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Help my Amaryllis bloom again

10 years ago

Hi, I purchased an Amaryllis back in December of 2011. It bloomed beautifully as you can see in the next picture.

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Since then I've never been lucky enough to have it bloom again. That's over 2 years without blooms. It always has leaves on it. I never fertilized it and just kept watering it. It lived on the sill of a south facing window. I never knew if it had gone dormant, which I doubt, because it always had green leaves on it. I never took it out of the pot nor did I place it in a cool dark basement.

Last August, I moved from New York City where I lived and purchased the plant. I cut off the leaves and pulled the bulb off the pot and packed it in a plastic bag.

I now live in Panama City, Panama in Central America. It is hot and humid here most of the year. The night time temperature does not go below 72 here in the city. In the day it can be hot, up to 100 degrees. I planted the bulb after it spent about 4 months in a plastic container. It has tons of leaves now as you can see in the next picture.

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I noticed that the leaves are not as firm looking and green as they were a couple of months ago. Does that mean that they are going to turn brown and fall off? I don't see any new leaves sprouting out. It's never had 7 on it at the same time either. I just started fertilizing it in the last two weeks with miracle gro all purpose plant food 24-8-16. I am watering it every other day very lightly, trying to keep it moist and not wet. It's in a balcony so it doesn't get rained on.

Keeping in mind that I now live in the tropics where the temperature is high all the time. My questions are:
1. Do I need to force it into dormancy? How is that done?
2. What can be done to make it bloom again?
3. I've read elsewhere that people put the whole pot with the bulb inside their refrigerator. If I choose to do this, when should I do it and what is exactly the procedure to follow? Do I cut off all leaves or wait for them to drop naturally? Do I make a straight cut across to have a cleancut? how far down? Can I put it (bulb planted in pot) inside a plastic bag before I place it in the fridge? How long should I keep it there? and what do I do when I bring it out?

Bottom line, will it ever bloom again?

Thanks

Luis

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