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Amaryllis/Hippeastrum

Amaryllis pollinators and time

18 years ago

There are some great posts here on Amaryllis pollination, but I have not found answers to a couple of questions. In my zone, Amaryllis are kept outdoors year round. I have different varieties close together & am hand pollinating. I am not crossing at this point Â just pollinating the variety with itself.

My questions are what are the natural pollinators & when do you pollinate?

I hand pollinated morning glories last year & they open at 4 am. I had to tie the flowers up, as I did not want to hand pollinate at that time. Has anyone tied up their amaryllis buds up if they expected them to open before they pollinated?

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Comments (8)

mariava7
18 years ago
Never tried doing that...that is such a COOL idea though!
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tokyomafia
18 years ago
I haven't tied the buds but I just have different levels of temperature throughout my home so I can put bulbs in each room to try getting them to bloom at the same time to share polination. My warmest South room is for quickest growth. If I want a group to bloom at the same time, the fastest grower goes outside (currently 65/50F) to slow it down and put the slowest grower in the warm room (75/70) to speed it up. My north room is unheated (65/60F)so the mid-range goes into that room. Works out ok.
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In zone 9, you certainly could plant them in your garden outside... and you'd eventually have a beautiful clump of blooms every spring or summer. However, it's nice to have them blooming inside, where you can more closely admire and enjoy them, as mentioned by sprouts_honor. If you are very careful with your watering, you can keep your bulbs as they are until after they're done blooming. Once they finish, I would re-pot them into a container with drainage holes, and I'd use a more porous, aerated medium. Or, you can then plant them out in your garden... whatever you prefer. The retail market only operates if the consumer keeps buying... and so, they create these kits, and the directions to grow them, specifically so our bulbs will not make it beyond the bloom season. They're disposable. This way, we purchase another one every season. But if you study how hippeastrums grow in their natural habitat, and you learn about their natural growing and blooming schedule and habits, you can keep your bulbs thriving for many years, and enjoy gorgeous blooms once, and sometimes even twice, every year. Those Apple Blossoms are simply lovely, by the way! I won't go into a long diatribe about soil and watering practices, and all that... but I will say, please do a little reading here in the forum. You'll get a feel for how us consummate bulb addicts grow our bulbs... the mediums we use, our container preferences, amount of light required, fertilizers, etc... and should you have any questions, we're all here to help! Happy Gardening!
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lora_in
18 years ago
Hi Baci,
Anything from bees to hummingbirds too a good stiff breeze can cause pollination. H. calyptratum is pollinated by bats!
In Hippeastrum,the stigma is receptive before the pollen matures. This favors cross pollination over self pollination. If you are serious about the particular crosses or selvings you will need to isolate the plants inside a greenhouse or sunroom to keep stray pollen from sneaking in. I neuter the first 2 flowers to open before the pollinia open by slipping a coin envelope up the filaments and cutting the pollen sacks off. When the tip of the stigma turns up it is ready to pollinate. The tip of the stigma will open into 3 segments,some very distinct and fuzzy and some not much more than tiny knobs.Cover them well with the pollen of choice and keep isolated for 2-3 days.
And if you don't want to bother with all of that,just dabble away and enjoy the results. It's nice to get a few surprizes out of seedlings.Sometimes the choices the bees make are very nice. Lora
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baci
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks everybody - I appreciate the info. In looking at them they do not look easy to tie up, so LoraÂs method makes sense. I have been waiting for one to open for 3 days now, & they are definitely not time dependent like the morning glories. The temperature makes sense Â they seem to open slower with the cooler temperatures. I am going to try moving the bulbs I want to bloom to a warmer location to encourage blooming.
Thanks very much for the detailed info on pollination. I will save it & try it. I donÂt mind crosses, but I am just experimenting with some of them. I appreciate the info on time they needed to be kept isolated Â that was another question I had. This forum has the best information on this subject I have found.
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bigoledude
18 years ago
I've read in several posts where upon pollination the flower soon wilts.

When this wilting occurs can we safely assume fertilization has successfully been accomplished?
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brigarif Khan
18 years ago
Hello
Lora
I think it is the pollen that matures before the stigma is ready and not the other way round.
ARIF
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Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
18 years ago
I have seen daylily breeders use a small piece of tinfoil to "isolate" the stigma once pollinated. Would that work for amaryllis?
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lora_in
18 years ago
Hi Arif,
You are absolutely correct,the pollen matures before the stigma. I didn't catch my backwards writing :O Lora
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