Add a stunning flare to your adobe with this easy-to-maintain and popular house plant that needs sowing straight away in order to achieve beautiful blooms for Spring time
Time is running out to plant this gorgeous flower that is super easy to maintain and comes back every year.
House plants are a great way to jazz up your home, and add a bit of flare to your interior. They’re also great at purifying the air, reducing pollution and moisture – which in return can decrease your chances of getting mould. Sowing your houseplant from a bulb can be a much cheaper option than purchasing a plant that’s already grown and potted, but there’s one particular plant where you’ll need to act quick to get stunning blooms in time for Spring.
Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are a popular Christmas gift due to their striking red colour and grand appearance, but they need to be sowed by late September to bloom in time for the festive season. According to Gardeners World, Amaryllis will flower in ‘six to eight weeks’, meaning your flowers will be standing tall in Spring if you act quickly.
“Soak the amaryllis bulbs for a few hours to help rehydrate the roots and speed up the growth process,” the publication explains. “Fill a pot with compost and sit the bulb on top – don’t use a pot that’s too big: amaryllis do best when pot bound. Top up with compost and water well. Leave your amaryllis bulb in a warm, dark place for a couple of weeks and and then bring inside when a shoot emerges.”
Make sure you don’t throw your Amaryllis out after it’s flowered, as it’s easy to achieve repeat blooms with minimal effort. Repot the bulb into a slightly larger container and part-fill with compost then snip the flower bud off at the base. Water the soil well but ensure the compost dries out completely in between waterings. “In late spring, after all risk of frost has passed, pop your amaryllis flowers outside for summer,” Gardeners World added. “Water and feed with a liquid fertiliser weekly, to keep the leaves in growth, which in turn feeds the bulb.”
It is advised to stop watering the plant around August time to trigger a dormancy for a couple of months. Don’t worry if the leaves yellow and start to wilt. By mid-October, it will be time to bring the flower back inside and resume watering, which will encourage the blooms to return. You can pick up Amaryllis bulbs at your nearest garden centre or from online retailers such as Amazon.
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