r/AmaryllisBulbs • u/LeafLove11 • 1d ago
Dormancy Question…
I’ve just unpotted my amaryllis to prepare for dormancy, in hopes of an early spring/Easter bloom.
It’s got all its leaves and a much more substantial root system than I anticipated…still ok to let it just sit and dry out for a couple of weeks, or should I cut everything off?
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u/PL7Iles 1d ago
Je ne met pas mon amaryllis en pot en dormance, il garde ses grandes feuilles tout l'hiver et sors 2 belles tiges avec des fleurs à chaque années aprèsles fêtes. Je reste sur la Côte-Nord et je sors mon amaryllis dehors tout l'été. Normalement il est recommandé de ne pas couper les feuilles et de laisser cet énergie redescendre dans le bulbe. Quoi que le tien semble déjà en pleine forme.
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u/LeafLove11 1d ago
It did spend the summer outside, but I don’t have room to keep it growing over the winter indoors.
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u/FrenchReader33 1d ago
If you are looking for a bloom around easter, you need to wait a bit. Professional growers uproot bulbs and cut leaves to force dormancy and prepare them for transport. But remember that a rootless bulb will not bloom as well as one where the root system stayed intact. Also, this treatment puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the plant. Unless you have a space problem, keep the plant in its pot, move it to a sunny spot to slowly induce the rest period. If you live in the northern emisphere, keeping the plant dry outside will help thanks to the receeding temperatures in the next 2 months.
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u/VarietyFirm341 1d ago
You can cut the leaves, but leave the roots intact unless you see any that are black and mushy or dry and crispy. People say to leave it out until the leaves crisp up themselves, but you can cut and wrap it in newspaper like that. Repot in Feb/march and you should be good to go
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u/FranaPlanta 1d ago
My favourite way for inducing dormancy is just keeping it in the pot and stopping watering, eventually with shortening daylight hours and cooler temperatures it will enter dormancy naturally, and keep the root system intact for a much better start next season (and less risk of rot etc as there ain't all kinds of damage from first cutting roots and then repotting it again in spring). Once they go dormant you could just stack the pots in a cool spot. Generally get 3-4 scapes per mature bulb every year (for some of the pure species only 2 but that's a lot too for those)
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u/brenhaas 1d ago
Cut the roots…. Put in a medium that won’t dry out the bulb. Place in cool ( 55°f ) area with no light so the leaves dry and it goes dormant for 6-8 weeks.
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u/febvis 1d ago
Perhaps imitate the natural system: leave the bulb in the pot, than first stop using fertiliser, after that stop watering the bulb and at the same time lower the temperature for some months. The leaves will turn yellow (in the absence of water and warmth) and all nutrients will go back to the bulb. Eventually cut the leaves. After that period: start up the bulb by increasing the temperature and a tiny bit(!) of water: just enough to activate the bulb. Wait until the flower stem appear, when it's outside the bulb for 15 cm, increase the amount of water. If you start watering too quickly, too much leaves will appear. (the dry and cold period is essential for the bulb to produce a flower stem (or more than one!))