It's just a general rule of thumb. For a mature bulb, it needs to grow at least 6-8 leaves to generate a scape. It may put up 2 scapes. The number of scapes depends on age and how well the bulb is treated.

I put my bulbs out of the greenhouse in May, they get the leaves cut in November...that's 7 months of growth. Most of them put up 1-2 scapes the next Feb-Apr. Some of them continue to grow leaves during the winter in the greenhouse. After I cut off the leaves, at least 50% of the bulbs remain dormant until March-April, when they push out new leaves.

Where do you live and what do you do with your bulbs during the cold months?
K

Thank you K, and sorry for slowly reply. I live in Thailand and the weather is hot and humidity with rain. In winter it's just cool and dry like 15-25C. In summer it's hot and rain 30-40C. My bulbs are evergreen. Some varieties like Bangkok rose, Ms. garfield flowers 2-3 times a year here.

Some varieties can flower themself without forcing but most Holland varieties can not flower then we put the bulbs in the refrigerator.

Because no. of scapes depend on the no. of leafs then I'm thinking (or dreaming) what will happen if I cut off all the leafs (after 4-6 months old)

1. Are my bulbs will flowers more times a year?
2. Are there more flowers initiated inside the bulbs?
3. Is the bulbs will be bigger as they grow more leafs?
4. Will the bulbs shoot out more than 3 scapes (36" bulbs)?

Many Thanks
Big

There are others on the list who are more familiar with your climate and can provide better answers specific to your area.

I have described my practices and many of my bulbs are very big.
The most scapes I have ever had on one bulbs has been 4!
I know that I have had blooms in the spring, but then another surprise bloom from the same bulbs in the autumn. That is rare for me, but it does happen occasionally.
I don't know how your practice of cutting the leaves impacts bloom production. I do something similar and get on average 2 scapes/bulb.

You should try to get a copy of Victoria Read's book on amaryllis if you can find one on Amazon. It is an excellent resource.
Kristi

Big Bulbs,
I don't have the answers to your questions, but here are some things to consider. As you said, adult Hippie bulbs supposedly have a fixed development pattern in which one new scape bud is initiated for each set of 4 leaves produced. If this is true, then it is unlikely that all of these buds will actually expand and produce flowers. I certainly would like to get one flowering scape for every 4 leaves produced by my bulbs! But the fact that I do not get this many scapes is an indication that other factors also influence the number of flowers we get, and suggests to me that you might not be able to increase flower production by accelerating the production of leaves, particularly if it is done by shortening the life of those leaves. And I don't think you will be able to increase the size of the bulbs this way because bulb growth is determined not only by the number of layers produced, but also by how thick each layer is. If you shorten the life of your leaves, it will reduce the amount of food that each one will produce and (probably) how much the bulb grows. But the best thing to do is give it a try with some of your bulbs and see what happens.

Bill

Keep in mind that during the summer my leaves may grow to be 3-4' long. I cut them back to 10" in order to manage them in the greenhouse. I let those shorter leaves die back and then trim the bulb's neck. Some of my bulbs this year decided that they wanted to grow all winter. We'll see what that does to scape schedules!
K

Cutting the leaves does not initiate scapes. Between each 3d & 4th leaf is a special layer that can produce a scape. This odd number is why scapes alternate on the sides of the neck. The growing point is always in the center even if the neck seems off kilter.
The special layers that can produce a scape often for various reasons are not able to get the stalks out. The most common reason is the bulb is too deep in the soil which has tightened around the neck so it cannot swell or loosen enough to let the stalks out. The scapes come out of the inside of the neck. Because the scapes are thick and round or oval the neck can't loosen enough to let the flowers out. The leaves which are flat can get out so the bulb passes the bloom stage to the growth stage and the leaves consume the stored energy and grow to about 1 3/4 times normal length for that bulb when it is blooming.
Yes you can get more scapes of flowers out of larger bulbs, but you can't get them all at once. Cutting the leaves will not initiate senninsis at least not yet.
The best candidates for the technique are old dependable ones from back before 1960 like Orange Souvereign, Royal Velvet, Red Lion, Queen Of the Nile, Minerva, Cocktail, Imperator and others that have big bulbs big flowers and will bloom with thebulb deeper in the ground that modern hybrids. E. William Warren amstgrp@yahoo.com

