Amaryllis blooms
Jim Lykos (Fri, 15 Aug 2003 00:07:00 PDT)

Hi Ann Marie and Angelo,

In my experience the division of the bulbs helps in producing larger
sized bulbs and eventually this results in increased numbers on flowers
an umbel, but it has no effect on inducing an Amaryllis bulb to flower.
In the southern dry inland parts of my state I have seen 120 year
old grave plots with around 4 layers of Amaryllis belladonna filling
the grave area, and given the right rainfall conditions they have
hundreds of inflorescences.
Last year we experienced the driest year on record - a drought
throughout the eastern states of Australia, but in my area outside
Sydney, the drought broke in the last month of summer (February) with a
6 inch down pour. I then had a field month photographing the
marvellous flowerings of large clumps of Amaryllis - in areas and
suburbs where in previous years one would at best see half a dozen
inflorescences from a clump - but this year there were 30 to 50
inflorescences in flower in some garden clumps of Amaryllis.
A friend who grows Amaryllis multiflora varieties in clay loam in full
sun with half the bulbs exposed - (never divided) - and watered only
by rainfall, commented to me that it was the best flowering he has ever
experienced!

I actually achieved the same result in my garden by heavily watering
the Amaryllis clumps from mid summer - by heavy watering I mean drip
watering each clump for a a whole day each fortnight during mid to late
summer (one month).
A dry hot summer followed by inundation is a reliable way of inducing
a heavy Amaryllis flowering.
Cheers

Jim Lykos
Springwood
Australia
Zone 9

Angelo Porcelli wrote: