Hi Joan,

Been a while since I posted, BTW where is everyone????. I come across this issue very often and I very simply trim the basal plate just to about 1/8" to 1/4" as they're coming of dormancy or when I notice that they're getting too crowded. Then I dust the exposed plate with rooting hormone and let the wound cure/dry for few days. Sometimes I'll even cut a few notches around the plate to encourage offsets to form, especially if it's an unusual one or one that is no longer in circulation. Then pot it up in a very free draining slightly moist medium then wait till the leaves start to grow (a sure sign that roots are also starting to grow). I hope this helps.

Warm Regards,

Fred

P.S. All of mine are in pots as New England summers are way too short to plant them in the ground. Hmmm...sound familiar????

Hi Fred,

Thanks so much for responding on this. There is so little talk about this subject "out there" and I hope our bringing it up here will help others.

I do precisely the same as you. If leaving a quarter of an inch means I save some nice fat roots, I do that. If there's no difference between and eighth and a quarter, I cut back to an eighth.

I never try to encourage the formation of offsets because I get enough of those naturally, and there's just not enough space at my place for all these pots. In fact, unless a bulb is particularly special so that I want to share it with special friends, I usually remove offsets so as to direct all energy into the parent bulb.

Do you trim your bulbs as soon as they're over 1/4" thick, or do you wait until there's a noticeable problem? I had a couple this year that were getting on for 1/2" on one side at least but not elsewhere. Weird. The plates were of uneven thickness and the root systems looked great, so I just went ahead and planted them, making a note to check next year. I suppose I could've just trimmed that one spot, duh. I'll consider it in future.

I just read the other day about using rooting hormone on the cut surface (I've been using cinnamon or Physan). I've never had any problems getting roots to re-grow so haven't felt the need to use rooting hormone for that reason, but I heard there's a fungicide in rooting hormone powders, which is a good thing. I didn't know this before. I'll be using that tip in future, thanks for mentioning it.

I keep mine in pots all summer too. It's just so much easier, and the one summer I tried planting out it seemed like all the bulbs actually declined. There are a lot of possible reasons for that, but few circumstances that I can change. Plus there's the issue of how to to prepare for dormancy (necessary here) if the bulbs are in the ground. (Nod to dbarron, with respect.) So the upshot for me is, stick with the pots.

And yes, agreed: where is everybody!? 😊

Joan

Hi Joan,

When I repot them, I'll inspect the plate and if it's getting too thick (over 1'2") then I'll trim it down. I have trimmed the lopsided ones too and the spot where I did trim, really responds to the treatment so it seems to invigorate them and the leaves grow like crazy.

Many times when I trim the plate there are no roots at all just the bare but I make sure the plate is free from any rot or visible disease. If I do find anything wrong, I'll dig out the affected spot much like I do when peeling taters and I have been using rooting powder for years and especially because of the added fungicide.

As for the offsets...I'm a glutton for punishment. I ran out of room so long ago but I won't let a silly little thing like space stop me :-)))

Fred

i had one bulb that refused to send roots out in spring, so i trimmed the basal plate to 1/4" (first time ever) and kept it indoors in sunny window. it was an old bulb, may be 7 years old? eventually it grew some roots and send out 2-3 leaves. i decided to keep it indoors and then continued to grow it thru next winter. and only then put it out for summer.

it grew well, but no flowers. may be it's just too old. before that it bloomed steady ev. year after dormancy (in pots). it is Minerva, common but so-o reliable. i still have it. still trying to rebloom it, now in FL. just planted finally (had to keep them dry since last December..couldn't pot in spring). so no blooms to me this season.

Hi Petrushka,
Are you feeding it? When I put mine outside for the summer, they look rather pathetic and stragly too. I start feeding them right away with a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer, the leaves start growing and the bulbs get nice and fat 😁😁😁

yes, i feed : i put osmocote time release on top/in mix a little and then i grow them on self-wicks in my own mix , very airy but wicking. so it's passive hydro. i put liquid fertilizer in water too. and then i try to give them extra cal-mag for root/bulb growth..though i forget sometimes...

i got 2 special bulbs last year: Showmaster and Dancing Queen, though i ordered smth different..they all skipped the season ..since i was mostly in FL and they were home in NJ..

i couldn't let them grow as it's very difficult to transfer them leafed out..now i brought just the bulbs and planted them finally. they should grow thru winter here no problem!

I miss mariava7 and here insights. She's been gone for a couple years.

i miss old gardenweb...it seems most knowledgeable people stopped posting.

nobody looks at FAQ's.

forums are swamped by new people who do not bother to search and ask the same q time and again. i post hardly at all.

Petrushka, likely I am one of those "new people," though I do search. In fact, I searched Houzz/Gardenweb specifically, re basal plates. No hits. It wasn't until I used a different search engine (DuckDuckGo, which doesn't follow one around the internet) that I found the old - nearly ancient - Gardenweb thread, which I cited above. Note that all the photo links have expired. Anybody who wants to help provide a more up-to-date and useful link should maybe contribute to the current thread by submitting photos.

Is it not the nature of a community, whether virtual or physical, that we share old knowledge with newcomers?

In short, I started this thread not only because I was seeking confirmation from other growers, but because I want this information to be more generally available AND MORE RECENT to all the "new" people. Because we've all been new, at one time. When I was new and seeking more info, this particular issue - the basal plate thing - NEVER came up in amaryllis FAQs, even those written by extension services (US). All the growing info is very generic, as any experienced grower who does a general beginner-style search will immediately see. I was sheerly lucky to stumble on the info re basal plates, at Dave's Garden.

