I am a TOTAL newbee at gardening... I have been inspired by a wonderful Amaryllis my friend gave me this Christmas. Not sure what type of Amaryllis this is... It is the standard reddish/pink with five blooms coming from the top of the stalk. The AMAZING thing is that once it bloomed, faded & dried up, a totally NEW stalk grew and bloomed five more fabulous flowers! Now I want to 1) Nurture the original bulb so it will bloom again next year. 2) Self pollinate it for seeds. I have some questions surrounding these goals: Did the plant bloom twice because the bulb was some sort of "twin"?? 2nd stalk came from the same bulb as the 1st, but from a 2nd area at top of the bulb. Is that common? I have never seen this before, and neither has my friend who is more into gardening than I have been. If I nurture the bulb, should it happen again?? What is the best way to handle the original bulb once the Amaryllis has finished blooming, so it will bloom again. How soon will it bloom again? Next year, or does it skip a year? Should I take it out of soil or let it keep growing?? No idea how to do this... HELP! To self pollinate, do I take some of the pollen on a Q-tip and get it onto the stamen in the center of the pollen bearing stalks? I've read Mymimi43's comments about the blossom end swelling to indicate that the pollination takes, but how long do you let that happen and how do you harvest seeds? I'm sorry I am so unversed in this but I find it fascinating! Figure if I have some success with this, I'll try something more exotic! Thanks Mymimi43, Hans-Werner and Lora!! Holley PS. Photo is of the plant's first set of blooms. This post was edited by KiwiLuv on Sat, Feb 8, 14 at 15:29

re-reading, especially Karen & Bill (not that I don't appreciate everyone else--the bottle method really sounds interesting): I've gotten a little more courage reading Bill's final entry and understand much more clearly: essentially, plant what I have, 4" deep, in mostly perlite, water once, give heat & light. But Bill, Karen, anyone, do you think I'd actually be okay, cutting off a branch and make two cuttings? My 1st experience trying to grow a p. was with a Hawaiian Yellow (or was it Gold?). It was a disaster. I was told to try water rooting. Never rooting a Plumeria before, I do what I'm told. --usually when I water-root, anthing, I see roots within a few days or at the most a couple of weeks. And I keep clean water in the container. But this cutting sat & sat and did nothing. After a couple of months, there still was nothing. Since it didn't root, I was advised to take it out of the water; cut off the bottom to check for rot (the color inside was a beautiful white, so ok); soak it in hydrogen peroxide for a couple of hours, let dry overnight, dip the cut into a very dilute solution of bleach/water for good measure, then into rooting hormone and pot up in a sterile mix, setting the base 4" deep, watering once. I did all that. Poured a cup of water + superthrive around the stem, sat the container on a heating pad, and gave plenty of fluorescent light: both going 24/7. Within a few days, it leafed out. Since it couldn't have put out roots in a couple of days, I began misting the leaves on a daily basis, with tepid, tap-water. However, within two weeks the cutting went mushy. I checked; and, the entire inside was black. I suppose, even though I thought everything was sterile and the Hydrogen peroxide killed all germs, the cutting was attacked by some kind of fungus or mold, that must be in my house. If I divide this cutting, how do I keep the demise from happening to each of the new cuttings? (I do have some agricultural sulfur; also a copper, fungicide--as well as bleach and H2O4.) How long do I wait, for the wounds to heal before potting either cutting? Now, for my really, dumb (non-knowing about Plumeria neewbie) question: When growing flowers, usually the center is pinched out, so it will make more branches and more flowers. Making two cuttings out of this one, seems to be doing the opposite: fewer branches, fewer flowers. Thus, a branched plumeria will have more flowers and be more sought after. Why, then, is a single stemmed plumeria, preferable to one that is branched? Bob

bazinga... congrats ... you mention the end ones are smaller.. and suggest less sun ... true ... but have you considered what creates the shade ... and whether those trees are also stealing available water ????? when you planted.. i am sure you cut a lot of tree roots near that corner .. do you recall such ??? ....and then you watered the transplants .... and the cut roots of the other trees.. probably responded by putting out new feeder roots ... right into your transplants ... i dont think there is anything you can do about it .... except offer the small one more water???? ... and eventually they will grow ... no one ever said.. they would all end up exactly the same .. i am just offering another variable than just reduced sun.. as to why they are growing the way they are ... ken

should I just leave them alone and grow natural? ==>>> imo.. yes .. a pic or two might help us see if there is apparently anything wrong ... i dont know if you watering protocol is sufficient..because it dont know your soil ... without the pic.. i am torn about whether you should reduce to one leader ... if you goal at planting was a sight block.. multiple leaders wouldnt necessarily be bad ... ken