Hi Maureen The following recommendations are extracted from my carefull observation and thus based on experience. The best substrate is coco fiber (coco peat) The best depth of the bulb is half in the substrate. The best pot size is providing 3 cm space between bulb and pot wall. The perfect temperature for forcing indoors is 20°CELSIUS The best temperature range for general indoors cultivation is 22 to 25°C in the day and 20 to 23°C in the night. The best way of water administration is from below. The best frequency of water administration is daily. The quantitity however depends considerably on the growth state and the weather. The substrate should remain several cm deep bone-dry ! The best way of feeding is to apply a mineral fertilizer with every water administration, for example 6-3-6 at 1000ppm eq 1 mL /L lukewarm water with a Ca++ and Mg++ content of total 2 to 3 mmol/L. An east or south window is better than a west window - the deep afternoon sun shining directly into the window might burn the leaves which touch the glass. Do not turn (twist) the plants. Let the plants form a fan of leaves towards the window. Thus the sunlight is well distributed and absorbed from the leaf entity. Stabilize older leaves which are prone to collapsing with adhesive strips to the younger. Gradually reduce watering in the dark and colder season. In winter water only every 2nd day; and evebn more carefully: Sometimes just some drops might be sufficient. Control the substrate temperature. In winter it should fall to 17°C that is ok and necessary for the elongation of buds within the bulb. Then await your bloom stalks on fully leaved plants. If the bulb develops offsets and the resulting cluster crowds and deforms the pot then replant prior to the expected new growth or just when the new scape show their tips. In this case you certainly have to remove the leaves because it is unpractical. Do not seoparate clusters too early. A cluster with numerous scapes simultaneously is simply wonderfull. Did you watch my Giraffe cluster in the Gallery Section?! I show you my oldest bulb (regarded from my new amaryllogene start 10 y ago); Have a look at the vegetative kindergarden ( = cluster) which this former 32/34 cm bulb of the cuiltivar "Cantata" has meanwhile formed, the mother bulb actually being 46 cmj in circumference. href> Discover all I have written here in this Bulb Forum (it disappears so quickly) and the respective Gallery, too. My message is that is is not a sophisticated act to maintain amaryllis alive, and demands only some reghular care and observation to boost them to maximum performance. Hans-Werner

This looks like a bulb of Lycoris to me. I hope that the roots are not already shriveled up now! Plant it immediately, into a bigger pot, where the substrate will not dry out so fast. Take care to not bend them roots, and plant so deeply as that the greenish parts still show out. Water well once, until the water drains out of the bottom holes. Set the pot slightly skew, upto 45°, in order to remove the water excess more completely. Water very sparingly from-then-on, from the bottom = into the soucoupe - keep the soil just moist until the water demand will increase, due to the growth of new leaves.

Cindee!!! It's so good to see you posting! We missed you! While you were away, we welcomed MsMarion into the fold, and are shamelessly trying to get her addicted to our habit of choice! LOL! That's a beautiful Red Lion she has! But she needs many, many more bulbs! One lovely red will not do... oh no... she needs more reds, and some pinks, a few whites, bi-colors, doubles, stripes, cybisters... etcetera, etcetera! Maria... Residence and Bogota are wonderful! Two more penciled onto my over-flowing wish list! And of course, excellent photography once again! You certainly do know how to show off these beauties to perfection! Thank you so much for always sharing your lovely flowers... I look forward to seeing your pictures!

Hi geebee, I'm in NC also, though I've never left my bulbs out over the winter. I'm going to try it this year with one or two bulbs I won't be too upset if I lose. For the most part, I move my bulbs to bigger planters outside for the summer/fall. I usually throw some annual seeds in there too to add some flowers and fill out the container around the big leaves. Below is a pic of my planters on the deck. Alana From GardenWeb pics