My amaryllis bulbs are approx. 5 years old. Will they still send up a stalk and bloom?

As long as the bulbs are not soggy or spongy they will still sent up leaves or a flower stalk or both.

They look healthy. Have they bloomed in the previous 4 - 5 years? I think its just early yet. unless forced, they bloom late spring.

Lucy68 said: They look healthy. Have they bloomed in the previous 4 - 5 years

Yes, they look good. I also wondered if they've not been blooming for 5 years? How have you kept them during that time?

Hippeastrum (commonly called Amaryllis) don't require a dormancy for blooming, and will choose when they bloom if you just treat them like houseplants all year.
Sometimes they skip blooming for a year-maybe two- to 'recharge' their strength.

kenisaac said: Yes,they look good…
Hippeastrum (commonly called Amaryllis) don't require a dormancy for blooming, and will choose when they bloom if you just treat them like houseplants all year.
Sometimes they skip blooming for a year-maybe two- to 'recharge' their strength.

This is not correct. As with most South American bulbs, they are initiated to flower by a seasonal change. This has been scientifically worked out to a great degree, as they are a valuable crop around the world.
For those in the Northern Hemisphere with bulbs that have just finished flowering in mid-winter the plants should be repotted and generously watered and fed from then until late summer. At that point the plants should be dried off for a couple of months until the leaves die completely. This usually corresponds to late October. Then the bulbs can be replanted into a pot for the blooming cycle.
Most people don't realize that keeping them in a small container and starving them will not result in reblooming.
Here is the Pacific Bulb Society page: https://www.pacificbulbsociety...

I've had some of my bulbs longer than 5 years growing as houseplants. I feed them while in leaf but never force them into dormancy. I just let the leaves die off as they like - they have their own cycle and sometimes miss flowering for a year but do bloom most years. I have 5 in bud now.

I think Hortica is describing how to force bloom in winter.

I've had a couple of mine for more than 10 years. I water year round, fertilize when I remember, never force dormancy and they consistently bloom every late spring. I do put them outside after I enjoy the blooms and bring them in before first frost.

I can't say about other Hippieastrum species, but at least the hybrids so common in the market are incredibly adaptable. Regardless of their ancestral backgrounds including dormant periods or not, yes, often the most foolproof method of bloom is via seasonal change (of which multiple factors could be used to achieve the goal). However, seasonal change is not required, or at least a seasonal change that is gardener detectable.

Yet, the "your mileage may vary" caveat is valid. Every true gardener knows, that changing even just one factor in a plants environment, intentionally or not, may alter the needs or growth of the plant. And this is true for the common amaryllis, too.

Hortica said: As with most South American bulbs, they are initiated to flower by a seasonal change.

@hortica, at issue here is the non-flowering of the OP bulbs that one would expect to be flowering on a yearly cycle. To say that the modern hybrid Amaryllis 'requires' a period of dormancy to initiate flowering does not rule out other reasons a five-year bulb may not be flowering.
I'll wait to hear the responses from the OP to my two questions before I claim it's a 'lack of dormancy' that is preventing flowering.

University of Florida Extension said:
FAILURE TO FLOWER
Amaryllis plants sometimes fail to bloom. This can be caused by a number of factors:

_ Digging the bulbs too early, i.e., before the leaves yellow and die back.
_ To much shade, which reduces the plant's ability to manufacture food and results in loss of vigor.
_ To rich a soil, too much nitrogen fertilizer, or too much water, any of which can cause amaryllis to produce leaves at the expense of bulb growth and flowers.

Amaryllis can be forced to bloom in late winter by inducing a dormant period. Dig the plants in fall and place them in a dry, shaded area for 6–8 weeks. Remove declining foliage, replant, and provide normal care.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publ...

I will suspect first that the OP Amaryllis is not getting enough 'growing season' strength (perhaps to little sunlight indoors?) and second, it may be receiving to much love- and is happy, which essentially brings us to the third option to try: a 'trigger' to initiate flowering -perhaps a dormancy period would be this trigger- perhaps not. That's the same progression as the quoted article by the Extension quoted above.

I do disagree that a modern hybrid Amaryllis "needs" the dormancy period to flower, but agree they often go into a dormancy period on their own. They also respond very predictably when we manipulate this dormancy period for storage, shipping and timing blossom periods. Some 'South American' Hippeastrum species are 'evergreen,' as is H. Papillo . It's interesting that H. Papillo is in many parental lines of modern Hipps, so this evergreen tendency certainly may express itself.
https://www.pacificbulbsociety...

This may be of interest. It's a dormant bulb I was using for propagation, showing the bloom spikes inside.

I posted that to this thread.
The thread "LOOK INSIDE a dormant Hippeastrum bulb- showing developing blooms" in Amaryllis and Hippeastrum forum

@hortica, I do appreciate your link to the PBS wiki- as I've been a member of the Pacific Bulb Society (PBS) for a few years.
Some articles relate to specific species bulbs and their behavior or culture, though, of which our modern hybrids are often created from. I recommend PBS articles and the forum as a wealth of knowledge.

unkveg18 sent me this message in a treemail:
Yes, the bulbs have bloomed in previous years,
usually in summer rather than winter.

I advise patience...

Hello Everyone....Update on the Amaryllis bulbs...On the short time that this thread began, I'm seeing new growth. Leaves emerging from the larger bulb. The smaller one has yet to send up leaves. Will post new pictures tomorrow, and thanks for all the great information. Ben

Lucy68 said: I think Hortica is describing how to force bloom in winter.
...

This is not "forcing". This is growing plants with seasonal accommodation. "Forcing" would be pushing them to flower out of cycle, or in water in a way that depletes the bulb and weakens it for future growth.

Here are the current pictures of the bulbs in question. You can see the one is on its way with a couple leaves showing and hopefully a flower stalk will follow in due time.

That is a flower stalk.

I've have several. Some have been reliable bloomers for years. 2 are blooming right now. After blooming, I let them leaf out, & keep them out on the veranda with all the othe tropicals in the summer. They go dormant in the fall when they're brought in for winter, and then send up flower stalks to harken the beginning of "solar" Spring, based on the length of day, which starts at the beginning of February. The couple that didn't bloom for a few years decided to multiply, instead and filled their pots with more bulbs. I divided one pot last winter, and had 2 bloom. The 2nd pot was divided in summer, and I planted that lot in the garden for. the season. They were dug last fall, and stored for winter. I keep checking them, but no flower stalks yet!

I have amaryllis bulbs all along my driveway and they always flower in abundance, except for last year. We had a particularly wet year and when none of them flowered, I thought they had probably rotted in the ground. Fortunately the ground was draining well enough and this year they have flowered better than ever. Plants understand the weather a whole lot better than we do. All I do with mine is sprinkle blood and bone over them when they've finished flowering and the leaves die back. I've had them in multiplying for about 10 years now.