I took and repotted one of the ones that was not growing, when I had it out of the soil I looked at the roots, it did not have any, just the basal plate. The Miracle-Gro soil that I put it in felt lightly moistened to me, should I put any water in it? Should I put it on the stove and see if the roots grow or not?

Warmth as opposed to HEAT?! How hot does that top of the pellet stove get?? :-) I might recommend just putting them in a sunny window in the warmest room. You don't say what your zone is....but if you need a pellet stove I imagine the window sill gets cold at night. If you have some rooting hormone you can dust the basal plates with that, but since you said that these bulbs had bloomed for you, they may just be going through their 6-8 weeks (or so) of dormancy and you are expecting too much. Did you put them somewhere where they would be dry and cool to rest for a couple of months?? If there are no roots at all and they had already gone through a dormant stage, try the rooting hormone. If they haven't gone through the dormant stage...just give them a couple of months of rest THEN put them in the sunny spot and water them!

Your message wasn't complete enough to answer the question of what the bulbs should be doing at this point.
K

3 of them I got from my neighbor, they bloomed for her this last summer. I am in zone 6, they had been in the ground and I think I started this project in August or September or maybe October, not sure. Do you think it might be a good idea to put the ones that have no greenery on them in a cool place? They don't have any leaves or any greenery on them. One of them that was in my garden, I dug it up and it has grown a little bit, it has a shoot on it but it seems like it has just stopped growing, the back of the pellet stove does not get real hot, you can lay your hand on it and it is just warm. Should I put the others in a cool,dark place for awhile and see what happens? can i leave them in the pots, I don't have a lot of Miracle-Gro potting soil left. Should I take them out of the windowsill and take them out of the pots and lay them on newspapers for a couple of months?

I put the 3 in a baggie, but did not close it and put it in a cool dark place. The one that has greenery on it is on my computer desk. It is 2 and 1/2 inches tall from top of soil to top of shoot. Why does it seem to have stopped? What can I do to make it get going again?

I put the 3 on a plastic lid on the floor, it is cool and dark, should I have cleaned them off before I did that? They still had clumps of soil on them, I will check them once a week to see how they are doing, who knows might get a surprise and they might start growing, hopefully so! don't know if I am going to do this again next winter, I might since I now know what I did wrong! I just forgot to give them their beauty sleep, is on the floor ok, we don't have any pets or children so don't have to worry about that problem.

Liz,

Just make sure that it is cool where you have them laying on the floor..around 50-55 degrees. If they are in a cellar, moisture can come up through the cement floor, so be aware of that.(I don't really mean to give you something else to worry about) As for cleaning then now, if the soil has dried, you can just brush it way with your fingers..they don't have to be immaculate (the bulbs I mean, not your fingers ;-). Just don't use any water at this time..you don't want them to get wet and you certainly don't want any water getting down in the neck of the bulb.

I'm sure they will be fine after a long cool nap and will bloom again for you. You can check on them every few weeks and if you see any signs of growth then you can proceed to re-pot them.

Donna

thanks Donna, I have one more question, does it have to be totally dark? Right now they are on a plastic lid and on the floor in the kitchen. They are in a little cubbyhole along with the Geranium, and Chrysanthemums, I was going to put them on a pie tin on the counter, but it does not stay totally dark, it does when no one is in there. Can I use the same soil I had them in before? I have just enough to repot them when they wake up, but I do have one out in the ground, should I dig it up and add it to the group? It has not bloomed at all yet. Before it gets too cold, should I (excavate) it and try to get some of the big roots with it?

Liz,

I'm not sure if has to be totally dark, I don't think so and mine have never been, some were out in the garage and the lights are on from time to time even at night and some others were in our furnace room and there is always a light on so the cat can find the catbox ( husband's instructions..I know cats can see in the dark#! I think your main concern would be to keep them cool..I wouldn't think your kitchen would be cool enough unless you guys freeze in the winter.

As for the remaining bulb outside, if you haven't wintered one out before, I wouldn't try it unless it is close to the foundation of the house on the sunny side of the house and you've got lots of mulch piled up on it.

About a month or so ago we dug up clumps of seedlings and just plopped them in large pots and put them in the cool cellar and most of them are still growing..many leaves have died off but they look fine. Of course if you do this you will have to water about once a month so they don't totally dry out. #Without looking I think I remember you are in zone 6 ?? if so probably too cold for the bulb to stay out.# I also have a clump of heirloom bulbs from Ebay that I bought this spring and they were also planted in the ground. AT the same time we dug the seedlings we dug these and put them in 2 pots #about 5 bulbs) and they lost a few of their leaves but each bulb has at least 2 left. These are in the house where it is warmer and they are continuing to grow...

You can reuse old soil, but I would buy more to at least add to what you've got..but if that is a problem, maybe you could add a bit of soil from outside to your used soil. If you do this you'd better do it before the ground freezes or gets covered with snow...

These are all just suggestions on my part, always listen to what everyone has to say and then make your own decisions... Good Luck and hope we have helped you!!

Donna

I took your advice and dug it up, it has one root and it is a long one! Should I put it with the others or not, it has greenery on it too, the neck is bright green, should I put it with the ones that are sleeping or repot it?

One root?? It's been growing in the ground for the summer and it only has one root? How long has it been in the ground and how many and how long are the leaves?? I 'd really have to see a picture of it to logically advise you further, so I guess I'd have to say, pot it up in the outside soil it was accustomed to! Are you sure this is an amaryllis?

It has not bloomed yet, I planted it this last summer. It is an Amaryllis but I got it from our neighbor and it bloomed for her. But it has no leaves and just one long root, I would post a picture of it here, but not sure how to do it on this page.

Liz...the FAQs tell you how to post photos. Would love to see the bulbs!
K

I have one in a square pot and I moved the bulb(just a little ) shown the flashlight down in and there are roots! In fact I lifted the pot up and looked underneath and there is a root poking out of one of the drain holes, do I do anything to it now?

would it stress out the plant too much if I took it out of the pot and put it in a glass container? Now that it has roots I would like to see them growing, a friend I have at work said I could gently lift up the bulb, rinse off the roots and put them in water, would that be a good idea? Because this one that has greenery on it has seemed to stop growing, here is a picture of it.{{gwi:451361}}

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I wouldn't advise a glass container with no drainage, and certainly wouldn't advise growing it over water alone. BUT...that's just me! You have already stressed this guy out!!
K

I agree with Kristi, I'd leave the poor bulb alone and let it grow more "greenery" it's got a long way to go to grow "leaves" so maybe you can enjoy the growing leaves and let the roots be, this time anyway..Glad to see you're able to post pictures :-)

Donna

You were right all I had to do was ignore the Amaryllis sprout and now look what it is doing! This is the picture I took this morning!{{gwi:451362}}

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Is this one the same kind as the other with the one long root?

Yes, why?

The leaves remind me of Amaryllis belladonna, not Hippeastrum that is some times called "Amaryllis". Hippeastrum are from the Americas while Amaryllis belladonna is from South Africa. The needs are very different!

If that is the case you should definitely not put them in water, they are very prone to rotting. They are always winter growing species which is probably why they had no leaves all summer.

I'm going to post a link below, I think you need to read it so that you can properly grow this bulb.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaryllis belladonna

Sorry, I wasn't finished ;)

Also, Amaryllis belladonna bloom in the summer months, very close to fall. They're called 'Naked Ladies' because they're hysteranthous which means they bloom without leaves!

I would try and pot this bulb up in a very gritty medium, they do not like mediums with lots of organic material. You need to give them a good amount of light in the fall, winter and spring growing season with a nice and very dry summer.

Does your neighbor grow these in the ground all year round? Where are you from? When did she plant them? I know of several people that grow this plant in zone 6, it's interesting to know that they've withstood the area you're in too.

As far as I know she has them in the ground all year around, I don'tknow when she planted them, I am on the northside of Indian Lake, I saw them last summer and that is when I got interested in them. The green one is growing fast, I put some water in the container that the pot is in, and it is actually growing so you can see it when it grows. It is fast! I may get a Christmas surprise!

Liz,

I doubt it will bloom, the bloom before the leaves appear in the end of summer around August or so. They prefer large pots.

I would NOT sit the pot in water, this will cause rot and very fast and especially in Miracle Growing potting mix.

Did you read the link I gave you?

I read the link and I dumped the water out and it is still growing noticeably. I mean I look at it and see it doing its thing, even if it don't bloom at least I had leaves and that means it aint dead! The leaves are beginning to separate, and it is green and healthy looking. I looked at the ones that I have wrapped in newspaper and one of them has green on the top of the neck already, should I just wrap it back up or take it out and repot it?

If this is an Amaryllis Belladonna, and not a Hippeastrum, then it will not like to be disturbed very much, and it will surprise me if it blooms at all for you within the next couple of years.

Once you are sure what type of bulb it is, you'll know better how to grow it and what it requires. I would plant it in the ground next warm season, in an appropriate spot, and leave it alone to grow its leaves and recharge for its next blooming cycle.

I've got several Lycoris Squamigera, which are the hardy equivalent of Amaryllis Belladonna... sort of... and they don't like to be disturbed much, either. Mine took two full years from time of planting until they actually bloomed. Now that they're settled, they bloom beautifully every late summer. My bulbs are also called "Naked Ladies"... though the two types are a bit different in heritage.

Any potted bulb can look fine above the soil surface, but if kept too moist and in the wrong type of medium, the roots and lower bulb portion can easily begin rotting. Josh is correct... I think you will need to change mediums to something a little more gritty, sharp draining, and porous.

These can be tricky bulbs to grow in containers. I wish you luck, though.