Coconut fibers or hair is the potting medium has a PH of 7.0
Just tossing that in ken as I got one of em from that type of store too.
As for ferts I don't think the bulb food you have is the same for hippies as there in the lillium family, tulips and daffodil are closer to the onion in family.

Hippies like fertilizer. Use one where the first number is equal to, or lower than, the other two; say 15-15-15 or 5-10-12. The numbers are for nitogen, phosphorus and potassium. I use bulb fertilizer, rose fertilizer, and tomato fertilizer. Generally, any any fertilizer for blooms will have low nitrogen. If you give hippies too much nitrogen you get a long-leafed sprawley plant not much interested in blooming. A lot of people use low levels of liquid fertilizer with every watering.

Thanks Jim! Good to know and thanks for answering.

I grow my Hippeastrum bulbs indoors, as I would any other houseplant... I make sure they have plenty of sun, water when the medium is dry, and I fertilize with a regular liquid houseplant fertilizer at half strength, every time I water, giving the roots a constant supply of diluted food.

My bulbs bloom on their own natural schedule, which is usually in early spring.

When I buy a bulb kit at a local store, the first thing I do is dump the pot and the coir disk that comes with the bulb... both are garbage, in my opinion. I mix my own medium, which I'd describe as porous, gritty, bonsai-like... it consists of small particles of pine/fir bark, perlite, and granite chips. It's durable, mega-aerated, drains very well and quickly, and promotes excellent root growth. I plant my bulbs in unglazed clay pots, which are porous and help the roots to breathe.

Everyone has their own preferences, but I've found that a more aerated medium helps eliminate rot and fungus issues, and it doesn't retain too much moisture for too long a time... and Hippeastrum bulbs prefer to dry out before being watered again, and hate wet feet on a constant basis.

If you prefer, you can use Osmocote, which is a time released fertilizer... it makes feeding almost foolproof.

Good luck with your bulbs... and if we can help you further, we'd be happy to! Welcome to a wonderful new hobby!

I didn't know about the crappy medium that the bulbs come with! Oops. I planted it the disks medium, but added my own peat, and some vermiculite to the mix.
Next winter I will try your concoction of pine fines, granite chips, and perlite instead. So far they are growing well though, thankgod.
I will try the osmocote maybe.
Thankyou! And I did use, left over from some mail order plants, styrofoam peanuts on the bottom of the pot for drainage. But I think next year I won't use those.
I did grow some amaryllis last year (Red Lions) that I got at Lowes and they bloomed great, but I had the gnat problem last year because I made the mistake of using potting mix. Never again!
I'm hoping this year, with my other mix, that I won't have that problem. And, I watch now how much water they are getting too.

Be aware that vermiculite and peat tend to retain moisture, so adding these things may not give you the result you were after.

I grow quite a large collection of bulbs indoors, so I'm kind of particular when it comes to mediums and drainage... instead of preaching, which I have a bad habit of doing, I've included a link to some excellent information on mediums and water retention that I think will answer any questions you may have.

It will explain how soils, water, and roots all interact within the confines of a container, and why an added drainage layer may actually be detrimental.

Happy Reading!

The article is actually over at the Container Gardening Forum, and if you do more reading there and follow along, you'll pick up lots of excellent tips and information. I promise! :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention IX

I knew I should have perused this forum before planting my first bulb in about 15 years. So, I guess I probably won't get any blooms now that I added Osmocote 19-6-12 to my bonsai soil, because the N number is so high, yes?

If your bulb was from a kit or newly purchased, it should bloom just fine... the majority of bulbs are pre-programmed to bloom by the grower. I would say your bulb will bloom as planned.

jodik, but do you also recommend a low nitrogen fert for amaryllis?

Well... let me preface by saying that fertilizer is something I'm not extremely knowledgeable about... the science of the different numbers, and what's best for what plant types, is something that I'm not really clear on.

I use liquid MiracleGro at about half strength or less every time I water. I also add micro-nutrients at about the same strength. I keep a constant supply of food going to the roots.

I also flush my pots every once in a while with plain, clear water... which helps leach out any accumulated salts and excess fertilizer.

Osmocote is slow release, and if you read Al's articles, he adds some to his mixes when he builds a soil. I don't, for the simple reason that I mix small batches and I don't want to add too much fertilizer. I feed regularly, so there's really no need.

Your question about fertilizers is a good one, though... we've discussed it here before, and it seems that different growers feed differently.

I've got the medium and watering down to a workable science... next, I need to learn more about fertilizers!

So, my answer is... at this point in time, I recommend an all purpose plant food at low strength, fed on a constant basis, and an occasional leaching. I'll be the first to admit that the fertilizer question is my weak point in gardening knowledge.

The one thing I do know about plant food is that it's necessary to feed container plants a food that's already broken down and usable to the plant... and this ties in with the vast differences between container gardening and gardening in the ground/garden beds, where the necessary army of microorganisms work to break down compost into usable food.

In her book on Hippeastrum culture, Veronica Read recommends a fertilizer lower in nitrogen than the other two main fertilizer ingredients, and recommends commencing feeding once the bulb has finished blooming.

My next quest will be finding out more about fertilizers, and what regimen is best for hybrid Hippeastrum bulbs.

Thank you very much for your information, jodik. I do use Al's ratios in the Miracle Grow and Osmocote, eliminating the 14-14-14 Osmocote that I had been using, but I'll think about getting the 14-14-14 just for the amaryllis down the road. Thanks also for the book reference. Looks like I've now been stung by hippes, darnit.

You're very welcome... I only wish I could be of more help! Once I find fertilizer information in a more easy to understand format, I'll be good to go! I can never seem to remember what the NPK stands for and which plant types require which numbers! It's kind of confusing for me at this point, but I will get it right... one of these days!

Veronica Read's book is titled "Hippeastrum - The Gardener's Amaryllis", and I bought my copy from Amazon. com, I believe. It's a must-have book for Hippeastrum lovers!

There are much worse bugs to be bitten by, and I consider collecting and growing tender bulbs to be one of the most rewarding hobbies I've ever embarked upon! Welcome to the fray, patann... the only cure for this is to buy more bulbs! :-)