Forcing Amaryllis into Bloom
Brighten your home by forcing a colorful amaryllis into bloom.
Many garden centers, catalogs and mail order companies sell amaryllis for forcing. Purchase a healthy bulb free of pests and damage from a reliable source.
Plant your amaryllis bulb in a container with drainage holes that is just slightly larger than the bulb. Set the bulb in well-drained potting mix so the pointed end is above the soil. Then water.
Move the potted amaryllis bulb to a sunny window and water thoroughly and often enough to keep the soil just slightly moist. Now comes the hard part – waiting for the flowers.
Keep flowering plants in a cool location free from drafts of hot and cold air. Once the flowers fade, remove the flower stem but leave the leaves intact. Then fertilize the plants with a dilute solution of flowering houseplant fertilizer and grow your amaryllis like other indoor plants.
A bit more information: Amaryllis can be moved outdoors for the summer. Treat it like your other container plants watering and fertilizing as needed with a flowering plant fertilizer. Stop fertilizing the plant mid summer and cut back on watering in late summer to prepare the amaryllis for its rest period. Move the plant indoors before the danger of frost. Allow the leaves to dry and store the bulb in a cool dark location for 3 months. After that, move your plant to a sunny window and with luck you will soon be rewarded with new blooms.
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