AMARYLLIS FROM SEED TO BLOOM

No, they're not blooming now. But the red and white of their spring blooms fit perfectly with today's Fourth-of-July theme. The third color, blue, is of course the sky!

Here's the direct tie in to today - harvesting the papery seeds and sowing them!

You can barely feel the real seed inside of these papery shards. Just scatter-plant them as they are, and barely cover with a thin layer of potting mix.

It took a whole year for the seeds to germinate and develop to this extent. It's a slow process!

Gently loosening the root ball reveals about 250 little bulblets, from 1/4" to 3/4" wide.

Transplanting to give to other gardeners, I gathered 5 of the bulbs for each 4" container. You could also plant each bulblet in its own corner of the container.

With my thumb and forefinger of each hand, I press the potting mix around the group of bulbs.

A flat of transplanted bulbs ready for watering.

For the larger bulbs, I planted them in the original 6-inch-deep container for more bulb- and root-growing space. I prefer SuperSoil brand potting soil for both sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings because of its consistently small-texture granules.

     Fourth-of-July is mostly apparent – at least in past and future prospect – in my amaryllis.  It’s spring bloom was striped red and white, and – although it’s a stretch of concept – the blue sky behind it completed the holiday color triumvirate.  The current day’s activity is in gathering the seed for a billion more future plants. 
     As my husband observed many years ago, “Gardeners have faith in the future.”  Indeed.  We gather seed, prepare soil, sow seed, water, wait in faith and hope, mulch seedlings, continue watering and protecting, transplant, wait and water and mulch some more, and finally enjoy thriving plants and possibly blooms and fruit. Maybe.
     Sometimes this process may be only a couple of weeks or months or years.  For my amaryllis venture, it’s been one year so far, from when I gathered the seed a year ago, to today’s transplanting of bulblets.  And it’ll be another couple of years before the bulbs are large enough to bloom.  So, yes, definitely faith in the future “payback” of all this effort. 
     But what great fun and expectation in the meantime!
     Here’s the process, so you can do the same with your own amaryllis seeds.
 
Starting Seeds

1. When blossoms fade, and there are seedpods, continue watering barely to keep the stalk turgid.
2. When pods have matured completely and split open to reveal the papery black stacks of seeds, gather them into a container.You may or may not feel any actual seed in the papery pieces.
3. Leave the container uncovered in a coolish dry place until you can plant them.
4. Scatter the papery shards as best you can in a single layer onto a wide-space bed of potting mix that’s at least six inches deep for extensive root development.
5. Barely cover seeds with another sprinkling of potting mix. This thin layer will anchor papery seeds and keep barely moist with each watering for better germination.
6. Place container in a brightly-lit but shaded area with no direct sun to germinate.
7. Keep barely moist.
8. Seeds will sprout over a long period of time – from weeks to months. They’ll look like thin blades of grass.
9. When most have germinated – the pot will look like it’s full of grass – move to a location where it’ll receive a couple of hours of sun each day. Keep soil mix barely moist.
10. I waited a good year before checking root growth, and found bulblets ranging from one- to three-quarters of an inch wide.If I’d sown them with more space between, I’m sure more of the bulbs would be larger.

 
Transplanting into 4” containers for sharing with other gardeners.

1. I filled each container halfway with potting mix.
2. I gathered 5 bulbs together, holding at the point where the green foliage shoots come out of the bulb.
3. Holding the bulb group over the potting mix with my left hand, I placed a small handful of potting mix to the right of the bulb group, and another handful to the left of the group.
4. With my four fingers, I pressed the soil mix around the bulb group so it stayed upright.
5. I watered the containers several times to assure that the potting mix was completely moistened.
6. I place the containers in a brightly-lit but shaded area with no direct sun.
7. After about a week, when the foliage stands upright and is vigorously growing, I’ll move the containers to a location where they’ll receive a couple of hours of sun daily.But, I’ll keep an eye on them relative to the summer’s blazing sun, and move them into more filtered light as necessary.

Transplanting into single containers for blooming.

1. When individual bulbs are perhaps an inch wide, transplant them into individual containers – at least gallon-size – with fresh potting mix.
2. Or, plant directly into the garden.  I’ve found them to be wonderfully drought-tolerant.