How to Fertilize Amaryllis

The amaryllis is a flowering bulb. The plants flower from about December to April. After the blooming season the amaryllis still needs sunlight, water and fertilization for a few months. The amaryllis has different fertilization needs during the different periods of growing. When and how to fertilize amaryllis bulbs can be a little confusing, but follow these directions for the specific growing seasons and your amaryllis will have beautiful blooms.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Amaryllis bulbs
• Soil
• Osmocote
• Water soluble fertilizer

1. Plant the amaryllis bulb in a pot of soil or in the yard. Add a plant fertilizer, such as Osmocote, in the soil for continuous feeding. Make a water-soluble fertilizer solution at half strength to use every time you water.

2. Fertilize the plant during the spring, every 2 weeks, with a slow-release fertilizer to encourage the leaves to grow and take in sunlight and nutrients.

3. Get your amaryllis ready to bloom for the holidays. Stop fertilizing and watering the dormant bulbs in mid-August. Make sure to allow the bulb about 10 weeks for its dormant time before fertilizing and watering again to encourage leaf growth.

4. Increase fertilizer after the plant finishes blooming. Fertilizing now prepares the bulb for next year's blooms. Fertilize it once a month with a liquid fertilizer. Be careful not to let the soil get completely dry, but do not over-water either.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not over-fertilize your amaryllis bulbs. Too much fertilizer kills the plant.

References

• How to Make Your Amaryllis Bloom Again

Resources

• Amaryllis Culture