Hippeastrum 'Royal Velvet'

[John M]

I love these; but, I can never get my Hippeastrum (a.k.a. Amaryllis), bulbs to grow big. I'm always disappointed in the fall when I bring the pots inside and the bulbs are really quite small. However, most still do put on a nice show for me....and this spring I am getting to enjoy some stunning plants in bloom. Still, I wonder what I would get if I could get the bulbs to bulk up to the size of a Cantaloupe during the growing season? If anybody knows how to get these bulbs to grow big, please share your secret.

This one is my favourite of the 3 hybrid varieties that I grow (I also have 'Minerva' and 'Picotee'). I've had this one for almost 20 years. It's in an 8" pot and each flower is 8" in diameter. This time, I let the "suckers" remain and add to making one big show, all in one pot from 3 bulbs. In the past, I've taken the small side-shoot bulbs off and potted them separately. One is the main bulb and one is a half sized bulb. The last bulb is very small and still completely hidden by the soil. Interestingly, the half-sized bulb is the one with 2 flower spikes. There is a total of 4 spikes with 4 flowers on each spike. I've already removed 2 flowers that were getting past their best.

 

[Wendy]

That's lovely John. You do so well with these. :clap:

 

[junglejim]

If you have room, wait until it's safe to plant out in the garden in a row. In the dirt, not in a pot.The trick would be to keep it dark and dormant until it's safe to plant outside. Fertilize every couple of weeks. My friend does this and the bulbs are huge. IMO the pot cramps them. Be sure to remember to dig them and bring inside if you live in a northern climate. Try it with a bulb, you have several in that pot . . . .

 

[John M]

Thanks Wendy and Jim.

Jim, I've never tried planting them right in the garden without the pot. I'll give it a go with a couple spare, small bulbs and see what I think at the end of the summer. Perhaps they just do better with the natural, organic nutrients found in real, garden soil, as opposed to the ProMix (peat-based, soiless mix), that I use in the pots. It's the right time of year to give this a go. As of today, as a matter of fact, (in my area), it's safe to plant tender plants outside.....and no more frost until early October.

 

[abax]

Beautiful flowers and lots of them. I assume that this is
an Amy rather than a true Hippeastrum...or maybe a cross
of the two. In passing, I've never gotten a bulb of "our"
Hipp larger than a tennis ball. I get lots of blooms anyway so the size of the bulbs doesn't bother me. Your suggestion of growing cooler and drier proved to be correct.

 

[John M]

I believe it's a true Hippeastrum, Angela. However, it's just one variety of many that are available each fall that are commonly and incorrectly called "Amaryllis". True Amaryllis, of which there are only 2 species, come from South Africa. What the horticultural trade commonly and incorrectly calls hybrid Amaryllis, are actually bred from the South American species of Hippeastrum. Being from opposite sides of the Atlantic, I don't know if they're closely related enought to cross. However, this plant I have does have the completely hollow flower stems, just like a Hippeastrum is supposed to have. South African Amaryllis have solid stems.

Yes, giving all of these plants a rest (cool, dry), after blooming and a few months of growing, does help boost future blooming. They just need enough cold and especially drought to make the foliage mostly, if not completely wilt and dry out. Then, start watering again. Or, you can store them for up to about 6 months in a dry and dormant state. Although, I do find that if they are not inside a plastic bag (once the soil and all foliage does become 100% dry), the bulb, being exposed to the dry indoor air, will shrink during a prolonged dormancy through simple evaporation and desication.....leaving a shrunken and much smaller bulb to restart with the next growing season.

 

[paphioboy]

Stunning! I love hippeastrums, but they don't flower well in tropical lowland. They do flower very regularly and abundantly in Cameron Highlands as well as Kundasang, which is a small town at the base of Mt Kinabalu.

 

[Lanmark]

Wow! I might have to try these someday.

 

[Brabantia]

Nice flowers! If you want big bulbs you need to push on the potassium. After the flowering during spring fertilise these with a fertiliser having a high content in potassium like a bloom booster. Even reasonning as for orchids which have a pseudo_bulb.

 

[John M]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to pay special attention to them with regard to the fertilizer I use this spring/summer. I do have a high potassium fert (7-11-27). So, I'll keep them well fed with that up to about August 1st and then I'll stop feeding, allowing them harden off before the fall/winter dormancy period begins.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Love these plant!

My aunt had older variety (Johsonii I think) that she had at her early 20s, which multiplied to a giant pot full many years later.
Everytime I visited her in May, she had this huge pot bursting in red! What a sight!
She trimmed off the leaves in fall and brought them inside and left the whole pot in her bathroom during the winter. Never watered other than some water being splashed on to them on daily shower and bath.lol
Temeprature was always well above 70F.
She would take them outside again after the danger of frost passed.
She also did the same with her Dahlias except, she planted them in her garden.

I just wish they lasted longer in bloom.
I had lots of them in all kinds of colors, but they all had to go to make room for growing orchids.

For smaller bulbs, there are a few reasons why.
Some varieties just don't grow huge bulbs as opposed to some other varieties that easily do.
With age and under good culture (a lot of light is the most important and fertilizing here and there helps), many bulbs do get very large.
I've had ones with a size of soft ball or baby's head. These would send up three flower stalks or more at a time.

Virused ( easy to tell with these plants. look at the leaves) plants may deteriorate.

"Rest" period is also heavily dependent on varieties but all of mine bloomed every spring like clock work with leaves on year around.
I did cut watering, but did water when the pot went bone dry, which was about once or twice a month during the winter months.
Leaves on some will wither. Temperature on the windowsill where they used to be never went below around 65F minimum.

Commercial growers need to keep the bulbs at much lower temperatures to discourage the flower stalks from growing and this way they can market the plants at certain high demand time.