The amaryllis is to be found in many households around the holiday season. Its large flowers, whose color spectrum mainly includes various shades of red, are particularly impressive. As soon as flowering is over, preparation for the next season must be started, as this is the only way for the plant to survive. The advantage of the amaryllis is that the effort over the summer is low.
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Cut back after flowering
As soon as the amaryllis has faded, the flower stalk is cut. Occasionally the plants will produce seeds if they are accidentally pollinated. It shouldn’t get that far, however, as the formation of seeds takes a lot of strength and the plant can even die. Therefore, as soon as the flowers of the amaryllis have faded, the stem is cut off about 3 – 4 cm above the bulb immediately. The leaves should not be damaged in the process. Leaves are not cut during summer care. Individual leaves can die off over the summer, which are only carefully removed as soon as they have dried up.
Fertilize vigorously in spring
The flower itself cost the plant a lot of strength, which means that it has to be well supplied with nutrients until the summer phase. The reason for this is that the knight star does not retreat after flowering, but only now develops its green leaves. This care lays the foundation for the next bloom in winter:
- until July, water every two to three weeks with liquid fertilizer
- from mid-May the amaryllis can be outdoors in a pot
- a warm and sunny location is ideal
- keep the substrate constantly moist in spring
A commercially available liquid flower fertilizer can be used for fertilization. Long-term fertilizer should not be used as it has to be incorporated and this will damage the roots.
Auspflanzen ins Beet
Especially plants fresh off the market have a very early flowering. From the Ice Saints onwards, the plant can not only be planted outdoors, but also in a bed. With a bit of luck there will be another re-bloom. When pruning, the procedure is the same as for a bloom in winter.
Water moderately in summer
As a rule, the knight’s star grows until around August, when the actual resting phase begins. In order to prepare the plant for this, fertilization will cease from July. At the beginning of July, one last application of fertilizer can be made. In addition, the amount of irrigation water is reduced. A reduction does not take place suddenly, but gradually, until finally, in August, the watering is completely stopped.
Plants that had previously spent their time in the bed are now dug up and placed in a pot and placed in a location protected from rain. The amaryllis will stay in the pot until September and the leaves should also wither during this time. As soon as all the leaves are withered, they are cut off. The amaryllis then move into their winter quarters. A cool and dark cellar is suitable for this.
Repot and isolate in November
In November it is time to wake up the knight star from its resting phase. By then the plant may have developed more bulbs. Each onion should have its own pot. Young bulbs will not bloom in the first year, but they can develop very well with their own pot. However, so that adult bulbs can develop well after the resting phase and bloom again, the substrate should consist of the following parts:
one part each
- Compost soil with many nutrients
- lean herb soil
- Quartz sand as a mineral component
- Lava granules for loosening up
When planting out, it is important that the bulb is not completely covered with soil. The top part should always protrude slightly from the ground. The location should now be bright again. A sunny window on the south side is ideal.
Water again from December
In order to encourage the next bloom, regular watering of the bulb is started again from December onwards. However, fertilization is not yet carried out, but only again after flowering.
Conclusion
The amaryllis is an easy-care plant over the summer that does not have to be disposed of immediately when it has finished flowering. The maintenance effort is not great and it can be fertilized normally with other summer flowers. From August onwards she does even less work, because drying out is part of the cycle.
