Your Amaryllis has stopped flowering and all that’s left are the green strap-like leaves. What do you do next?

Join me in Part 2 of my Amaryllis series, as I go through what I do with my potted Amaryllis bulbs, after they’ve finished blooming. I’ll show you how to care for your Amaryllis and the appropriate steps necessary for building energy to assist with future blooming.

In Part 1 of my Amaryllis series, we finished off by removing the spent flower stem approximately 2-inches above the bulb, while keeping the leaves intact. These leaves remain on the plant to collect energy from the sun and feed the bulb.

Amaryllis pots on my sunny dining room window.

At my house, all my potted Amaryllis bulbs are sitting on the windowsill of my sunny dining room windows. If any of the leaves begin to yellow and turn brown, I cut them off above the bulb and leave the rest intact. Watering is only required every couple weeks.

These pots will remain on the sunny windowsill until after the final frost date, when I will set them outside on the east side of my house. In this location, the bulbs will receive full morning sun and full shade in the afternoon. The location is bright in the morning, but the sun isn’t at its strongest. I like this location because the shade will protect the foliage from being burnt by the sun and drying out the soil too quickly. If you don’t have a shady spot in your garden, place your Amaryllis plants under a tree, under a deck or anywhere else you have afternoon shade.

After bringing the pots outdoors, you may either leave the bulbs in their pots or plant them directly into the garden. If choosing to plant them in the garden, be sure to label them, in order to not lose track of where they are. *This is important when digging up the bulbs in fall, for storage indoors.

How to Get your Amaryllis to Rebloom?

Potted Amaryllis after blooming.

1. Leave your Amaryllis bulbs to grow over the summer. Prior to the first fall frost, bring your Amaryllis plants indoors. Cut off any foliage at 1/2 an inch above the bulb. This step forces the bulb into dormancy!
2. Place dormant bulbs in a dark basement or at the back of a dark closet for at least 8 to 10 weeks. This is an important period of time, giving the bulb the opportunity to replenish its energy and prepare for reblooming.
3. After the forced dormancy period, take a look at the calendar and decide when you’d like to have your Amaryllis bloom again, whether in time for Christmas or in the new year. Bring your potted bulbs or unpotted bulbs out from storage, approximately 6 to 8 weeks prior to this chosen time.
4. Plant any unpotted bulbs at approximately 2/3 depth in the soil or at the bulb’s shoulder height. Potted bulbs require no additional treatment. Place your potted amaryllis bulbs in an indoor sunny spot.
5. As soon as foliage begins to emerge, start watering your bulbs (from below in a sink or a bowl full of water), approximately once a week.
6. After your Amaryllis flower begins to bloom, water more frequently and don’t allow it to dry out.
7. As flowers finish blooming, follow the “After Planting Instructions”, as mentioned in Part 1 of this Amaryllis Series.
8. To get your Amaryllis to rebloom again, refer to step 1 above, for how to care for your Amaryllis bulb over spring/summer.

Hint:

The older your Amaryllis bulb, the larger it will become, increasing its chance for more and larger blooms, per flower stalk. This is an added bonus of keeping your Amaryllis bulbs after their initial flowering.

I love the site of a gorgeous Amaryllis bloom in the middle of winter! It couldn’t be simpler to grow one of our very own. They need very little work to keep them going and reblooming is simple. Simply follow the steps above and your Amaryllis will mature and develop overtime, producing a larger bulb, with more flower stems. I can’t wait to see mine rebloom again just in time for winter!

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this Amaryllis series later this year, where I show you the result of my Amaryllis reblooming technique. Please subscribe to this series, to be notified when the post will be published. If you have any Amaryllis tips, I would love to hear them. Please leave a comment below.

Happy Gardening!