i have had several amarylis bulbs for eight or nine years now, each year i re-pot them, around october ( it's my birthday and i was told that amarylis is the flower for my sign as the flower is often two sided like the scales of libra) giving the plants a good soak by plunging the pots in tepid water for several hours and then teasing some of the compost from between the roots. scrubbing the terracotta pots in hot soapy water and rinsing before re-potting the bulb in fresh bulb fibre, watering well. i water with baby bio solution to feed about once a week ( more in summer / less in winter) but these plants keep there leaves all year, i only remove the leaves if they go yellow. the pots all sit on a 2nd storey west facing windowsill in the far north of england, so they get baked in summer although the window stays open and plenty of light in winter, window closed in a room that is cool but frost free, they flower beautifully every year about easter. i cut off the blooms when the flowers fade.
I fully agree with the 'leave them to die down naturally' faction. I 'inherited' about 8 bulbs with my current house and, after removing 'baby bulblets', now have 27 very healthy plants. Only the big ones flower but they do this reliably every year at random times. The babies are growing on nicely and I hope to see flowers from them in due course. Patience is the key. Mine too live in a west-facing porch on window shelves thoughtfully created by by my dear spouse but we are in West Wales. Good luck, just remove the dead leaves/flower stem once they've fallen right over. I repot occasionally, not every year and I will have to start to feed them when I remember. I have to admit that I do, actually tend to neglect them. Poor things.
When the flowers have died, cut the flower stalk off, leave the leaves. Continue to water and feed untill end of september.[can keep outdoors or in green house during the summer].Gradually with draw feed and watering, so the bulb will go dormant, leave for 10 weeks, then cut leaves off and start to feed and water again you should get new growth xmas time and in to the new year. Refresh compost as well. I read this in a magazine and i hope it works.
We have a Hippeastrum which 'lives' on the kitchen windowsill. Most of the year it just sits there but every now and again, usually late spring/early summer, it puts forth a bud so we start watering and feeding.
When the flowers have finished we carry on watering for a while, then decrease to nothing come autumn. This regime seems to work as it's come back at least three times.
I too leave the leaves on and feed the plant till October then cut any that are left off, let the bulb dry out in the pot in a cool place till next October and start watering and feeding again. They should be in flower by Xmas, fingers crossed. I repot every couple of years.
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No-let it die back naturally and keep feeding -all this builds the bulb up for flowering in 12 months.
i have had several amarylis bulbs for eight or nine years now, each year i re-pot them, around october ( it's my birthday and i was told that amarylis is the flower for my sign as the flower is often two sided like the scales of libra) giving the plants a good soak by plunging the pots in tepid water for several hours and then teasing some of the compost from between the roots. scrubbing the terracotta pots in hot soapy water and rinsing before re-potting the bulb in fresh bulb fibre, watering well. i water with baby bio solution to feed about once a week ( more in summer / less in winter) but these plants keep there leaves all year, i only remove the leaves if they go yellow. the pots all sit on a 2nd storey west facing windowsill in the far north of england, so they get baked in summer although the window stays open and plenty of light in winter, window closed in a room that is cool but frost free, they flower beautifully every year about easter. i cut off the blooms when the flowers fade.
I fully agree with the 'leave them to die down naturally' faction. I 'inherited' about 8 bulbs with my current house and, after removing 'baby bulblets', now have 27 very healthy plants. Only the big ones flower but they do this reliably every year at random times. The babies are growing on nicely and I hope to see flowers from them in due course. Patience is the key. Mine too live in a west-facing porch on window shelves thoughtfully created by by my dear spouse but we are in West Wales. Good luck, just remove the dead leaves/flower stem once they've fallen right over. I repot occasionally, not every year and I will have to start to feed them when I remember. I have to admit that I do, actually tend to neglect them. Poor things.
When the flowers have finished we carry on watering for a while, then decrease to nothing come autumn. This regime seems to work as it's come back at least three times.
I too leave the leaves on and feed the plant till October then cut any that are left off, let the bulb dry out in the pot in a cool place till next October and start watering and feeding again. They should be in flower by Xmas, fingers crossed. I repot every couple of years
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What do you all feed them with? Would seaweed extract do? or tomato feed?