Amaryllis ( Amaryllis hippeastrum ) are prized for their sumptuous , cornet - like bloom , tote up glorious color to our wintertime interior decoration when thrust to bloom indoors or grown in garden beds in regions with balmy winters .
Although they ’re often treated as a one - and - done flower , tossed out when they ’ve finished blooming , these bulb actually get good with age .
And with the right care , like fertilizing , these tropical bulb uprise larger and produce more of those sensational flower with each growing season !
Photo by Lorna Kring.
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But the timing for nourishing your plants is of import . Feeding them too much or at the wrong sentence can result in alimental burn , scrubby growth , or yellowing leafage .
And not feed them enough when they call for nutrients can cause lusterless performance when they should be reblooming .
Photo by Lorna Kring.
So if you ’d like robust plants with large , vigorous bulbs that build up multiple show - stopping flowers , let ’s get into the easy steps of when and how to fertilize amaryllis plant .
Start With Strong Roots
Whether you ’re pot up bulbs toforce them indoorsorgrowing amaryllis out in the garden , you’re able to feed your bulbs at planting meter by mix in a act of bone repast to their growing spiritualist .
Adding ivory mealat planting clock time is n’t mandatory and your bulbs will grow all right without it , but I like to give my light bulb the safe start potential .
Bone meal is ideal for promote the growing of hard , healthy roots , as it has high levels of phosphorus .
With an NPK ( nitrogen , phosphorus , potassium ) ratio of around 3 - 15 - 0 , off-white repast not only helps with tooth root maturation but it also encourage flowering – incisively what you want with these showy incandescent lamp !
Use one teaspoonful of osseous tissue meal mix into the soil when pot up electric-light bulb in modest indoor pots and one tablespoonful for bigger planter or when establish out of doors .
Wait for New Growth
After the bulbs are planted , the active fertilize phase for indoor potted industrial plant starts with the emergence of new growth , and not before .
When you first comment unexampled growth sprouting from the top of the medulla , I hint using a balanced liquid plant food but debase to half - strength .
I ’m a bountiful sports fan of the convenience of slow release fertilizers , but for medulla oblongata planted in pots – particularly small ones – I prefer limpid app .
With liquid plant food , it ’s easier to regulate the dose amounts , to foreclose overfertilization .
And these product provide plant life with nutrients chop-chop , which is important for incandescent lamp forced to flower out of time of year and out of their lifelike surroundings .
After the first alimentation , wait three or four hebdomad or when the maturation is six to eight inches tall , before fertilizing for a second time , using the same half - strength solution .
When all the flower are spent and removed , pop out fertilizing again following the feeding agenda outlined below in the next plane section .
Amaryllis can be fed a balanced fertilizer with equal NPK ratio , like 10 - 10 - 10 , or a flower - boosting formula with higher phosphorus degree , such as 4 - 6 - 2 NPK .
Gardenwise Liquid Fertilizer
I care to use Gardenwise Liquid Fertilizer 10 - 10 - 10 , available in eight - Panthera uncia bottlesfrom Walmart .
Water your amaryllis before feeding so the soil is moist , but not wet – plant are well able to uptake nutrients in gently dampish grunge than in a teetotal growing medium .
Feed After Flowering
The menstruum after flowering and before dormancy is crucial for the health of the bulb and its power to reflower .
It ’s during this post - bloom period that the leaf are actively processing sunlight into energy through photosynthesis , with the bulb maturate larger as they convert energy into sugars to put in as solid food .
During this “ green plant ” phase , potted specimen should be fed regularly every two or three weeks with a liquid or weewee soluble fertilizer .
Water thinly to drizzle the grease before flow , then utilise a half - military strength practical program of a balmy , balanced plant food such as 5 - 5 - 5 , or a peak boosting admixture similar to 5 - 10 - 10 .
you could also use the product recommend above , just be sure to load it to half - strength .
go on to feed your flora regularly until it ’s time to let them enter quiescency .
Stop fertilize container - develop amaryllis around the beginning to middle of August so they halt develop in cooking for their rest flow .
you’re able to ascertain to worry for amaryllis after flowering in our usher .
In the Garden
For amaryllis in the garden , give bug out as for indoor plants , or as before long as newfangled growth emerges .
When your plant life part grow in spring , apply a two - inch layer ofcompostas a top fertilization over the root zona .
Or they can be fed with a slow release rule with a balanced NPK proportion similar to 10 - 10 - 10 or a flower boost ratio like 4 - 6 - 2 , call off the granule into the surface of the soil .
Down to Earth has an excellent constitutive product with an NPK ratio of 4 - 6 - 2 that ’s ideal for outdoor - grown amaryllis bulb .
Down to Earth All Purpose Mix
you could find itavailable from Arbico Organicsin a potpourri of computer software sizes to suit your needs .
Plants can be given a 2nd app program of compost or slow release granules in early summer after the expend blooms have been deadheaded .
you may also use a liquid plant food if that ’s what you prefer .
For liquid feed , use a full strength software after novel increase emerges and once again when the plants are six to eight column inch marvellous .
Do n’t feed again until after the flush are spend and evanesce , then fecundate monthly until the beginning of August – withhold plant food after this gunpoint to ensure your plant life turn back develop before their quiescence period .
Blooming Brilliance
With their fantastic , cornet - like flowers , amaryllis are a wintertime goody when force indoors or a fountain delight out in the garden !
And with the right fertilizing regime , you may enjoy their blossom splendour for many days to come .
think back to wait until new ontogeny come along before you start to feast your plant and give them another dose about a month later .
After that , wait until after flowering to feed them again , then provide regular practical program until it ’s time for them to prepare for dormancy .
And formore selective information about develop amaryllis , moderate out some of these guides next :
Photo by Lorna Kring © postulate the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product photos via Arbico Organics and Walmart . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Lorna Kring
