I provide dilute feeding by every watering. My tap water now being very "soft" (concentration of salts is low) I include additional Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur.
Then I get satisfying increase, at least in TOTAL substance (mother bulb + offsets and a total of Scapes respectively).
The only occasion I experienced a failure, was with "Pink Floyd". Which Hybrid might require elevated Substrate temperature. And, a bulb of "Charisma" which would not produce any root.

Hi Xuan,

You are not alone with the incredible shrinking bulb syndrome. I hate to admit that I have more than several that have done the same for me. In particular, a Pasadena that is now as you say, the size of a golf ball. There are several others too.

I will say that my original Dancing Queen bloomed two or three years for me shrinking a little each year. So, last season I planted her directly in the soil in one of my whiskey barrels and I will say she did bulk up somewhat and she is sending up a scape this year too. No where as large as when I bought her though.

I may try planting directly in the soil (barrels) my other shrinking bulbs this season to see what happens.
And of course, perhaps these particular bulbs need an additional boost of a better fertilizer{{gwi:807}} than I have been using.

You are not alone. I have bought a second bulb of most of my shrinking bulbs but I know for you this may not be an option since it is so difficult for you to acquire these special bulbs...Donna

Oh, and my Evergreen is on it way to joining the "shrinking bulb club" too. Last year (first year) it put out 3 stalks for me each laden with flowers. Maybe it was just too much stress and it needs a year off. I don't mind one year off but when you can never bring a bulb to bloom again, that's disappointing...

This post was edited by dondeldux on Thu, Jan 10, 13 at 8:28

Oh, Donna, that's too bad to have several shrinking bulbs :(

Perhaps I'll plant the bulb(s) in ground and pay attention to fertilizer, as Sir Hans has said, to help them get bigger.

Thank you for your advice, Sir Hans and Donna.

Xuan

Hi Donna & Xuan,

Like you and many others, I had this problem too. Last year, as I was lugging out my clivia pots, I decided to fertilize all my amaryllids (hippies included) with an acid based fertilizer. I may have mentioned this before, but as I was reading the bag of Holly Tone fertilizer, I noticed that one of the plants listed was amaryllis. I figured what the heck, I'll try it. It worked for me, as the clivia put on some strong growth and the "regular" hippie's bulbs fattened up quite nicely. Just yesterday I took them out of their slumber and noticed that the pots were completely filled with healthy roots and bulb was realtively fat despite the lack of water. I say, try it out as an experiment on a regular hippie and see how it works.

Good Luck and Warm Regards,
Fred

Xian,

I have also had the shrinking bulb syndrome and have decided that even if one of my shrinking bulbs puts out a scape I will cut it off so as to let the bulb retain its energy to build the bulb up.

AJ

Fred,

I am going to steal some of my husbands Holly Tone next season for sure as he buys several large bags of it for his rhododendrons. I don't think he'll miss a quart or so...;-)Donna

Hi Donna,

If he asks...just tell him I don't know what you're talking about...lol

Fred

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me, AJ. I will definitely cut off the scape if my Evergreen bulb puts out one this season.

Xuan

Oooh you guys, I don't know if I would be able to make that sacrafice, even if it does sound like the right thing to do...Donna