Amaryllis

Amaryllis (Amaryllis) is a bulbous perennial plant that belongs to the amaryllis family. The flower is found in the wild only on two continents - in the countries of South Africa and in Australia, where it was introduced. The name means "sparkling".

Amaryllis is distinguished by long basal leaves, reaching 60 cm, as well as very large umbrella-shaped inflorescences. Each of them contains from 2 to 12 flowers. Amaryllis begins to bloom before it has leaves. Depending on the variety, amaryllis have different colors from white to crimson with different shades, as well as purple with double and striped flowers. The color lasts up to six days in the spring.

If you follow all the measures for caring for a plant in a pot culture, its bulb can live up to 20 years.

• Growth rates are average.
• In nature, it blooms at the end of August. At home, flowering can occur twice.
• Requires increased care and attention.
• It is able to grow without transplants for up to 5 years.

Basic rules for growing amaryllis

In order to regularly admire its flowers, the following rules for growing amaryllis should be observed.

You should know! All work with amaryllis must be carried out with gloves and the bulb should be kept away from children and pets - it is poisonous!

Caring for amaryllis at home

Caring for amaryllis will require special attention from the grower.

Planting the bulbs

Before planting, the amaryllis bulb must be carefully examined and areas with signs of rot must be removed. For disinfection, it should be kept a little in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and the sections (if any) should be powdered with crushed coal. Lowering the bulb into the ground, you need to bury it in only half or 2/3. Thus, you can protect it from the development of diseases and possible death.In order not to overmoisten the soil, it is better to water a freshly planted plant only through a pallet.

If the flower is going to be grown outdoors, it will need fertile soil rich in humus. A bulb planted by summer will be able to accumulate more strength and give much more babies than a potted specimen.

Lighting

One of the main tasks when growing amaryllis is to provide it with a sufficiently long daylight hours. It must be at least 16 hours. The flower is very fond of the sun, on dark autumn and winter days it suffers from a lack of it and begins to develop worse. It is the lack of lighting that is considered the main reason for the lack of peduncles.

The southern and southeastern windows are considered the best place for a pot with amaryllis. Periodically, the plant is rotated so that it does not grow at an angle.

Content temperature

For a home plant, temperature drops are very harmful. In the summer, it should be kept indoors, where it is kept at about +20 degrees. During periods of rest, a cooler corner will be required, but it should not be colder than +8 degrees.

Watering mode

To avoid overflow, amaryllis is recommended to be watered through a tray. The usual method is also acceptable, but in this case, you will need to drain the excess water each time so that it does not stagnate at the roots.

During the period of active growth, the flower is watered abundantly enough, but during the rest of the bulbs, the rate is significantly reduced. The end of the dormant period is marked by the appearance of a small flower arrow. Its dimensions at this time usually do not exceed 10 cm.

Air humidity

Amaryllis is suitable for moderate humidity. If the air in the room is not excessively dry, the flower will not need spraying. This procedure should only be carried out on very dry and hot days, when the soil in the pot loses moisture too quickly. During the rest period, you can periodically (once every 3 weeks) moisten the topsoil from a spray bottle to prevent it from completely drying out.

Capacity selection

An amaryllis pot must be firm and heavy to support a long stem. The optimum height is not less than 20 cm. The distance from the bulb to the walls should not exceed 3 cm. The dimensions of the plant's root system are quite impressive. Due to the fact that the roots of the bulb are directed downward, a short pot will become an obstacle to healthy growth and flowering.

During transplantation, a replacement pot is selected that is only a couple of centimeters wider than the old one. The relative tightness in this case will facilitate flowering.

The soil

When planting amaryllis, you can use ready-made soil mixtures for bulbous plants, which have the necessary set of nutrients. If the soil is prepared on its own, a mixture of turf with leafy soil, humus and sand is well suited for a flower. An important element is drainage: the bottom of the pot is filled with expanded clay, pebbles or small brick debris.

Top dressing

The flower is fed only during the growing season, it needs to be fertilized once a month. For this, both mineral and organic additives are used, alternating their introduction. The composition of mineral fertilizers should be dominated by phosphorus and potassium: the abundance of nitrogen is harmful to the plant.

During the dormant period, the fertilizer is not applied to the soil.

Transfer

Amaryllis are transplanted in the spring after the plant has completely faded and the flower stem withers. As the bulb grows, the topsoil can be replaced annually to keep it from depleting. A full transplant should be performed every 4-5 years. In order not to harm the flower, as well as add strength to a damaged or depleted bulb, the following procedure must be followed:

1. A few days before moving the bulb, the flower is watered abundantly in order to properly moisten the earthen ball and facilitate its removal.
2. After removing the onion from the pot, it is necessary to examine its roots and remove any rotting or dried parts.
3. In the presence of damage, cuts and other defects, it is necessary to treat the surface with a wound with a disinfectant or dust it with activated carbon.
4. If children have formed on the bulb, they are separated so that the plant does not waste energy on the development of new shoots. Failure to remove them can prevent flowering.
5. At least 3 cm of the drainage layer is placed in the pot, and prepared soil is poured on top of it on 2/3 of the container.
6. A small layer of sand is poured over the place where the bulb will be placed.
7. After the bulb is placed in the pot, the rest of the soil is poured around it, trying to cover only its lower part.

After these procedures, the plant should re-root and then quickly grow.

Pruning

Usually, there is no need to trim the leaves of indoor amaryllis: when they die, they transfer all the nutrients back to the bulb, creating a kind of reserve of strength for future flowering. If the leaves are grated, but do not dry out for too long, you can carefully remove them by slightly bending or cutting off near the base.

