Who'd like an Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) thread?

[daisychain01]

I treated myself to 3 Amaryllis bulbs from M&S last week and reminded myself what a great addition those lovely big chunky bulbs are to the Christmas season.

It's such a positive feeling, giving them a water and watching them turning green and the leaves emerging over the weeks, when most things in the garden are going to sleep.

The bulbs I chose are:

Dancing Queen
Apple Blossom
Minerva

Lesson learned from last year - stake them up before the flowers form, as their stems aren't always strong enough to hold the multi-flower varieties upright. One of nature's design flaws! Supporting them when the stem is just emerging helps it a lot. Other than that, they are remarkably self-sufficient.

it will be lovely to see everyone's bulbs flowering as we get closer to Christmas.

Back later with my photos.

PS One of my bulbs from last Christmas started flowering in July so I put it in a pot with some new compost and a bit of vermiculite, but it was very indifferent -a few leaves but no flower. It's now sulking in the greenhouse, I think it peaked too soon!

@MarmiteCoriander Southern Hemisphere :) We are having unseasonably warm weather (thanks climate change!) which is confusing all the plants. They would usually flower later here. I don’t know why ours flower in summer and yours in winter - are they always indoors?

Friend of hippeastrum. Unfortunately I don’t remember which one this is, but it looks like Pink Surprise.

Oh my goodness how strange this post popped up now. I have really enjoyed reading and seeing all your blooms.

I will post pictures in a bit but I have two, they don't have names on and I bought them in the reduced to go section about February this year. Already potted. I'm also in the southern hemisphere so I just assumed it had flowered over December as it has a Christmas decoration on the card.

I thought I had killed one off completely earlier this year as the leaves shot up, but then got all floppy and wilted and some fell off. So I cut it back and I has new leaves again. Neither have flower spikes.

Someone upthread said they are from SA, and thst is where I am, but I have no idea when it's supposed to flower. It's really hot here now so I'm confused as to the summer / winter flowering..

And I'm not sure of the best place to keep them. Full hot sun all day or a more shaded corner?

In UK they are a Christmas bloom, in fact this weekend coincidentally I am due to pot up a few bulbs I'd stored in the garage to see if they reflower this year.

I think they like indirect natural daylight which is all they can hope for in UK in Nov/Dec 😊

Here they are. I see the one of the left is called Alfresco but not sure of the one on the right. That is the one that I cut back earlier this year. The Alfresco looks like it's going very leaf heavy as well.

I only properly studied the cards now and see they are numbered so I will go check on their site.

They are sold as Christmas plants here too, but is so confusing as that is summer. Unless they are different varieties. I had no flowers or even a flower spike during winter.

Excuse the ailing orchid below. She is deep in rehab right now. Not sure she will make it though.

I did a little bit of reading up.

Here they are summer bulbs, and go dormant in winter. And are happy to be outside in the garden. They recommend keeping the new bulbs in the fridge around this time of the year and then planting 5 to 6 weeks before Christmas.

So, I think that I will plant these two that I have outside and then I will see what happens, as I am not sure if or when they will bloom again, as I don't really know how long they have been potted. (assume this time last year for a Christmas bloom).

And then I am going to get some new ones and hopefully they will be blooming for Christmas.

I assume then that the growth after 6 weeks doesn't really have too much to do with the season, but perhaps the heat from indoor heating is why they bloom so well during winter in the North of the world?

I feel like I have gone down a rabbit hole of Amarylis this morning 😀

@isthismylifenow is that a moth orchid? Such temperamental creatures!

@isthismylifenow you can revive orchids provided you rehab them correctly

• remove it from the pot onto some newspaper
• separate off/snip away any dead or shrivelled aerial roots (those are the green ones that look nice and plump in a healthy plant but all shrivelled and grey if it's not in good health
• soak the roots in luke warm camomile tea, which has all the nutritious minerals they like.
• repot back into some fresh good quality orchid bark, which is nice and rich, moist but not sticky or waterlogged
• Use a pot that has a reasonable amount of space, don't cram the roots back in there - as I expect you know, their natural habitat is living on the side of trees, getting its food and moisture from the atmosphere. Unfortunately garden centres sell them when they are at their optimum condition but in sub optimal growing conditions so they can quickly deteriorate when at home if not repotted correctly. They are often overwatered and left with their roots in water (I've made that mistake in the past!) which really makes them suffer!
• gently polish their leaves with a cotton pad soaked in dilute orchid food or leaf shine from time to time to keep their leaves supple and rigid. If they have wrinkly or floppy leaves, it means they are suffering, if they are shiny and rigid, they are beaming with good health and could be getting ready to lay out shoots for flowering. That's their sole intention in life, flower, flower, 🌺 they're either recovering from flowering or getting ready!

Sorry if you already know the above - hopefully useful for others!

i was thinking of starting an orchid thread!

Very useful! I did a shrivelled root removal exercise on one of mine last week. There’s really not much left though 😫 Will look for orchid feed. Thanks.

Thank you so much for this info. I did see your thread earlier re the chamomile tea so I will give it a try with this orchid. It has been quite iffy since the word go, and the fact it still alive is quite a miracle. I put it in the bathroom and it was lovely, until the first flowers dropped. Then it got sadder and sadder. So I then move it to this table as the bathroom I thought was maybe not light enough, but I didn't want to shock it by giving it too much light.

