I suppose it really depends on how much rot you're cutting out of the bulbs and how stressed they'll be. It seems to me that when I've used Hydroton, stressed bulbs are less likely to put out roots and have sometimes needed to be put in soil to be saved. Do you have photos of your bulbs? -Tina

Alexandra,

Another thing to consider is when you've cut and dried your bulb and decide to plant it in the medium of your choice, sit it high enough to keep the bulb itself as dry as possible. If you are lucky enough to get it to root, when the roots are an inch or more long you can put more soil around the bulb if you wish it buried further. The important thing is to keep your bulb as dry as possible to avoid further rot.

When I've had rot issues I usually just sit the callused basal plate on top of the soil and use water very sparingly. You can actually pick the bulb up each week so so to check on the progress of the roots.

As Tina says, pictures of your bulbs might help someone make a better suggestion.

I personally, have never used Hydroton so I have no opinion on which would be better..good luck.

Donna

It is possible. I've only done it once, but this is what worked for me when a Temptation bulb started to rot while blooming without roots.

1. Cut out all of the rot and apply cinnamon to the wound.
2. Make sure to let the wound dry all the way. It may take a few days.
3. Apply rooting hormone to the basal plate. I used KLN.
4. Pot the bulb back up in hydroton and place the pot over a seedling heat mat. I normally use taller pots, but with this particular bulb I made sure the basal plate was within 5 or 6 inches from the bottom of the pot to make sure it had good contact with the heat mat.
5. You may want to secure the bulb in some way. You don't want the bulbs shifting around in their pots because that can break off new roots.

I found the rot on that bulb while it was blooming with two scapes so the bulb was already using up lots of stored energy. I don't have measurements but by the time the bulb started sending up healthy leaves it shrunk from about 32 cm to about 21 cm. After the bloom stalks shrank away, the bulb tried to send up leaves but the first 4 or so faded away.

When starting any forced amaryllis in S/H I would stake the bulbs, and keep the bulbs on heat mats until they can secure themselves in the Hydroton. It would be easier to put in the stakes while potting up the bulbs instead of trying to force the stakes through the hydroton once the scapes start coming up.