Amaryllis

There are two blooms and one more bud to come on an amaryllis 'Flamenco Queen' that I over-wintered from last year. It is a very small plant, with about a 7" stalk. Very petite-- and quite classy looking!
 

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i was able to rehome my smallest amaryllis at the seed swap. i was hoping the lady would take both of them. if she had she'd have had at least two flower stalks this season.
 
Branching Out said:
That was so kind and generous of you to give away an amaryllis plant Flowerbug. 🌸
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the first bulb was a gift to me about 17 years ago. i've probably given away about 20 bulbs from that (in various sizes) and have 7 large bulbs here now with new sprouts popping up. considering how easy they are to care for i consider them near perfect house plants. :)
 
I love having amaryllis in my home too, but mine seem to be plagued with serious infestations of fungus gnats that render them untenable. Currently I am hustling containers of bulbs out to the front porch; they are just crawling with bugs. Are you not bothered by these pests?
 
Branching Out said:
I love having amaryllis in my home too, but mine seem to be plagued with serious infestations of fungus gnats that render them untenable. Currently I am hustling containers of bulbs out to the front porch; they are just crawling with bugs. Are you not bothered by these pests?
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i have had infestations a few times that have persisted for a month or so, but since i let the plants get bone dry during the winter they do not persist beyond the fall if they're still around. i don't have any other houseplants so there is no other place for them to be. if i stand there for a few minutes i can often just capture them out of the air with my hands so that will sometimes clear them up before they really get going.

where i can have much worse infestations at times is in the worm buckets (because i bring in garden soil from when i'm planting). right now i have one bucket which has a huge population blooms at times (thousands of them) and i have one other bucket which might finally be calming down so in order to feed the worms i have to take the buckets outside to open them up. the material i use over the buckets is a thin plastic mesh material which lets air through but does not allow the bugs in or out unless it is removed. which is good because i'd not want that many bugs flying around my room here. ;-0

i do have some tiny spiders in the worm buckets which will stop a small infestation from getting bad, but they cannot cope with a large infestation. what i end up doing is using the worst of them when planting if they persist that long.

if i never brought in outside garden soil it would prevent the problem entirely but since part of the reason of having the worms is to recharge the garden soil (which improves it plus adds nutrients from the worms doing their magic on the food and paper scraps) that would defeat some of my purpose. two out of ten buckets isn't bad. sometimes i get them all eliminated before planting season comes along but it doesn't look like this year i'll get the worst one taken care of. the other bucket seemed to finally be calming down the last time i fed the worms so that is good.

i'm sure that any way it goes it will all work out. i'm interested in the population booms and busts that i've observed with these creatures and figuring out how to deal with them without resorting to chemical methods is fun to work through. basically, as simple as i can do things is what i always aim for. ignore them, take the buckets outside and do what needs to be done, close 'em up and bring 'em back in. the spiders do make a difference and are surviving, but they cannot keep up with a large population explosion. i just have to wait for that to run it's course. letting the bucket go really dry would do it but then the worms would not survive very well so i'm stuck observing a more biologically active cycle instead. it's ok. at least i know what it is and how to cope with it. i don't get upset about life doing this sort of thing...
 
I am going to guess it was 20 years ago I decided to cross a few Amaryllis blooms. It is not an endeavor for those without patience. They make lovely prolific seed. It took a few years for the bulbs to grow big enough to bloom. I did not give them much care at the beginning. I Just gave them time. They have bloomed every year for 12 years or so. There are subtle differences in the blooms that is a joy for me to see. They are all crowed into 4 or so large pots, the bulbs are gigantic at this point.The parade of blossoms has begin and will continue over the next few months. Enjoy.
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