Welcome, Blayz! Nice to have you here! I'm an old hand at getting around in cyberspace, but relatively new to Hippeastrums. This is my first year collecting and breeding them, although, I have had my Minerva for about 7 years... I have enjoyed watching Minerva bloom year after year, and I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before now that breeding these lovely flowers was possible, and even rather easy!

Within the last few months, I've gone from 2 bulbs to over 30... and the collection is still growing! From your post, I gather that you are way beyond my humble knowledge of Hippeastrums!

I think you'll find that we're an enjoyable bunch of bulb addicts here, rather casual and friendly... we tend to get off-subject occasionally, but it gives each of us a good mental picture of who we're "talking" with and how they live and garden!

I hope to read all about your breeding exploits, and please do post photos of your flowers! I, for one, would love to see them!

Welcome to our little piece of Hippeastrum Heaven!

Hi and Welcome Blayz
It's always nice to have a new collector, er, um, amaryllis addict join us. I hope you have as much fun here as I do. I have learned so much about amaryllis the past few years. Mostly due the all the friendly and knowledgeable people here!

Hello Blayz! I for one am really looking forward to seeing your babies bloom. Did you force dormancy even when they were first year seedlings? Did they all come out of dormancy just fine even when small?(I haven't dared to put the babies to sleep) Thanks for your input!

Thanks to all for your welcome. It is most reassuring

Salpal; If I had a choice, I would never have forced the little ones to go dormant. It severely checks their growth and delays that first bloom. Most did reawaken in the spring, but many lost their momentum and never resumed building up their bulbs very well. The only reason I did this was because I had no other place to put them but a back corner in my grandfather's greenhouse, where night temps dip as low as 5 degrees C occasionally. not nice, but at least its a form of natural selection. the strong ones will bloom within the next year or so, some this winter!

I experience the same. Most of my babies that were forced to go to dormancy because they were on mommy, for instance come back slow and they do not gain much weight. Especially if they break off during repotting or something... I really don't know what to do to bulblets growing on mom. They have to go to sleep with mommy.

yeah, good point. I never thought about the effect on offsets! mind you, I usually don't bother much with them.
Cheers!

If the offsets stay ont he mother and I put the mother and the little ones to sleep together, they are more likely to come back better than the ones that broke off or are put to sleep alone for whatever reason. It seems like mother keeps them fed well even if they were forced to sleep during the Fall.

yeah, thats what i find too. they usually dont seem to detatch themselve from mom for about a year or more, and by then they have lots of roots. Im hoping that a tiny little baby I just spotted on Queen of Hearts will develop nicely. its a beauty, but a little weak growing, and not so generous with its buds as others i have.

Queen of Hearts is on my wish list... it has a very beautiful flower, judging by the catalog photos I've seen...

Mine is just shooting up a scape. I hope it will be picture quality flower.

Soultan... they are ALL picture quality! Maybe not book worthy, but they all are interesting to me so I can see what to expect from mine when they bloom! Besides, it's fun to see each flower and all the little eccentric details that differ from bloom to bloom!

From one amaryllis/orchid lover to another, Welcome!