The birthplace of this flower is Africa. Amaryllis is a heat-loving plant, so cold wintering and open ground for this plant are unacceptable.
There are hybrid species of this plant, they are called hippeastrums, flowers are much larger, and the flowers themselves are fewer in number. Hippeastrums have a rich coloration and a more rounded shape of the bulb. Bulbs are stored for a long time in a dry place.
Varieties and species of amaryllis.
Amaryllis has only one species, home to which is South America - this amaryllis is beautiful, or amaryllis belladonna (Amaryllis belladonna).
Amaryllis is beautiful or belladonna has a 50-70 centimeter flower stem that comes out of brown bulbs (the size of bulbs can be from a fist). The leaves of this plant appear at the end of winter, or with the onset of spring. Flowers fragrant in diameter reach 8-12 centimeters, can be pink, red or white with different transitions.
The most popular varieties of amaryllis:
- Durban - this is red-carmine flowers, having a white yawn;
- High - this variety of amaryllis has an early flowering;
- Parker is a variety, the flowers of which are dark pink with yellow yawn;
- Cusa is a late variety, in which the flowers have a deep pink color with a yellow tint;
- Hathor - this variety has white flowers with a yellow yawn;
- Pink gorgeous - this rose has pink flowers in a white stripe.
Care for the amaryllis.
A plant amaryllis is considered a unpretentious flower. If you follow certain rules for the care of this plant, you will get the fragrance of a beautiful bouquet that will be located on the flower arrow. The amaryllis bulb is planted in a pot so that a minimum of 1/3 of the height of the bulb can be seen above the ground (the ground must be moistened), you can leave 0-5 of the bulb above the surface. In spring, during the vegetative period, the plant needs warmth and sunlight, the desired air temperature is 18-25 ° C above zero. If the vegetative period began in March, the inflorescence will be the brightest and largest. During this period, an arrow is shown from the bulb and as soon as this needle reaches 10 centimeters, the amaryllis should be started to water.
At early watering during this period (vegetative growth) the green mass of leaves can increase, and the development of the flower arrow will slow down, and as a result, flowering will be incomplete and transitory.
Sprinkle the amaryllis with water at room temperature, which must be defended in advance. When watering, make sure that the bulb does not get water. During the vegetation, the plant needs additional fertilizing. We feed 2 times, there should be a break between them in ten days. We pour moderately as the soil dries.
The amaryllis blossoms until the leaves start to form. At the end of flowering, when the peduncles dry up, the leaves are not trimmed, and the plant needs to be continued to be fed. To prepare the amaryllis for rest, watering and top dressing should be gradually reduced, and after 2 months you can sometimes water it. For this period, the pot must be moved to a dark and cool place, with an air temperature of 10 ° C.
If the period of growth is observed with a rest period (lasting about three months) of the amaryllis, the flower will blossom and bloom for a long time, otherwise the bulb is depleted, which leads to the fact that the flowering becomes poor, or even disappears, except that the bulb can stop giving children.
Amaryllis transplantation.
Since amaryllis is a perennial plant, it is not necessary to transplant it every year. The most optimal period of transplant is considered in three to four years, after the newly formed babies grow up a little, so that they can develop independently after they have been separated from the mother bulb. The plant can not be transplanted, but carefully remove the old top layer, and pour in a new layer. As you grow, the bulb is more and more visible from the ground, and therefore every year in the pot you need to pour out the soil to deepen the bulb to the old level.
Transplant this house plant is necessary after the flowering, and after the flower arrow withers. The land for bulbous plants can be purchased at a specialized store, or cooked independently.
We take the following types of soil in equal amounts: leaf, sod, sand, humus and peat.
Amaryllis before transplantation for three or four days should be well watered. When you transplant the amaryllis, carefully examine the bulb, remove the dry scales, remove the rotten or old roots, and carefully separate the children. In the pot, only one bulb is planted, a layer of sand is poured under the bulb, this will not allow the roots to rot. Take care that there is good drainage. The diameter of the pot into which the amaryllis is planted should be more by 6 centimeters of the planted bulb.