Wax Bulb Amaryllis Followup

Lovely bloom from wax bulb Amaryllis Iiberated from the wax enclosing the bulbs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Wax Bulb Amaryllis Followup

It’s been a couple of weeks since I picked up these four wax-covered Amaryllis bulbs on sale at one of our local home and garden centers. There are few things that brighten a room in winter more than fresh flowers, whether in a cut bouquet or growing live.

Wax bulb Amaryllis are designed to provide blooms without the hassle of soil and watering. Unfortunately cutting off the roots and encasing the bulbs in wax basically kills the flower. So unnecessary when you now how easy Amaryllis bulbs are to plant and grow in the first place.

After removing the wax covering and the small wire stand stuck into the bulb, I placed all four Amaryllis bulbs into a pot with the bulbs and their few roots sitting on top of the soil. They now sit on my work table and get indirect light.

Liberated wax bulb Amaryllis getting ready to bloom. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

As the new buds are growing, they are using up the energy stored in the bulbs. But something else is also growing, new leaves.

The leaves will collect sunlight and turn it into energy that will get stored in the bulbs. That’s what will fuel new flowers in the next growing cycle.

Because the bulbs were encased in wax, I’m keeping a close eye on the bulbs themselves.

These are the bulbs that hopefully are growing new roots. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

It’s a delicate balance between allowing the bulbs to bloom when they have few remaining roots. I’m cutting off the spent Amaryllis flowers as soon as they fade and noting the new leaves growing. The leaves will hopefully help the bulbs grow roots.

Charlotte