AMARYLLIS LILIES
LT COL NOEL ELLIS
19/IX/2023
Looking after the plants has no limit literally. They are like your children and you want to be around them all the time. Even a yellowing leaf hurts the eye.
I had a plan in mind today. It was the removal of ‘Amaryllis’ lily bulbs from their pots. They are also commonly known as ‘Easter Lilies’, as they flower just once a year around Easter time only.
They need to be manured well. However, there is a twist in grooming and looking after them which I learnt recently. If it gives good results, why not apply it, was a passing thought.
After they have bloomed, the ‘flower stem’ needs to be snipped. The ‘sword’ like leaves are left to grow freely. This is their ‘consolidation stage’, as they are hungry after flowering and need to absorb maximum nutrition. Therefore, manuring has to be done after flowering also. This is also the time when bulbs start multiplying, giving birth to baby bulbs, which stick to the sides of the main bulb.
To get better blooms, Sept-Oct is when one has to snip their leaves and leave the bulbs in the soil for some time to rest. This is also ‘no watering’ time. Once the soil is dry, it is time to dig the bulbs out to dry them properly and store them.
Those small ‘onion like’ bulbs, have by now become ‘giant onions’ with ‘baby onions’ sticking to its sides. Babies too need to be detached and planted separately. Extra roots hanging around also need to be trimmed. Bulbs need to be washed and left to dry in shade till the next sowing season.
An anti-fungal treatment is desirable while washing the bulbs. Medicine sticks to the places where the bulb may have got hurt and the roots were trimmed. We use ‘turmeric’ powder’, which is easily available at home and is totally organic. It acts like ‘tincture’ on wounds which would heal soon. Then the bulbs are sent to dormancy and left to sleep till December.
The pots were emptied, cleaned, stacked, and left to dry. Soon it would be time to replant the bulbs.
We have many Amaryllis lily bulbs. Many of them have not flowered since six to seven years, for reasons we couldn’t find out. Was it the soil, manure, timing to pot them, depth of sowing, weather, watering, placement? The lilies though grew very healthy and had giant sized leaves. But when the flowering season arrived, somehow, they were shy.
This got me to learn more and study Easter Lilies. This year we have decided to go by the ‘book’.
Last year, we bought fresh bulbs from a nursery and brought a lot of happiness. Our focus now is on the ones which travelled with us all these years. We shall make them bloom this time for sure.
Imported Easter Lily bulbs don’t come cheap. Ones sold ‘on line’ show a variety of colours but when they flower, one feels cheated. It is always better to buy Amaryllis lilies in bloom to be sure of results.
These bulbs are planted a little differently. Instead of deep inside mud, one third of the bulb has to be above the mud level. Once replanted, a ‘flower stem’ shoots out first, followed by leaves. Flowers stay for about two weeks. Each stem gives about four flowers like the ‘His Master’s Voice’ ‘bhonpoo’.
The Nursery owner told me that Amaryllis bulbs are a lifetime buy. If looked after well, one doesn’t need to buy new ones as they shall multiply. Unless bulbs are over-watered, there is no chance that they die. In case they turn ‘pulpy’ or ‘squishy’, that is the indication that the bulb has started to rot. Some emanate a foul smell too.
Such bulbs need to be segregated from the rest of the ‘resting’ bulbs or else this rot becomes contagious. This occurs if the bulbs are stored in damp conditions.
My arms are in pain after doing this exercise. I hope all these extracted bulbs turn into beautiful Easter Lilies in March-April next year. Why do they flower once a year only? I wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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