Amaryllis brighten up a room on a cold winter day with vibrant blooms and attractive, dark green foliage, but after they are done blooming don't throw your amaryllis away, instead learn how to keep your amaryllis blooming year after year.



Amaryllis will continue to bloom year after year if you follow these few basic steps:

1. Fertilize the amaryllis regularly during the growth cycle starting one month after planting (when active growth is underway).  Use an organic houseplant food such as Maxi-crop or other kelp based liquid plant food.
2. After the bloom cycle has finished, trim off the stems just above the bulb nose.
3. In order to stimulate reblooming the amaryllis must ‘rest’. To accomplish this stop watering the plant, and place the bulb (still in pot) in a dry cool place or closet for 8-10 weeks. Do not store the amaryllis plant near ripening fruit (such as apples) which emit ethylene gas.  This naturally occurring gas damages flower development.
4. After 8-10 weeks, add a little more potting soil to the pot, or, if you like, repot the amaryllis. To repot in fresh soil:   Fill the space under and around the bulb with potting soil.  Leave the “shoulders” of the bulb exposed (the top 1/3 of the bulb).  Use a pot sized only slightly larger around than the bulb itself.  Usually a 6- or 8-inch pot is perfect.  For a more dramatic display of flowers, plant three bulbs with flowers of the same color together in a broad-based pot sized just big enough to hold all three bulbs.  All pots must have drainage holes.
   
5. To initiate growth during the winter, place the potted amaryllis in a warm, sunny site.
6. Water thoroughly, making sure that no standing water remains.  In subsequent weeks, water sparingly until new growth appears.  Once new growth emerges, water regularly to keep soil moist (never soggy) and resume a fertilizing program.
7.  The amaryllis will bloom again, about 8 weeks after the first watering.