Continuing with our planting theme, ...
We planted our Christmas Amaryllis. This year I went with the AppleBlossom. These are the most beautiful of all the amaryllis in my opinion. Actually, I love them in all colors and variations. But AppleBlossom is my favorite. If you are thinking of planting amaryllis for Christmas, you should get started soon.
As indicated on the box, you should have blooms in 6-12 weeks. Now is the perfect time to plant amaryllis for blooms, possibly as early as the week of Thanksgiving and certainly by Christmas.
These boxed amaryllis can be found in any big box home retailer. The kit comes with everything you need to get your amaryllis started as soon as possible. The kit comes with the pot, soil pack and the bulb. Just remove everything from the box.
Remove the plastic overwrap from the compacted soil disc.
Place the soil disc in the bottom of the pot.
Add three and one half cups of warm water to the pot.
When you add the water, the disc will float on top for a while
.
Eventually, the soil will start to break down and absorb the water.
After about 15 minutes, the soil disc will have absorbed all the water and you will have a solid mass of soil that is not suitable for planting just yet.
You will need to break down the soil to make it suitable for planting. I used my hands at first, but I could not reach the bottom part of the soil, so I grabbed a fork. Hey, ... you gotta do what you gotta do.
You want the soil to look like it does in the picture above. Now you are ready for planting.
Using your hands, push the potting soil from the center to the side of the pot making a well in the center.
Place your amaryllis bulb in the well and bring up the soil to cover the bottom one-third of the bulb. The bulb does not need to be completed covered by the soil. It should not be. You just need to plant it deep enough to let the roots set properly.
And here we have two AppleBlossom amaryllis planted and ready for their journey. They will need to be watered regularly. I use a spray bottle to moisten only the soil. I try not to get the bulb wet.
They are to receive no direct sunlight. Only room diffused light and ideally kept at a temperature between 70-75 degrees. I do not keep the thermostat set that high at Crest Avenue, so I placed them atop the refrigerator where it stays a little warmer. As they set and begin to bloom, they can be removed to a more suitable location in the house. The warmth is necessary in the beginning to help set the roots and get them growing. You could add pebbles or tuck in some decorative moss on top of the soil to improve the look. I will likely add some moss to these once they are established. I will also set these plastic pots inside of clay pots which I have painted silver for a much prettier presentation. More on that in the coming weeks.
I hope you will plant amaryllis for your holiday home.
We planted our Christmas Amaryllis. This year I went with the AppleBlossom. These are the most beautiful of all the amaryllis in my opinion. Actually, I love them in all colors and variations. But AppleBlossom is my favorite. If you are thinking of planting amaryllis for Christmas, you should get started soon.
As indicated on the box, you should have blooms in 6-12 weeks. Now is the perfect time to plant amaryllis for blooms, possibly as early as the week of Thanksgiving and certainly by Christmas.
These boxed amaryllis can be found in any big box home retailer. The kit comes with everything you need to get your amaryllis started as soon as possible. The kit comes with the pot, soil pack and the bulb. Just remove everything from the box.
Remove the plastic overwrap from the compacted soil disc.
Place the soil disc in the bottom of the pot.
Add three and one half cups of warm water to the pot.
When you add the water, the disc will float on top for a while
.
Eventually, the soil will start to break down and absorb the water.
After about 15 minutes, the soil disc will have absorbed all the water and you will have a solid mass of soil that is not suitable for planting just yet.
You will need to break down the soil to make it suitable for planting. I used my hands at first, but I could not reach the bottom part of the soil, so I grabbed a fork. Hey, ... you gotta do what you gotta do.
You want the soil to look like it does in the picture above. Now you are ready for planting.
Using your hands, push the potting soil from the center to the side of the pot making a well in the center.
Place your amaryllis bulb in the well and bring up the soil to cover the bottom one-third of the bulb. The bulb does not need to be completed covered by the soil. It should not be. You just need to plant it deep enough to let the roots set properly.
And here we have two AppleBlossom amaryllis planted and ready for their journey. They will need to be watered regularly. I use a spray bottle to moisten only the soil. I try not to get the bulb wet.
They are to receive no direct sunlight. Only room diffused light and ideally kept at a temperature between 70-75 degrees. I do not keep the thermostat set that high at Crest Avenue, so I placed them atop the refrigerator where it stays a little warmer. As they set and begin to bloom, they can be removed to a more suitable location in the house. The warmth is necessary in the beginning to help set the roots and get them growing. You could add pebbles or tuck in some decorative moss on top of the soil to improve the look. I will likely add some moss to these once they are established. I will also set these plastic pots inside of clay pots which I have painted silver for a much prettier presentation. More on that in the coming weeks.
I hope you will plant amaryllis for your holiday home.