Dear Big, I live in Lahore Pakistan, except for rain and humidity which is far, far less the rest conditions are the same.
I have learnt a lot from this forum.
Hippeastrum can be grown in any environment with a little support.
Advice of all forum friends is sincere, based on their own experience.
Hippeastrum adapt to the local environment and create a cycle of their own.
Hippeastrum can be fooled by artificially Changing the environment.

I still do not know why a bulb may not bloom next year under same conditions. My seedlings have produced two scapes the first time and mature bulbs did not bloom at all.

In my initial years I followed every suggestion, especially those of Amaryllis Study Group with disastrous results.
The Group is convinced that Hippeastrum bulbs are fools and will pull themselves to detrimental depth for which it was suggested that we place a 4X4 tile under each bulb to prevent it from going down.

{{gwi:383319}}
These two bulbs are regularly blooming and have not gone down at all in last 9 years.
I also do not agree with their tight neck theory The above bulbs have tight looking necks but they produce two scapes an inch thick and about two feet tall with large flowers.
Their suggested methods to get repeat flowering (which they keep changing) never worked for me
I would take their advice with a pinch of salt.

Where as you like me are growing them in the garden year around, most of our USA friends except those living in South are growing them in pots under entirely different conditions.
Arif

I do live in the south where we have very active creatures in the yard that dig (opposum, squirrels, armadillos), including my dogs! Because of this, I grow my bulbs in pots and have fairly strict practices of fertilization and systemic insecticides in the springtime, and cutting leaves and necks in the early winter.

I would like nothing more than to have flowerbeds full of blooming bulbs, but with my work schedule, other hobbies, and life obligations,I have found that this is what works for me.

The one piece of advice that I can give you is, "Do what seems to work best for you!"

Kristi

The is my "happy place" March through May.

In mature bulbs, are being initiated Ordinary Leaves (which will form a full bulb scale towards the basal plate), Semi-Sheeting leaves (which will constitute but a half scale towards the base) and Scape initials according to the following scheme, at either side "right" and "left", viewed from the outside of the bulbs towards the core, as following:
Ordinary Leaf (left)
Ordinary Leaf (right)
Semisheeting Leaf(left)
Scape (left)
Ordinary leaf (left)
Ordinary leaf (right)
Ordinary leaf (left)
Semisheeting leaf (right)
Scape (right)
Ordinary leaf (right)
Ordinary leaf (left) [see above]
Thus, for every four leaves one scape is initiated, and alternately on the right and the left side.
However, and this is the answer to the question above, the oldest scape initials will abort if they have "to wait" for too long time, until a cool period (at perfectly 13ðC) will elongate them within the bulb and make them capable of appearing. As regards Mr.Warren, who is permanently being surrounded by a polite American silence, Arif is on the right track. If somebody presents their extraordinary claims, they should BITTESCHOEN present their extraordinary documentary evidence - so far I have not seen any.

Here you are Mr Big I don't call Hans my GURU for nothing, go through his old posts and you will find answers to many of your questions.
Friends including Kristi, Donna and others beside Hans have been very helpful to me.
Arif

Thank you so much Hans for the answer and thank you to Arif, Kristi, Bill and Amaryllisstudygroup for sharing your experience.

Bill,
Are you keeping good written records of these experiments that you are doing? Might they be published sometime? Online, I saw a mention of a presentation to a garden club on your protocol for producing multiple blooming cycles in a given year. Is that protocol available in any other format besides what you have posted here on the forum (pick a date, count backwards, lift a bulb to rest for a couple of days, replant and wait for blooms)?

It seems that there were mixed results reported by the members of the forum.

IF you decide to publish any results, let me know and I'll be glad to help you with your editing; I'm a board-certified editor and could help you with your manuscripts.

Does Amaryllis Spectacularis have a website??

Thanks,
Kristi