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Photo 3

Yes you should cut off the spent flowers scape down to the neck of the bulb. You do sometimes get a second scape but if not then it will be till next year.

There are two more flowers growing on this scape, the question was regaring the spent flowers not the whole scape.

I would advise you to cut these, the following flowers will have more space to unfold. The spent petals are somewhat mushy, the flowers to come could stick to them, but you really don't need to.

Once your bulb starts producing leaves move it to a spot with much direct light. Good luck!

I always remove the spent flowers as I don't want the plant to set seed and channel its energy into seed pods (unless you hybridize on purpose, of course).
My approach to the scapes that are done blooming is to let them wither naturally. I read somewhere it's easier on the bulb this way as you don't sever access to the energy presumably present in the scape. Not sure if its true, but it sure works for me.
Hopefully, more experienced growers will chime in on this one too - I'm also curious to see what other do in this respect.

Lena

Thanks for the help. I trimmed off the spent flowers and am eagerly waiting for the othe two to bloom. Many thanks for everyone who offered their expertise.

I agree with parodise. I think you should help your bulb regenerate itself in everyway you can. Sadly I have people tell me they cut everything off, and then put the bulb away to "rest". Amaryllis abuse! Call the plant police!
Seriously, give your plant great light, and a summer outside(Acclimate for a week, then full or filtered sun, and your bulb will slowly fill out, especially if regularly fed at half strength till summer's end. I do NOT force mine for Christmas bloom. A really well grown bulb can probably be forced again if you're careful.

When you say, "cut everything off", I'm guessing you mean after blooming!!

I cut everything off in stages at the end of the season. The only way all my Hippeastrum (~700) will fit in my greenhouse is to cut everything down to 8-10" at the signs of pending winter chill. I let the leaves die back, cut down the necks, and in February - May I am greeted with loads of blooms! I don't force them for Christmas blooms, but this works for me for springtime blooms.

I think the question was about cutting spent blooms, which I do sometimes if 2 bloom before the rest. I let scapes wither and cut them down when they fall over.

As we have said over and over on this forum...do whatever works for you.

Kristi

As my title clearly stated, I'm a noob with Amaryllis. Don't know the first thing about them. These plants were slated for the dumpster and I took a chance on them. So far they were a few dollars well spent.
To be clear I was asking if the dropping flowers should be cut off to allow for the buds to open or that perhaps there was another way. I'm glad I asked because I'll attach a photo of the flowers that bloomed just yesterday.
Now I wonder, once these flowers wilt and there aren't any buds to follow, do I cut down to the bulb the thick shaft that these flowers bloomed off? And the few leaves (that resemble palm fronds), do I leave the or cut everything down to the bulb leaving nothing behind but a stump?

New bloom

Please bobul, do check out the FAQ pinned on top of this forum. There is plenty of information on how to treat your hippeastrums so that they bloom again.

My answer very short:
I usually cut down 3/4 of the scape so that I have something left sticking out of the bulb that I can pull out once it really starts welting. If you wait for the correct time you can pull out most of the scape so that these dead tissues don't remain in the bulb.

Of course if you want your bulb to continue growing and flowering you should not by any instance cut leaves! Put the plant (as I wrote before) on a bright (best much direct sunlight) spot and water cautiously. Now without scapes and flowers to produce the plant does not need sooo much water. Rather wait a little until the leaves are well developed. The soil can dry out for a very short while, that is better than constant moisture.

If anyone is coming to this topic for information I found some great videos of YouTube pertaining to Amaryllis care. I'm more of a visual learner so these videos were very helpful. Search for YouTube user PlantzNThings and search for his Amaryllis videos. Hes very informative and does a great job explaining how to care for your bulbs through the different stages.

Here is a link that might be useful: PlantzNThings Amaryllis videos page

Yes, I was referring to people who cut EVERYTHING off after blooming. I was mortified as to the obvious very ill effects of this kind of maltreatment done in ignorance by people who simply had no idea of how plants function. So I did my best to advise on care that would likely lead to repeat success with amaryllis.