Lisa--

You could, or you could just store them out of the soil (making sure they are in a dark, cool place with adequate ventilation-- very key as even I got some mold on my bulbs roots here in Denver). And it isn't unreasonable for the bulb to have a mass of roots sitting in their pots while very dry-- they do this naturally in the ground in warmer areas. If they were mine, I'd plant one of them every two weeks and slowly bring them to bloom-- which would yield weeks to months of constant blooms. The bulbs won't care what time they wake up. Many here on the forum keep their growing 24/7/365.

Hope this helps,

Ryan

Thanks, Ryan.
So letting the roots get shriveled & crispy won't hurt the bulbs? Just so they don't get moldy?
Good idea to plant them one by one every two weeks! :D
They have been outdoors, where nights have been cool and now the days are cool, up until yesterday. (I am in NM in Zone 5B or so.) How long shall I keep them in our cool garage before I plant the first one in a pot and start to water it?

Lisa--

Some may have detailed times and dormant periods but honestly, it doesn't matter all that much to these plants. Check out the tops of the bulbs and find one that already has new growth peaking out-- you're likely to have a few. Those bulbs will likely best respond to being potted.

I took my bulbs out of their pots and cleaned them up and did inspections for bugs and fungus etc-- I then clipped off bad roots and the secondary roots (the primary roots are those huge white ones-- the secondary, as I call them, are the finer roots that branch off from the primary roots). The primary roots will likely keep their water and will only shrivel a little-- the secondary will in fact die-- and these were the reason for the mold I experienced.

If the primary roots do die back-- no worries-- the bulb will regrow them.

Again there is no rule as to the time they should stay in dormancy-- and really, since these are semi-tropical bulbs (not cold hardy) the main reason why one might put them in dormancy is that a major change for them will signal that it is time to flower. This is similar to cold hardy bulbs except that they require significantly colder temps than do amarylli.

Where in NM do you live? I've flown into Double Eagle airport (II, i think) and ABQ quite a few times but never spent much time there. It was always a fuel stop for when I flew smaller planes.

Ryan

Ryan is correct... no worries, the roots will regrow once the bulbs are re-potted, watered and placed in a warm room with plenty of sunlight.

Keep them from freezing temperatures, and keep them dry so no fungus or mold attacks, and they'll be fine. Hippeastrum bulbs are fairly resilient, and can take a bit of abuse. With proper care, though, they will reward you for years!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Hippeastrums! Good luck with your new acquisitions!

Ryan, there are a couple bulbs with new leaves growing out of the tops already, so I guess those would be the first to go back into the pots.

How do you clean your bulbs? Just hose them off gently with the hose or do you use some solution?

When we lived near Houston, Texas, many amaryllis bulbs were planted around the foundation of the house. When it got down to 19 degrees one winter, some of the bulbs died, but the ones underneath near the ground survived. Pretty tough, I'd say! :D

We live in northern NM now.

jodik, I've grown amaryllis bulbs for many years, but I've never let them go dormant before. And they didn't always rebloom. I'm hoping that unpotting them will help them to be healthier. And this year I don't have enough room to store all mine and the ones from my friend if they all stayed in their pots!

Can I store the bulbs in the mesh bags that turkeys come in or is there a better way?

There are many ways to store the bulbs... to be on the safe side, I would store them individually wrapped in newspaper, loosely, and then place all of them in a cardboard box, in a single layer. You want a certain amount of air circulation, and you don't want them stacked or touching each other.

Before you wrap them, it would be wise to give them a light dusting of an anti-fungal powder, such as Captan. And make sure they are dry before storing.

I don't know that I'd use mesh bags, unless they'll be laid flat with only one layer of bulbs... I think loosely wrapping them in newspaper and setting them in a single layer in a box would be better.

The main idea is to keep them from bruising or developing mold and fungi while stored. Keeping them in a single layer without their sides touching will accomplish that. It will also make it easier to see who is beginning to grow, so you know who to pot first.

I hope this helps... :-)

Lisa--

When I washed my bulbs, I used brute strength ;o) I had a hose set on the "shower" setting, which is never a shower if it comes streaming out like a firehose-- and washed them that way. It also knocks loose the rotting parts should you have any.

For some reason this year I had an issue with rot. So I was careful to remove as much of the infested areas as I could and then used anti-fungal powder to help stem the tide.

