Amaryllis........................

Planted one last Christmas for the first time and just left it on the windowsill all year. Noticed that a tiny green shoot was growing last week so watered it a bit and now it's grown to about 4 inches!


Is it going to flower though, my Mum says sometimes they only flower once.

Amaryllis........................
Hello ChocLover (Me too)





Yes, an amaryllis can flower more than once.





It is quite possible, but it is not a certainty.





The fact that your last years amaryllis is sprouting leaves could mean that it will grow 'blind', the leaves will grow but it won't flower. Only time will tell.





Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed and do a search to get some tips on how to get it to flower again.





Good luck





Poseidon
Reply:If you've kept it in a pot all summer, probably not. You may be lucky and get a little flower, but not a big 4-way one.





Keep it indoors until the end of March, then plant it in the garden. In early September, dig it up and put it in a pot with new dry compost. Keep it dry and in the dark for 3 weeks. Then put it on the windowsill and water it. Then it will flower.
Reply:Although these plants are usually referred to as Amaryllis, they are, in fact Hippeastrum.





Assuming the plant is fed and watered while it is in active growth, there is no reason why is shouldn't flower in the following season.





However, if the bulb splits into two, then it may take a year or two for each part to reach flowering size.


There are also particular cultivars of Hippeastrum which flower every 3 years or so. In the 1980s I bought a Hippeastrum from Thompson and Morgan with much smaller flowers of reddy-brown stripes on a geenish background. This flowers about every third year, but I have never seen these offered again, so the one you have is probably the usual, large-flowered kind.





I do have one of these, which has been in the family since the 70s and flowers every year, without fail.





On the subject of fertilizer, I have a lot of different South African bulbs and tend to use tomato fertilizer at half strength plus a normal strength Maxicrop Growth Stimulant ( a seaweed-based concoction), usually feeding no more than three times during the growing season.





Composts for South African bulbs, ideally 1 part leaf mould, I part sterilised garden soil and 1 part grit. However for Hippeastrum, they seem quite happy in John Innes No 2 with some grit added for improved drainage.
Reply:If it was able to store enough starch and other photosynthetic reserves last year, it'll bloom again. To insure that it's happy this year, don't forget to water it, and give it some fertilizer -- generally something with a 1:2:2 or 1:2:1 ratio of NPK is good.


Even if it doesn't bloom this year, if you take good care of it this year, you'll get flowers the following year.