Family Secrets

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

As in any family, the plants of the Amaryllidaceae family have their own habits, addictions and secrets. Some habits are inherent in almost all plants, while in others the interests of individual species diverge

A place under the sun

Natives of the hot countries of the south, all Amaryllidaceae are photophilous to one degree or another. At the same time, the southern window of the apartment will be the best place for the vallotta, hippeastrum and zephyranthes, but for the American krinum, large-flowered eucharis and clivia, a flower shelf or table located next to the window looking to the west is quite suitable. Moreover, such large plants as eucharis and especially American crinum will be much more comfortable on a table than on a narrow windowsill.

Watering

All amaryllids will steadfastly endure temporary drought, but excess moisture in the soil can provoke root rot or, even worse, bulb rot. Therefore, the best motto for caring for the plants of the family will be the following: "It is better to underfill than to overfill."

Amaryllis leaves do not need spraying. True, large leaves of hymenokallis and eucharis like to accumulate dust on their surface, which sometimes has to be washed off with shower jets.

The soil

The undemandingness of amaryllis plants to the soil has a small "but". Being for the most part bulbous plants, they do not tolerate stagnant water, and therefore the soil must be moisture-permeable.

For the favorable growth of plants, potting mixes available in specialty stores are suitable. It should be borne in mind that ready-made mixtures are somewhat less nutritious, in particular, in terms of the nitrogen content in them, and therefore require mineral fertilizing during the active period of growth. Top dressing is stopped two months before the onset of the dormant period and, naturally, does not apply fertilizer during the dormant period itself.

You can also prepare a traditional earthen mixture yourself, consisting of two parts of clay-sod land, to which you must add one part: peat, leaf humus and river coarse sand.

Fertilizer type

Being mainly bulbous and tuberous plants, amaryllids prefer mineral fertilizers. Organic fertilizers can provoke diseases of the bulbs. This is especially true for drought-resistant species such as hemantus, vallotta, hippeastrum. Weak solutions of organic fertilizers can and will bring some benefit to species such as hymenokallis, eucharis, American crinum, without causing any harm, but experts advise not to risk it.

Requirements for cookware

Amaryllis are ready for any kind of dish: ceramic pots or plastic containers. In the choice of dishes, the word remains with the taste of the owners of the plant and their financial capabilities.

Ceramic pots are heavier and more stable, which is important for large amaryllis. And light plastic containers overheat less on sunny windowsills. If you decide to take your pets to the balcony, then you should take care of a more durable fastening of even relatively heavy ceramic pots in order to avoid trouble from strong gusts of wind.

Plant propagation

Amaryllidaceae can be propagated by seeds and daughter bulbs.

Seed propagation - it's quite troublesome, although very entertaining. Several conditions must be met:

• To get your own seeds, you need to have two plants from the children of different bulbs. Just like people - they don't have to be children of the same mother.

• Modern plant species more often have a hybrid origin, and therefore will not be able to pass on their own "traits" to offspring.

• Seeds lose their germination quickly.

• Such plants will bloom in a few years.

Much easier to propagate

daughter bulbs

Stimulating the education of children

Most amaryllis grow onion babies in sufficient quantity. If for some reason this does not happen, you can stimulate their education. There are two ways to do this:

• Deep cuts are made on the bulb, capturing the bottom, and when planting, the bottom is placed at the level of the planting substrate.

• The onion is cut into pieces. You can get from 2 to 8 parts. Each part must have a root part. The cut parts are sprinkled with sulfur or charcoal and planted in a special mixture or coarse sand.