When "they" (growers) suggest planting these bulbs, they say to leave the top third above the soil level. I personally leave only the bottom third under the soil-- it almost looks as if the bulb is sitting on the soil, which in some cases it is. Of the bulbs I planted this way, they have thrived and done very well, growing in both size and blooming capacity. Plus, the bulb becomes its one work of art. It catches people's eye when you see this HUGE bulb sitting in what looks like an overly small pot-- but the bulb isn't taking up valuable real estate in the soil-- as the roots completely fill it AND anchor the bulb down for blooming.

Ryan

Ryan-I really like your description of just the 1/3 under the soil. My in-ground bulbs that I dug up for the most part have long and healthy root systems (see my fall re-plant post) and I think I will perch them higher up on the soil when I replant them this time as they all seem to have enough root foundation to firmly hold them in the soil. I haven't got to my patio planters, yet, but am also hoping for full and healthy root systems there too and want to show them off by letting them sit a-top the soil too. Will let you know when I get to them! Thanks for the idea.

Cindeea--

I figure someone will tell me what I'm doing is wrong and how the bulb needs to be deeper but these bulbs seem to grow just fine with the absolute minimum required. In the case of my newly acquired red nymph, the roots are plenty and the bulb is HUGE-- the combination made for a well-anchored bulb and I have no doubts it'll stay solid when the scape finally emerges-- hopefully by then the root system is even more substantial.

I am not, however, so happy about some of my other bulbs that simply gave up all their roots-- those I will have to stake, should they grow upward, faster than downward. We shall see ;o)

Ryan

Part of the root problem stems from soil that is too compacted, breaks down too fast in the pot, and holds too much moisture at the root ball for too long a time. If you begin with a very gritty, porous, free-draining mix, you will eliminate this problem... I swear! You may have to water a little more often, but the trade off is certainly worth it!

Several times over the past few months, I posted a link to an article over on the Container Gardening Forum... it discussed the importance of using a medium in containers that doesn't decompose, doesn't hold moisture for too long, and allows for the exchange of oxygen and gases to the root system. The medium should have larger particles than your average potting soil.

This is the recipe I use... we call it Al's Mix:

Small batch:

3 gallons pine bark fines
1/2 gallon peat
1/2 gallon perlite
4 tbsp lime (or gypsum in some cases)
1/4 cup CRF
micro-nutrient powder (or other source of the minors)

Once mixed, it looks rather a bonsai medium. It's very gritty and the particles are rather large. It will last a long time as most of the ingredients are inorganic... although, it would be prudent to change the medium every few years. It's also important to feed frequently as inorganic material does not contain nutrients. I feed my bulbs every other time I water with a dilute liquid fertilizer.

Now that we're heading into Bulb Season, it's important that we start out right. This means abandoning the soil or disks of cocopeat that come with Hippeastrum bulb kits, and using a medium that will allow for maximum growth and health of the root systems that feed our bulbs. Healthy roots mean happy plants!

By using a more inorganic medium, we can also eliminate a lot of the rot associated with growing bulbs. If the medium is properly aerated and doesn't hold moisture at the center of the pot for too long, there is much less chance that the roots will rot.

Personally, I plant my bulbs with about half sticking up above the soil... using the porous medium that I do allows me to plant them this way without the worry of rot.

Glad to hear that others also grow their bulbs high in their pots. Some of mine almost sit on top of the soil (I like them where I can see them!). While the bulb is only partially in the soil, the pots are packed tight with roots. Will report later in the season on how they do -- bloom-wise.

I believe it's better to plant bulbs partially above the soil level when using containers, but if planting in the garden, they would most likely be planted deeper. Since I'm in a northern zone, any tender bulb I plant would need to be in a pot, so I really don't know how deep you'd plant them outdoors.

Like Kitty's, my bulbs all have pots filled with roots, even though most of the bulb, itself, sits above soil level. Most of my larger bulbs sit about half in and half out of the soil, but most of my smaller bulbs are planted higher.

I'm going to try growing a few in orchid mix this year. Last year I potted everything up in a 1 part peat moss 2 parts perlite mix. They did very well in that mix!

I have two bulbs that have no leaf or flower shoots but lots of healthy roots. When I bought them they showed some green at the top of the bulb. This has never grown. I planted them three months ago or more. Should I give up on them ?

HU-665522120, give it a few more months when it gets warmer. They should definitely be be throwing up some green once Spring arrives. A few late bloomers among my collection wake up in May.