My amaryllis had one stalk, with one flower on it which has bloomed.
It has multiple leaves below, only one tall stalk that had a bloom.
Should I cut of the spent bloom? IF SO, where on the stalk. At the top, cut the entire stalk down? Above where it meets the plant and leaves, ALL the way down to the dirt?
Apparently there is no right or wrong way..because we all know what an awesome gardener GAKaren is. I do mine differently. Mine are in ground too. I just snap off the spent bloom and leave the stalk until it starts to yellow, then I cut it down to the base.
Thank you VE, but lots of times I don't notice mine until it has turned yellow...so yes, it might be then that I cut it. But I had one in my way this year....my bird food is stored in totes behind them & I kept getting caught on it...so it got cut off as soon as the bloom was done!
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
Cut the flower stalk off all the way down and keep it watered and fertilized in full sun. Stop watering it by Labor Day (keep it out of the rain but still in the sun) When the soil's dried out, you can cut off all the leaves at the top of the bulb and put in a dark place (I use a paper bag in the basement) and check after 2 months to see if it's started growing again. You will probably see the tip of a bloom poking up a tiny bit) If it hasn't started growing by December, you can try taking it out anyway and watering it all over again like when you first got it. It still may bloom. But either way, there is always a chance that it won't bloom. So keep your fingers crossed!
Posts: 3216 | Location: Putnam County, NY z5 | Registered: Jun 30, 2004
One bloom on the stalk means its a small bulb. Each year it will make a few more blooms on the stalk and sometimes several stalks as it gets older. Cut the stalk but leave the leaves as this is making food for next years' blooms.
Posts: 1331 | Location: coast of Louisiana zone 9 | Registered: Mar 10, 2005
Just to add, this is the amaryllis' second summer outside. (I bought is as a plant in fall 2010) I heavily mulch it, but it stays outside all year, during winter.
This year so far, it was one stalk with, a "flower head" on the left, and one facing right. So is that ONE flower or TWO...
I've never cut the stalks before, and don't really dead-head any of my flowers. Now, I do pull the stalks out when they're so dry and brittle one pul will get them out, but I have never really clipped the flowers right after bloom, or anything like that.
By the time I pull my daylily and hosta stalks out they were so dead, they just come off.
It may take me a while to get up the nerve, but on all of you advice I will eventually cut the stalk.This message has been edited. Last edited by: clbselah,
I have been cutting off all my day lily stalks as they finish. Now I have some new bloom stalks popping up on 2 day lilies...they have never done this before...they are reblooming! Of course, the messed up weather we are having this year could be the reason too!
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
