Amaryllis,"Red", has begun showing its 1st bud!

what a array of beauty all doing so well too :-)
you have had much success you must be pleased?
from Jane :-)

Blimey, it's just as well your wife understands your passion for these beauties, Balconey!
Couples have ended up in divorce courts for less. Lol. ;-)

You have a great collection of Amaryllis. I have trouble getting my last years one to flower. :))

Lots of healthy looking flowers, there Balcony ...
good luck with the new bud :o)

Wow so amazing they look so healthy.

My one will soon be in bloom.

I been looking for a white one and Black Pearl as I missed out when they were for sale.

Hope they do well again this year Balcony, I never did get any flowers from my old one so treated myself to a new one at xmas, its a bright red one and is flowering at the moment, it remains to be seen as to whether I will still have the same one this time next year, I just do not have your magic touch., its the same with the orchids I can never get them to stay alive and produce new flowers...

Only one of mine flowered again this year, but eh ho it was rather spectacular, four flowers. Beaufiul plants and colours there Balcony :O)

Well done Balcony I've never seen so many plants in one house you definitely have green fingers where they are concerned ... :o))

Brilliant !

They're doing well with you. It's worth the wait and the work, to see such a lovely variety of flowers :o)

Thank you all for your kind comments! :-))

As several of you say I'm very pleased with the results of my seeds sown in 2007 :-)) Now, as I mentioned at the end of my blog, I need to transplant them & get them into fresh compost. I want to remove the small bulbs growing alongside the mother bulbs as the bulbs are now flowering poorly. They have been watered & fed regularly with tomato fertilizer but the pots are overcrowded now & the bulbs need separating. It won't influence their flowering for this year as bulbs make their flowers the previous year, but at least I hope they will do much better again next year.

For those of you who have difficulty in getting them to flower another year, if you look back over my previous blogs I've explained on several occasions how to get them to flower again. Nevertheless I'll look up the blogs again & post links to those that might be of most use to you so you can get them to flower in future years - & EVERY YEAR!

I don't think you need a great deal of patience nor "green fingers", if you can get your Daffs to flower every year Amaryllis are no different - other than you can't leave them in the ground over winter. As you see form my blogs they spend 6 months of the year outside (May-October). They really are no more difficult to grow than Daffodils!

I followed your instructions to the letter and still only got one to re-flower, obviously not as clever as you Balcony, not going to worry though as the price they were makes just one reflowering worth the spend. I always think if I kill things off after having had such a beautiful display it isn't a problem as they are only like having cut flowers and you have to bin them eventually. lol. Yours are so beautiful you must spend hours tending to them. Thank you for all your help with how to look after them I am sorry I am not as good as you are, well done on your displays. :O)))

Here is a link to a blog written by bobwalshplumerias that covers what to do with your Amaryllis:

http://www.growsonyou.com/bobwalshplumerias/blog/13056-how-to-care-for-amaryllis-bulbs-flowers

Here is a list of blogs I've written on Amaryllis for your "perusal"!

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/3720-amaryllis-from-seed

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/9726-amaryllis-seedlings

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/9256-amaryllis-seedlings-in-bedroom-window

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/10116-amaryllis-on-the-allotment

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/17349-amaryllis-once-again-on-the-move

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/23159-amaryllis-april-blooms

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/21424-amaryllis-flowering-in-september

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/19355-amaryllis-hippeastrum-anglo-american-hybrid-seeds

http://www.growsonyou.com/balcony/blog/22950-amaryllis-flowering-non-stop

Oliveoil, I'm sorry to hear your Amaryllis hasn't put on a better show this year. :-(( Give it another year, making sure you give it tomato fertilizer during the summer months but stop it at the end of August/beginning of September. Amaryllis also need a few months of rest & a cool period of 6-8 weeks to reflower.

Some people empty them out of their pots, cut the leaves back to their base & trim the roots, only leaving a couple of cm/in, before putting them in the fridge for between 6-8 weeks. Be very careful not to have them in the vicinity of apples or they will fail to set flower.

Really it's no more difficult than forcing Hyacinths/Daffodils to flower at Christmas.

Personally I don't force than to flower at a different time than they would naturally. Left to their natural inclinations they would flower in March/April time. Only start to water them when you notice the flowerbud peeking out of the neck of the bulb. Keep them in good light & some warmth & they should flower in about 6 weeks after coming out of the bulb's neck.

Here is a link to a webpage that explains in the simplest of terms about Amaryllis -- Growing Hippeastrum Bulbs:

http://houseplants.about.com/od/foliageplants/p/Amaryllis.htm

There is also a video on one of the pages of the site as well as other pages that deal with Amaryllis.