I did take out it out the pot already and the roots had a little trim, but I don't think it was very impressed about it. So by deep rehab what I mean is I am leaving it alone after that to see how it copes, (ie I am ignoring it) and just doing a soak water when it seems it needs it. But it dries out so fast. It has been very hot but I soaked it over the weekend, and it is looking dry on the roots again as losing their green colour. Is this normal? I have another orchid, which isn't a moth, but it is just so much easier to care for. And it doesn't dry out this quick.

Thank you for the tips, I will treat the leaves as you suggested as normally I just give them a soft wipe with a cloth.

I would love an orchid thread! I have tried for years and finally have one growing well. (not the one in the pic though sadly).

Someone told me a while ago that orchids thrive when they are given with love. So in the past I had been gifted some by various people including clients and they didn't make it very long (the orchid, not the client). Then for some unknown reason my ex pitched up with one one year for my birthday, and I definitely know that was not given with love. That one was the least long surviving one I have had. So then I decided to buy my own orchid, so I did. And this one is thriving, and I say it is because I bought it for myself with a whole lot of love.

The moth orchid didn't get that memo, but perhaps I hurt it's feelings somewhere along the way.

Or, @Gremlinsateit yes, it is just blooming temperamental. Just have to look at it wrong and it drops a leaf.

I put it in the bathroom and it was lovely, until the first flowers dropped. Then it got sadder and sadder. So I then move it to this table as the bathroom I thought was maybe not light enough, but I didn't want to shock it by giving it too much light

when the orchid has flowered and the flowers all drop off (do you notice they all die together at almost the same time? Amazing!), it then goes into a period of rest and recuperation (after all that effort!) so try to keep it away from the hot sunshine and bright light - to your point, that's like shining a light in its face when it's trying to have a siesta .

also you may have noticed that orchids are ...... verrrrry ....... sloooooooow at everything, flowering, forming leaves etc. they are the cool 😎 dudes. So even if they look like nothings going on, it most certainly is, but in very slow time and to a very unique lifecycle.

I've planted this years bulb. Didn't keep last years as one didn't even flower and the other wasn't fantastic.

Has anyone else planted theirs?

I’m moving house in the next month or so. So mine will wait until after the move. Excited to finally have space to grow them! It does mean I’m spending too much time choosing 🌺

Happy new year to you all and best wishes for growing things this year!!

Didn’t go Hippeastrum mad this year, planting one new bulb which flowered a few days after Xmas and is still flowering strong.

Tried re planting a couple from last year and although they have leaves it looks doubtful that they will flower - the bulbs felt a bit ropey. I’ll leave them for a bit longer before binning though.

Would be nice to see how yours are all getting on.

I Harry Pottered mine (put them in the understair cupboard) to go dormant. I'll have a look at them soon. If they're okay, I'll refresh their soil and, hopefully, get flowers in the spring. Managed to resist buying more, although, if they're still some reduced at the garden centre...

My floating seeds sprouted and I planted them in the teeniest propagator. A friend kindly kept them in her greenhouse (I don't have a bright enough window sill). Unfortunately, she forgot to water them and most died but one survived and is growing well. A few others aren't as good but are clinging on still. I'll definitely try again, especially if I have simultaneously flowers that I can cross pollinate. My baby, with luck, will flower in a few years.

I bought two new bulbs this year, which I put to one side, forgot about and then bought two more. I’m dubious about last year’s bulbs, which are doing very little, but have high hopes for the newbies.

Happy new year everyone.

I did post some time back, as there wasn't a lot happening with mine which were bought in clearance from last Christmas. Apart from some leaves which kept flopping and I kept cutting back.

One of them suddenly just produced some flowers which seemed like overnight. They were really gorgeous deep red and I really hoped they would be around for Christmas. But then we got hit with a mother of a heatwave (close to 40 degrees most days) and I think it was just too much for it. And within days they wilted and that was that. It's now grown a new leaf again, which has also flopped. I've moved it to the bathroom where it's a bit cooler and I see signs of a new leaf shooting again.

Poor thing. The other one (which I think is white ) is just sitting there doing nothing. So I have one on each extreme of activity.

Hello Amaryllis Club

lovely to catch up again, after a few months!

Ill take a photo of my two when there's some daylight, its been almost dark all day 😮

@Maggiethecat I've tried for years to get a bulb to reflower the following year and all they ever do is grow a load of leaves but no flower.

im sorry to say I tend to let them have their moment of glory and then into the compost heap they go. Probably all the more profit for Tesco and M&S but for me, it's a lot of effort and time for no real benefit.

Oh dear @isthismylifenow that sounds very frustrating for you!

@daisychain01 - this is the one that surprisingly reflowered last year (Xmas 22). It was simply stunning!

I’m not sure if it’s one of the bulbs that I tried to get to reflower this year as I saved about four or five from last year, but didn’t label them properly!

interestingly, the old bulbs started off feeling squidgy but as they’ve developed leaves, they seem to be firming up to the touch. that’s why I think I’ll leave them a bit more to see if any stems develop.

Sorry for the wonky picture - if you tap on it you’ll see the flower better.

I have had some reflower. I usually have them on an East facing window. Feed and water them sparingly and haphazardly. I don't remove the leaves until all the green has gone from them. My experience from last year is that they reflower when I threatened to repot them 😊

Crocus still has some for sale and on sale. I've not checked but, last year ikea was selling them very cheaply after Christmas.

That deep red is beautiful.

I’ll start making loud threats!!

Last year my £1 Ikea bulb flowered like mad but I can’t bring myself to face Ikea just now.