Amaryllis Time

I had to look back through my pictures to note when we, or rather HWNSNBP planted an amaryllis with GS1 for the first time.  It turns out that he was 2 1/2 making this his 4th amaryllis bulb and it hasn't seemed to lose it's enjoyment yet - for either of them.  I know that HWNSNBP looks forward to it.  GS2 is at that age now but his mother doesn't think he's ready for this experience yet, plus they have a cat and plants in the house present an issue of a different kind.  

But we're actually experimenting with a new technique at home this year - waxing the bulb instead of planting it.  I had seen an article about waxed amaryllis bulbs and it seemed fairly simple and then we saw some at a gardening center for $30 which made me think that it would be cost effective to give it a try on our own.  HWNSNBP picked up a bulb in a box at Home Depot for about $6-7 and a box of paraffin wax.  We already had a chip brush so it was just a matter of making the time to get this going.

I have to note that we did not have any empty cans available except beer cans and though we did use one with the top snipped off, I would not recommend it.  The aluminum is too light even with the wax in it to sit in the water while the wax melts and we wound up wadding up some aluminum foil to wedge the can in the pot of water so it wouldn't tip over.  If we do this again I will rethink using a wide mouth jar instead.   

You have to soak the bulb in water for about 4-6 hours and then take it out and dry it off.  Then you cut the growth plate off the bottom - the part with the roots - but not so much as to have the bulb peel apart like an onion.  (They say that if you leave a little of the growth plate on the bottom you may be able to plant the bulb in soil after blooming to get it to regenerate.)

Then you use the chip brush to "paint" the warm wax onto the bulb and keep coating it until you can't see the color of the bulb through the wax.  Cutting the growth plate off sends a distress signal to the bulb to flower so it will continue to grow.  The wax helps to keep the moisture in it during the growth time meaning you do not have to do anything else but display the bulb at this point unless you want to decorate it.  

I have seen some dipped into colored wax, some have been decorated with gold foil or other types of foil, and some have been glittered.  The one in the garden center was covered in red wax and a little bit of ribbon.  You can add crayons to the melted wax to color it, or melt down old candles.  Ours is not decorated at this point.  I had intended to warm up the wax with a hairdryer to add something to it but haven't gotten to that and this bulb has taken off.  It has straightened out and has grown about 4" since Saturday.  I've had to put it in a cooler dark area to slow it down.  

I'll keep you posted on the progress.