Indoor Amaryllis

• Plant your bulb, using light soil mix, in a 6 to 8 inch pot that has a drainage hole. Once the planting mix is moist, give your amaryllis very little new water, just enough to keep your soil moist, not soggy. Once the leaves and buds start to grow, check moisture daily to make sure your soil stays moist to the touch. It will take approximately 6 weeks from the time you start watering to have full bloom of your flowers. Plant, so bulb length is 1/3 to 1/2 deep in the soil.

• Place your amaryllis in a bright room with temperature in the 65 to 70 degree range and away from direct sunlight. Once your plant starts to bloom, place your plant in a cool spot each evening, 50 to 55 degrees, to extend the length of bloom period.

• Give the pot a quarter turn every couple of days as the plant tends to grow towards light. Carefully stake the bloom stalk if the stalk grows taller than 18" or more.

• After the flowers have finished, the flower stalk should be cut off 2 inches above the bulb. Do not disturb the leaves - keep them intact. Keep the pot moist and the leaves growing until you can plant outdoors, after the danger of frost (approximately May 15th).

• Around May 15th, put the bulb, pot and all, in the ground. Plant in sunny location and plant so that the top edge of pot is at ground level. Feed your bulb with a liquid fertilizer (Miracle-Gro) following the instructions on the box. No blooms will occur during late spring and summer, only leaves. This is the time when the new flower bud is forming in your bulb.

• Around Sept. 1st, lift the pot from the ground. Take away excess soil from the top of pot and store in a dry, cool (40 to 50 degrees) place. Do not water. Approximately 6 weeks before you want flowers, remove all old leaves and move your pot to a room with temperatures in the 65 to 75 degree range. Begin to water, lightly at first until bulb starts to grow. Then start watering more to keep soil moist. After your amaryllis blooms, repeat cycle as above.