb, which is not a sign of disease, but something that will commonly and naturally occur on any moisture-containing organic material in storage. It is harmless and will not affect the growth of your bulb.

Choose a container that is not too much larger in diameter than the bulb. Amaryllis do not like a lot extra space in their pot, so 1-2″ between a large bulb and the pot wall is ideal (less for smaller and miniature bulbs). Make sure the vessel has drainage holes, or use an inner grow liner.

Use a well-drained potting mix, and add enough to the pot to help you position the bulb where you’d like it to sit. Keep in mind that about 1/4-1/3 of the bulb should stay above the soil line, which will help avoid moisture getting into the neck of the bulb when you water (if you received a pre-potted bulb, you may note that it’s been potted a little deeper – this is necessary to keep it in place during transit, but will not affect your bulb’s growth. Just avoid watering into the neck of the bulb). Add potting mix to fill in around the bulb and compact it firmly. As your bulb grows and blooms it may become top-heavy, so a firm base of soil will help keep it from toppling over.

Growing Potted Bulbs – Water your bulb sparingly until it begins to show growth. Depending on the variety or where in the world it was grown, this can be a slow process, but have patience! As long as the bulb feels firm (press along its shoulders) and looks healthy, you should eventually start seeing signs of movement.

You can encourage your Amaryllis to come along faster by placing it in a warmer environment or giving it some gentle bottom-heat with a seed starting mat. Once it’s growing vigorously and sending up flower stalks, it’s advisable to move it to a cooler location to prolong blooming time (keep above 60F).

Once growth begins you can start watering regularly, but allow the top half of the soil to dry out in between. Amaryllis do not like sitting in soggy soil, which can contribute to bulb rot. If you plan to keep your bulb for multiple seasons, you’ll want to begin using a dilute houseplant fertilizer every few waterings. If you plan to grow your bulb as an annual, fertilizer is not necessary.

It may become necessary to provide some support to flower stalks as they begin to bloom. This is especially true of large flowering and double varieties which can become very top-heavy. You can use a traditional amaryllis stake for this, or get creative by using birch twigs, pussy willows, or a branch of winterberries!

Remove individual flowers as they die back, and cut away the entire flower stalk just above the neck of the bulb once all the flowers on it have completed blooming.

Reblooming – Your amaryllis bulb may be saved for reblooming in future seasons. After flowering, continue growing the large strappy leaves, watering and fertilizing regularly with a liquid plant food. If you’re able to grow the bulb in a sheltered outdoor area during the summer months, this is ideal. In late summer, completely withhold water and allow the leaves to die back. Store the bulb in a cool dark dry place for at least 8 weeks. The bulb may then be brought into the light and watered to begin the growing process again.