This question has probably been asked many times, but I've searched and did not find the answer. I probably used the wrong search terms.
I bought "La Paz" but have no idea what I should do to keep it alive and healthy. It did not have a lot of roots when I potted it up, and I assumed it would grow them pretty quickly. but am not so sure now. The first thing it did was put up a bloom stalk. It now has two more stalks up and the bulb is shrinking in size. It shows no sign of putting up leaves. I broke over the first stalk after it bloomed, rather than cut it, in the hope that it would reabsorb some of the liquid in that stalk. Is there any way to stop it from wasting any more energy on the two growing stalks?
In my area (near Dallas) we are used to tulips that are forced. You buy them and after bloom, throw them away. I am afraid that is how my La Paz is acting, but I have no intention of tossing it out after it blooms.
Is this a common problem? Is there a solution to saving it?
TIA,
ORH

La Paz is one of the cybister group. Cybisters often take ages to root or even to put up leaves. I would give a 50/50 chance of it rooting. They also can take years to rebloom. I have had very little luck with them, so just enjoy the blooms the first year. Perhaps someone else has experience with the cybisters, and could give you specific tips.

Cut one or both off, I guess. I don't know for sure how that works with bulb plants, but most plants redirect their energy into leaves/roots if their flowers are pinched.

from what i read about Cybisters, they produce several flower stalks in succession, so i would wait for all of them to flower: enjoy the show while it lasts.
i have regular ones and when they produce more then 1 stalk i cut off the spent flower only at the base of the flower and let the stalk slowly wither away. the clean cut is certainly better then a rugged tear away.
they all say Cybisters take a long time after flowering to produce leaves. so have patience..some say a month till you see a new leaf peeking out. keep it on the drier side until it roots. usually the leaves would not grow until the bulb has roots. keeping it warmer will help (some people put them on heat mats).
definitely do not throw it out.

Thanks to all for the information and helpful advice. I am grateful.
The second stalk is in full bloom and the first one is drying up. The first stalk makes the plant look bad, but I don't really care what it looks like if it will help the bulb. For what it is worth, I am collecting pollen from the flowers. Nothing else will be in bloom for a good while and I doubt my pollen storage method will actually work, but at least if the bulb dies, the pollen will serve as a keepsake to remind me to never buy another Cybister.
Because the bulb was basically rattling around inside the skin, and I had just put it in a pot, it was easy to carefully remove the soil from around the bulb (down to the soil level the bulb was resting on). I then took off the loose layers of skin. I figured they would do little more than serve as hiding places for bugs and whatnot.

Again, thank you all very much,
ORH

ORHowdyshell said:I have no intention of tossing it out after it blooms

Well, then.... Enjoy the bloom show, then treat it like a houseplant, perhaps letting it live outside. Don't worry that it might be using energy for new blooms, that's what they do. The bulb stores its energy, then uses it for the blooms, and often shrinks during and after blooming as this energy storage is depleted.
Again, that's just what hippeastrum
bulbs do!
About cybisters:
Here is mine
Hipp. 'Evergreen' a cybister type.

It's the only cybister type I've grown, and I just treated it like a houseplant. It may act nothing like your La Paz, or it might act similar. It sent up leaves AFTER its first bloom stock and then begun a second flush of two more bloom stocks with the leaves. It never decided to go dormant (others say cybisters don't need dormancy- but I'm not sure any hipps. really need dormancy.)

It started blooming this fall, when my other hipps were beginning to die back for dormancy. The bloom stock is just now going yellow (I didn't cut it) and the leaves from last summer look sad.
So, I keep it on the dryer side, let it be, and when new leaves show, I'll begin to increase water and fertilize again.

ORHowdyshell said:I have no intention of tossing it out after it blooms

Just let it grow, bloom and leaf out on it's own timetable. Give it sun, water and nutrients when it's green and happy, back off the water and nutrients when it is resting or dormant.
When it's happy it will reward you with blooms. Good luck with it!