Bloom

During the flowering period, amaryllis shoots an arrow, there are no leaves on it at this time. On the arrow, up to 60 centimeters high, there are from two to six colors. They are large, up to 12 cm in diameter and funnel-shaped.

Amaryllis is often confused with an outwardly similar relative - hippeastrum. However, amaryllis has distinctive features:

• The flower arrow is not hollow to the touch.
• The maximum size of the bulb is 12 cm, but the average one reaches 6 cm. The shape is pear-shaped or fusiform, in hippeastrum it is more flattened.
• Babies are formed in the sinuses between the scales.
• The number of flowers on the peduncle can reach 12 pieces, while the hippeastrum can have only 6 of them.
• The flower petals are more oblong.
• Amaryllis are not terry, but they have a more pronounced aroma.

With proper care, amaryllis can bloom not once, but twice a year: in early spring and early September. The color palette of its inflorescences includes shades of white, pink and red, there are also two-tone species. Flowering lasts about 1.5 months. The main thing is that the bulb has time to rest before it. This rule allows flowering periods to be regulated by forcing. If several peduncles form at once on a large plant, it is recommended to leave no more than two. Otherwise, you can deplete the plant. Bulbs that are too old do not bloom.

Amaryllis after flowering

As soon as the amaryllis inflorescences wither, the plant begins a dormant period (from July to October). At this time, the amaryllis should be in a dark, cool place. Proper care of it at this time will help increase the life of the flower.

Withered peduncles should be carefully trimmed. After that, they begin to gradually reduce the watering rate: after flowering, amaryllis no longer needs such a volume of water. When the leaves are completely dry, watering is stopped. The pot with the onion should be moved to a bright, cool place, where it is left for 2 or 3 months. All this time, the soil in the pot is not watered, but only occasionally sprayed. The need for top dressing also disappears.

As soon as a new flower arrow or a fresh sprout begins to appear on the plant, it is transferred back to the warmth. You can do this at the beginning of spring, for distillation. If necessary, the amaryllis is transferred into a slightly larger pot.

Reproduction of amaryllis

Growing from seeds

Seed propagation has its own advantages and disadvantages. A plant obtained in this way does not retain varietal characteristics, moreover, flowers will have to wait at least 5 years. But the bulb formed from the seed will be able to survive longer.

To grow a flower from seed, you need fresh planting material. It is harvested from the bolls formed on the arrow after flowering. Such seeds do not hold germination for a long time: only about a month. At the same time, it is not recommended to dry them, this also negatively affects the possibility of germination.

Sowing is carried out in moist soil with a sufficient amount of nutrients. It should include turf and humus, as well as a double portion of sand and leafy soil. Sprinkle the seeds with a thin layer of earth. At a temperature not lower than +25, the first shoots should appear in 2 months.

As soon as the seedling has the first pair of leaves, it is mixed in a small 0.1 liter pot.

With bulbs

Reproduction of a flower by daughter bulbs requires much less time and effort. It is necessary to separate the babies from the mother's bulb, and then plant them in the soil with exactly the same composition as in the previous pot. Young children grow to the size of a full-fledged bulb in a couple of years. Flowering in this case will have to wait only 2 or 3 years.

Why amaryllis does not bloom

Due to the greater demands on the conditions of detention, amaryllis is rarely found in home floriculture. Usually, preference is given to the more unpretentious hippeastrum. If amaryllis has already been purchased, but does not bloom in any way, there may be several possible reasons:

• Lack of nutrients;
• Insufficient lighting during the growth period;
• Too voluminous pot: in this case, all the forces of the flower go to the formation of children;
• Incorrect content during the dormant period or lack thereof;
• Diseases or pests.

Pests and diseases

If amaryllis looks unhealthy, assessing the appearance of its aerial part and bulb, you can usually find out the cause of the problem:

• Slow growth and leaf fall is a sign of the amaryllis bug.
• White spots on the green parts of the plant are the consequences of a mealybug lesion. These pests are fought with insecticides.
• Bulb rot due to overflow can lead to the appearance of onion mites. Mealy bugs or thrips can also harm amaryllis. You can try to get rid of small lesions with a soap solution. It will also help against the false shield causing brown spots.
• The flowers darken due to waterlogging and low room temperatures. In this case, the plant is cleaned and moved to a dry and warm area.
• The pallor and wilting of the leaves is a consequence of rotting. The bulb must be transplanted into dry soil.
• Yellowing of leaves - too wet soil or aphid damage. Pests can be removed from the plant with a cotton swab.
• Reddish streaks and spots are fungal infections caused by overflow. Can be cured with Bordeaux mixture.

Types and varieties of amaryllis with a photo

Amaryllis beautiful or belladonna (Amaryllis belladonna)

It was once considered the only species of amaryllis and is still the most common in home floriculture. Amaryllis belladonna is distinguished by its large bulbs (up to 10 cm in diameter) and tall peduncles (up to 70 cm). The flowers have 6 petals and are often colored in shades of red, pink, lilac or creamy white. The inflorescences have a pleasant smell.

There are more than a hundred varieties of amaryllis, some of which are its hybrids with hippeastrum. The most common in floriculture:

• "Durban" ("Durban") - flowers in the form of a large red bell with a white throat.
• The Snow Queen is a hybrid with double white flowers with cream edges.
• "Grandior" - variegated white-pink inflorescences with a green throat.
• "Red Lion" is a variety with large bright red flowers.
• "Minerva" - showy red flowers with a white-green star in the middle.