Friday, November 18, 2011

Amaryllis plant is growing but no flower stalks?

I grew an amaryllis bulb two months back, it grew about 1.5 ft tall, lots of leaves but does not have any flower stalk.


Is that normal??? Could it be that its not getting enough sunshine, its raining a lot in CA these days, so I've placed the plant indoors by the west facing window but not lot of sun these days :-(

Amaryllis plant is growing but no flower stalks?
I grow Amaryllis in Calif. too and I get two blooming waves a season. You do not have the bulb planted all the way under the soil do you? The bulb needs to be planted with the top third of the bulb showing out of the soil. If you are fertilizing make sure that you use a low nitrogen fertilizer, you don't want too much leafy growth. Use a liquid fert. with a higher Phosphorus and Potash content. It is quite normal for a young first time blooming bulb to only produce smaller stalks and flowers. Each year it will produce bigger and more flowers as it ages. And this time of year it doesn't bloom anyway, at least outside. After mine produce 3 or four flower stalks in the spring and the flowers are spent, I cut the stalks down to the top of the bulb.. In a short time more flower stalks appear and I get a second wave of color. You need to keep the bulb outside for they need a little down time to recuperate and the cool weather will do just that... Good Luck.
Reply:+ It may take awhile so have some patience and keep watering it. Fertilize with tea bags and egg shells around the base before watering every other time. and it should be fine next year.


Good Luck
Reply:In my experience, the bulb usually sends up a flower first which is then followed by leaves. The leaves need lots of sun to obtain the energy necessary for blooming next year. Give them sun now - usually around 6 hours a day. A south facing window is best for this. Let the bulb go dormant (stop watering) when the leaves die back. They may not die out until mid-next summer. Put it away (don't water it) until next fall. Then start watering it again. It should send up a flower stalk if it has had enough sun.


I leave mine out in the yard all summer long and bring it inside in late July-August which is when the leaves are usually starting to wither.


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