Why amaryllis does not bloom at home - what to do

Amaryllis is a beautiful South African plant that blooms in Russian apartments once a year. But sometimes even experienced flower growers fail to achieve a single flowering of this handsome man. The solution to the problem is far from the surface. To make the amaryllis bloom, you will have to step by step analyze all the conditions of detention.

What does blooming amaryllis look like?

Before figuring out why amaryllis does not bloom, and what needs to be done about it, it is advisable to clarify one detail. There are only four species of amaryllis that exist in nature: the well-known Belladonna, as well as the Amaryllis paradisicola, Amaryllis bagnoldii and Amaryllis condemaita, which have been included relatively recently in this family.

Amaryllis Belladonna - the ancestor of all other varieties

Almost all varieties that grow at home are hybrids of Amaryllis Belladonna and South American hippeastrum, and the real Belladonna is quite difficult to find today.

The color range of amaryllis contains shades from white and light pink to purple, there are six petals, and they are almost the same. A plant may not have leaves at all during flowering, they do not exist on the peduncle itself. The buds are in the form of gramophones, of various sizes, the inflorescence usually consists of 2-12 flowers. There are double and bicolor varieties.

The most famous plant varieties growing in Russian families:

• Mont Blanc,
• Dancing Queen,
• Lemon Lime,
• Red Fire,
• Black Pearl,
• Royal Velvet.

Their flowers are similar, but the colors and shades can vary greatly.

Left to right, top row: Mont Blanc, Dancing Queen, Lemon Lime. Bottom row: Red Fire, Black Pearl, Royal Velvet.

Reasons for the lack of flowers in amaryllis

The plant should bloom twice a year if planted outdoors, and once at home. And if amaryllis does not bloom and gives only leaves, what to do in this case? You need to find out what exactly the flower is missing, and then change the conditions for its cultivation.

Flowering is influenced by:

• The age and size of the bulb. If it is still too small (up to 5 cm in diameter), you may not wait for flowering for a long time. It usually takes 2-3 years for a bulb to release not only leaves, but also a peduncle.
• Improper care. It is believed that amaryllis are not very moody, however, they need to be taken care of more than many other home flowers.
• Inappropriate conditions of detention.

How to plant amaryllis correctly so that it blooms

This flower propagates in two ways: seeds and daughter bulbs. The method of reproduction greatly depends on how long it will take until flowering occurs. As a rule, a lot of time passes from germination of seeds to the receipt of the first inflorescences - about six years, with proper planting of bulbs - no more than three years.

Before planting seeds, you need to pay attention to the date of their release.

Planting soil can be purchased at the store - any universal or for flowering plants. You can do it yourself: mix sand, humus, peat (1 part each) and turf soil (2 parts). The acidity of the soil should be approximately 6.0-6.5 pH. At the bottom, you need to put any drainage, for example, expanded clay. Before planting, the bulb can be soaked for half an hour in a very weak solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect.

Planting amaryllis in a pot

It is important to place the bulb correctly in the pot: it should be raised one third above the ground, and no more than 2-3 cm to the edges of the pot. Why is this necessary? If it is more spacious, the bulb will begin to actively overgrow with children, and it will not have enough nutrients to bloom. If the plant does not have the ability to multiply with bulbs, it will try to release a peduncle to ensure the maturation of the seeds.

If the planting conditions are met, the reason for the absence of inflorescences must be looked for in another.

Analysis of the conditions of detention, is everything suitable

As mentioned above, the plant comes from South Africa, where the dry summer months give way to the rainy season. During a drought, the plant begins a dormant period, it completely sheds its leaves. The time of its flowering in natural conditions falls on the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, that is, February-March in the northern latitudes.

After the buds wither for several months, only the leaves continue to grow, by August they gradually wither and, from about November, the plant rests. To make the plant bloom, this regime must be followed when growing a flower in an apartment.

In order for the plant to retire on time, watering is smoothly stopped from the beginning of September. In October, the plant is harvested to a shaded place; by the end of November, the leaves should die off.

You cannot cut off the leaves and immediately send the plant to "hibernation"! This is fraught with rotting leaf scraps and the death of the bulb. In addition, green leaves nourish the plant, and abrupt removal of them can cause the bulb to weaken.

You can't do that! You need to wait until the leaves wither, and only then remove them

The asleep onion is stored in a cool, dark place until approximately the end of January.

What to do to make amaryllis bloom by a certain date? 7-10 weeks before the desired start of flowering, the plant is taken out for distillation. To do this, you need to find a bright and warm place, and wait until a peduncle appears from the bulb. When it reaches about 10 cm in height, you can start watering the flower little by little.

This is what a healthy plant looks like after distillation - first a peduncle appears, then leaves

Until the arrow is extended enough, it is better not to water the flower, since the leaves will grow sharply, preventing the peduncle from developing.

When the plant begins to bloom, the grown flower arrow can be cut off and placed in the water like a regular bouquet. The inflorescences will bloom anyway, and the bulb will retain the strength to grow.

Correct Amaryllis Content

So, if amaryllis is provided with normal home care, why doesn't it bloom? Here are the factors that need to be considered for the full development of amaryllis:

• Lighting. This plant can and should be placed where there is bright sunlight. If natural light is not enough, you need to take care of artificial lighting.If the flower is on a south window, shading will be required during the summer months from noon to 3 pm.
• Humidity. Amaryllis does not like wet rooms. You can not flood the plant and allow water to stagnate, in addition, you need to water closer to the edge of the pot and make sure that water does not fall on the neck of the bulb and leaves. Spraying is also impossible.
• Temperature. When forcing and flowering indoors, the temperature should be in the range of 19-24 degrees Celsius, it is undesirable to go beyond these limits. Water for irrigation must be warm, room temperature.
• Top dressing. Approximately once every two weeks, during the entire growing season, the plant needs mineral fertilizers; complex fertilizers are suitable for flowering plants.
• Rest period. It is not advisable to "wake up" the plant earlier than after 3 months of rest. Ideally, it should be alone for 5 months.

An analysis of the actual conditions of detention will help to understand where the mistake was made. After that, it will be necessary to adjust the attitude towards the flower and the next year the amaryllis will probably bloom.

In general, amaryllis cannot be called completely unpretentious, but the flower does not require anything super complicated either. If you take care of it, following the above recommendations, you can get a beautiful and stylish living decoration of your home.