My hope is that bringing this "detail" to the attention of the community will keep it current for the newest users.

i spent weeks ...months .. :) reading the wealth of info on gardenweb. it was all available then, after Houzz took over i can't find stuff that i used to read either.

i learned what to do with basal plates here, of course.

there used to be many threads about it, if i remember.

anyhoo, i don't mind repeat interesting q's per se, it's just too many newbies ask the same q , exactly...day after day... that gets to me..

I get that. You don't have to feel obligated to respond, and I've sometimes chosen not to as well, if the questions fall into the category of truly basic/easily-searched. I don't think basal plate info is in that category.

Anyway, I haven't lost my "mentor" feeling yet, and doubt I ever will. It's kind of baked into me. Any random stranger who walks by my place and sees me out there gardening and asks some oddball question hardly knows what they're in for, hah! I never get tired of it; maybe because it's not just about the plants, but about the people, too; hearing them, and learning about their challenges. I suspect I'm chatty out there because I spend most of my life entirely alone, and while I enjoy that, it probably makes me bust out at any opportunity. :-]

Happy Christmas, all. Even when for a lot of us it's going to be a LOT different than usual.

ok, so ..if you put this link ans search for 'amaryllis basal plate'

858 discussions come up...:))) have a great time reading thru them!

Also remember that the bulbs are not immortal :) luckily they are usually generous in putting out clones of themselves. Yes, cutting back the basal plate on older bulbs will ususally result in more roots which will result in a more vigorous bulb, but it will still not live forever. So, every couple of years, pot up one of the offsets of your favorite hippeastrum and you will have a vigorous copy of your favorite bulb forever :). Jody

Petruska, if your bulb is actively growing you should expect spring flowering. Except for newly purchased bulbs, all of mine bloom in the spring.

yep, mine do flower (or used to ;)) in spring. but...they have been dry for a year and bulbs became quite small.

i was shuttling between 2 locations and could not pot. so..i am not sure what will happen , if any will bloom after growing for 5-6 mo or not (South FL winter is great for them: they are basking outside and doing well). and i do have 5-6 offsets growing for sev years now too.

Jody, thank you for telling me that! Re bulbs not being immortal. I usually do try to keep one youngster going from each bulb I truly love, but I've always thought these plants were, actually, at least very long-lived. Though I had a Picotee that diminished to nothing. And a couple of other whites [Snow Drift] that don't seem to maintain vigor, but also haven't made offsets.

Maybe it's not always my fault if a bulb fails to flourish; that's a very liberating idea. I'll still keep trying to figure out how to make them last as long and grow as big as possible, however.

Joan

Hello friends, I'm still here too and just wanted to wish everybody a happy new year! I hope you're all safe and healthy!

I did trim thick basal plates in the past and I'm sure that I'll have to do this again. So many of my bulbs need to be repotted. I hope I'll find the time before they start growing in spring...

If possible I give away offsets of beloved bulbs to friends. It seems to be a good way to save rare varieties...

Anja

Hello Anja, nice to hear from you again :-))))) My wishes to you and everyone on this list for a Happy and HEALTHY New Year. May 2021 be 100% better than last year...I pray.

I do the same thing with my offsets but I have to make sure they go to "responsible" people that won't kill them and throw them away.

Nice to see you Anya, we've been missing you.

I do the same, Fred, re giving stuff away. That's why it's kind of hard to get rid of the surplus: finding people who have been able to keep their own plants alive for a couple of years, in spite of potential pet depredation and busy lives, is my usual yardstick. I have never given bulbs away until they've reached blooming size, and after all that commitment to growing them on, it's hard to think of letting them hit the compost heap after one bloom cycle.

Best wishes to everyone for 2021. While it has been rough, I've been through long-term worse times; I bet most of you have too.

During this time I try not to think about how much better it will be when I can "XYZ" (we all have our own lists) even though I miss all that stuff, because day to day life isn't so bad, with all my plants, cat and dog, and house that has heat and good food. A mild winter so far, with an above-average number of sunny days, is among the unexpected blessings. So, very much, is the conversation on these forums. I do count my blessings. Thanks to everybody for being here.

Joan

Joan....Amen :-)))))

Hi all. I’m curious what everyone’s thoughts are in regards to letting Amaryllis grow continually. i live in northern MN and I have a greenhouse and let my amaryllis grow continually and they grow And flower pretty much year round. I fertilize regularity and they don’t go dormant. The bulbs (2-3 lbs) ea. Are really healthy and splitting the pots.

This winter however, I had a challenge with spider mite in the greenhouse while I was out of the country for a few weeks and in an effort to control the issue when I returned I cut all of the foliage off of the crop when I returned to manually reduce the population, and also because some of the foliage was then 2+years old and kind of tired. I now have a group of what appears to be once again dormant bulbs. Any insights as to what will send them back into sending leaves out? They haven’t been “dormant“ in a few years at this point. I also haven’t stopped watering them as I would like them to leaf back out. This forum is really wonderful!

Hi, I'm growing my bulbs mainly indoors and some of them keep their leaves all year round allthough I water only once a month (or even less) during winter time because they don't grow then. I usually see first signs of growing (buds and/or leaves) in January, some bulbs start much later. I don't know what actually tells the bulbs to wake up but I'm sure that it's not only temperature. It may be light/daylenght.

I think you should stop watering your bulbs and start again when they show signs of growing (leaves or buds). The bulbs don't use the water when they are without leaves and may rot if you keep them moist..

Anja

Thank you!