Tips and Tricks for Growing Stunning and Strong Amaryllis
How to bring color indoors this holiday season.
As the weather gets colder and our gardens get put to bed we start to crave color back into our lives. Amaryllis are my favorite way to do this, as not only do they put your green thumb to work, but they also bring beautiful color back into our homes.
“Amaryllis” comes from the Greek word amarysso, “to sparkle.”
Amaryllis are popular during the holiday season as they make some of the most beautiful Christmas centerpieces and a great hostess gift for the holiday season. Flowers will always have a mind of their own, but working at Toronto Botanical Gardens I have picked up some tips and tricks that have have my Christmas table full with bright beautiful flowers that leave my guests asking about them year after year.
First and most important is to know the flower you are growing and what that flower needs. Lucky for all of us amaryllis lovers, they are a notoriously sturdy and resistant plant that is hard to mess up too badly. But it never hurts to have some tips and tricks under our sleeves before we start to grow our own.
Amaryllis symbolize strength, beauty, pride, and love, often representing resilience and determination due to its ability to bloom in the winter months.
Buying a Bulb
Most garden shops will carry a variety of kits. These are amazing and come with all you’ll need to grow your own. The TBG Garden Shop has a wide variety of kits and waxed bulbs that make growing easier. But some stores, such as the Garden Shop, hold a variety of loose bulbs as well, these tend to come in a greater variety then the kits. The TBG Garden Shop is proud to say we have one of the largest variety of regular and novelty amaryllis in the GTA, here is a link for you to browse through, Winter Blooming Bulbs – TBG Garden Shop.
How you can tell your bulb is good quality is by giving it a squeeze, you want to make sure it's heavy and firm with no molding.
You can tell how many bloom's you'll get by the size of the bulb. Bigger bulb equals more flower stalks and blooms.
When to Plant
If you want them to bloom in time for a beautiful Christmas display, you'll want to plant them 8-10 weeks prior. Some other growers will tell you 6-8, and depending on how warm your growing location is you may get a bloom in 6 weeks. But I also like to be on the safe side and I start to pot mine with at least 8 weeks to spare so I have a beautiful full bloom for Christmas dinner. And with an amaryllis bloom lasting two to three weeks, you will still have a beautiful flower for the holidays even if they bloom within the 6-8 weeks rather than the full 10.
Pots and Placement
The same with any plant you want to pick out a planter you know your bulb will like. Amaryllis like a warm Christmas hug as much as anyone in these cold months, which means you'll want to pick a pot that is no more than an inch or two wider than your bulbs diameter. You will also want to make sure you get a pot with draining holes as amaryllis do not like to be left soggy.
Soil
You will want a well draining soil mixture as amaryllis bulbs are prone to rotting.
Positioning the Bulbs
When planting your amaryllis bulb you do not need to go deep. I personally like to lay down a layer of soil at the bottom of the pot first. Just enough so that when your bulb is placed on top of the soil, the top of the bulb head will poke above once you gently fill the soil in around. You want to make sure the roots are placed in the soil, while the top 1/3 - where the bloom will come from - is poking out of the soil.
Amaryllis bulbs like to be crowded in a pot or a bed. Cuddle them in the pot as long as it is well draining!
Water and Light
Amaryllis love sunlight. These plants thrive in direct sunlight so the perfect spot in your home will be one with lots of light. You’ll find if you don’t turn your plant the stock will start to lean dramatically towards the sunlight. This is an easy fix though, by simply rotating the plant every few days so that the stock does not feel the need to bend towards the sun.
As for watering the amaryllis, once per week tends to be sufficient. As I stated before these bulbs will rot if they are too wet for too long. How I like to tell if they need a drink is by sticking my finger in and if it's dry right down then I will water it till the soil is moist again, but never soaking.
Warmth and sunlight promote blooms! Which means you are set if you are south facing. But once the blooms start to form you’ll want to move your plant out of direct light to get a longer bloom time.
Ideal temps
Amaryllis plants like temperatures around 60° to 70°F (15.5° to 21°C). You’ll want to keep them away from cold breezy windows or drying radiators.
Supporting growth
It's good to keep in mind that amaryllis are top heavy, so even with rotating the plant every few days it may still lean, feel free to place a stake next to the stem carefully so as not to hurt the bulb.
Stake proactively!
| Genus Name | Hippeastrum |
| Common Name | Amaryllis |
| Plant Type | Bulb, Houseplant |
| Light | Part Sun, Sun |
| Height | 18 to 36 inches |
| Special Features | Good for Containers, Low Maintenance |
