Hi. First time on this forum. I was wondering if anybody could tell me what hippeastrum I have here and what I need to do to get it to bloom again. I bought a single bulb that took over 1 year to start to grow but has since multiplied quite readily but flowered only once. I don't force it into dormancy since it took so long to start growing I figured it doesn't like that, it's kept moist but not wet and allowed to dry slightly between waterings and is in bright light but not direct sun except late afternoon. I fertilize it during the summer only. Here are some pictures of it though they may be a bit blurry.

Brian,
Lucky you. I always loved that plant. I could never get one. Bought it twice but was something different. That strip down the middle of the leaf is only found on Hippeastrum reticulatum var. striatifolium. However, hybrids such as 'Mrs. Gardfield', 'Silhouette' ,'Bangkok Rose', etc., have leaves that are marked by a yellowish-white median strip.

If you get this beauty to flower, I know Mike (here on this post) and I would love to have some of the seeds.

Hi Stanley.
Thanks for your reply. Now that I know what it is I'll be able to do some research on it. I only had it flower once a few years ago and haven't been able to get it to flower again. Are they self fertile? The stripe is pure white so I guess it's not a hybrid. If they do bloom and set seed I'd more than happy to send you some. How do you start hippeastrum seeds?

Brian,
Most spices are self fertile. You may have to put the pollen on the center pistol using a paint brush. The pistol is not ready for pollen until it opens up and splits. Then dap the pollen on it. When the seed sack is just ready to split open the seeds are ready. You must plant them up in a few weeks. I put mine on potting soil in a take home container. The ones with the clear tops. Use moist not wet soil, sprinkle the seeds over it. Cover and wait. In two weeks you should have seen them sprout. For the next year they look like small grass growing. It takes several years for them to get large enough to flower. All in all maybe 5 years and several replantings.

Brian I am new amaryllis so just tried my first pollination on Red Lion with a white no name just a number, I don't know if I was successful yet. I know with daylilies that the sooner in the morning you pollinate the better, is it the same with the amaryllis or do you have a longer time frame.

Margaret. I don't really know, I've never tried crossing hippeastrum and all the daylilies I've tried to cross never took. I've grown hippeastrum for many years and have had some seed pods start to develop on their own but I have always cut them off. If I can manage to get this particular plant to flower again I'll definitely try to get seed.

My first year at daylily crossing I did manage to set a few pods with viable seeds and was successful at getting seedlings, I had about 30 that were planted in the garden at the end of may 2011, I hope they survive this winter. If you are interested in learning about hybridizing dayliles go to the Daylily Forum read, or just ask questions, everyone is great on there and they just love to help.

I started getting interested in Amaryllis when a Tucson e-mail friend and I exchanged seed, out of a dozen or so amaryllis seed she sent I only manage to get one seedling, I think I know why now after reading that they should be sprinkled on top of the dirt and I had covered mine. Then last month my husband brought me two after Christmas sale plants, of course I just loved them and now I want more.

mcash70 said:Brian I am new amaryllis so just tried my first pollination on Red Lion with a white no name just a number, I don't know if I was successful yet. I know with daylilies that the sooner in the morning you pollinate the better, is it the same with the amaryllis or do you have a longer time frame.

Early morning or late evening is good.You should see the ovaries swelling within a week if the pollination took.If you waited until the pistil turned upward it probably took.

Thanks gone2seed.

The pistil was only slightly turned up as I recall, and had started to split. So it is quite different than with daylilies, there you don't wait. Another learning experience.

Margaret,
You need to know that you will have to wait at least 3 years to see results. Some after 5 years. When I grew my hippeastrum, they were from the hybrids like yours and after 3 years The only ones that flowered were of the wild red type. Small and only 2 per stem. However the spices ones will produce the same as the parent and crosses with them will give some excellent results.

On daylilies. I got some seed pods in the fall that I planted the small black round seeds and got almost all 10 to sprout and the following year they bloomed and were similar to the parent but different shades. I latter lost them to helpful gardeners who weeded my yard due to I was very sick that year and continued to work. They pulled out and thru away all my plants. I guess they couldn't tell the lilies from the wild grasses. At least they left my maples alone. It did give me more of a effort to do my own weeding from now on.

Stush, yes I know how long I have to wait, it's just a fun thing to do during our long winter, and I just love to grow something challenging. I have the one that is a year old, so only another 2 years to go before I get a bloom on it. I have never heard of wild red hippeastrum with small flowers, learn something new all the time. I have only seen the large ones that are sold at Christmas.

Oh dear that must have been maddening when you saw what the hired help did to your daylilies. I hope you are feeling much healthier now. Do you have any new dayliles to replace what the weeders pulled up?? I planted 8 seeds today that had germinated, hopefully they will all grow, still waiting for 22 more to germinate.

Margaret,
I should have told you that anything can and does come out of a seed. It is new life and you can get something that nobody else has. So good for you. Besides, any body can buy a big bulb that will grow on a rock and bloom like crazy. At least the first time. Few can and do what you are doing.

No it wasn't hired help. It was my neibors and my wife tring to do me a favor. They loved the suprise look on my face when I pulled into the driveway. Still no big deal. It was the thought that counts.

It was a very nice thought for sure, Stush, but OMG....I think they should have asked for instructions first as to what was a weed and what wasn't, and avoided the "surprise"!!! My husband is the same, he doesn't know a weed from a plant.

I hope I get something interesting for my efforts. I just got a new seed catalog and they have the Butterfly Amaryllis, I would love to have it but at $35. that is a bit steep for one plant.

Margaret,
I can't promise anything yet. I have a tray full of seedlings of 'Papillio' which is the Butterfly Amaryllis. I can give you some if you want. They are 2 years old and the size of spring planting onions. They are really called Hippeastrum. They are from South America. Most refer to them still as amaryllis. I could put them in a mailing bag instead of the mailing box. The box is about $5 postage. Don't seem right. I bought them at Hirt's Greenhouse & Flowers @ hirts.com 12/11/06 for $12.99.
Give me a c-mail if interested. They are for free.

Thank you Stush that is very kind of you and I would love to have some, but I think you live in the US so you can't send live plants to Canada without spending lots of bucks on certification. You can only send seeds.

I love H. reticulatum and have so many that I need to find more place for them.
They are beautiful house plant bloom every fall for me.





Over the year I have create so many reticulatum hybrids , here are some of them.
Enjoy !

Henry

More pictures of my reticulatum hybrids to share with you.
It took at least three years for the seedling to bloom from seeds.

More hybrids to come each years.

The leaves of the hybrids can have many colors and shapes.
Here are some examples.

Here is my favorite one !