How to plant Hippeastrum
Answering netizens' questions on how to plant Hippeastrum and briefly describing the cultivation and management of green plants related to Hippeastrum, the editor will provide you with detailed answers next.
Hippeastrum is also known as "Red against Red," and some flower enthusiasts call it "Orchid against Red." Its flowers are large, resembling little trumpets, and they have vibrant colors that are very beautiful, making it highly favored by flower enthusiasts. The Hippeastrum bulbs we purchase are often ready to bloom. After the flowers have bloomed, how should we handle the flower spikes and care for them? In fact, after Hippeastrum finishes blooming, you only need to do three things.
The first thing is to handle the flower spikes in a timely manner. Some flower enthusiasts say that you can leave the flower spikes alone, allowing the nutrients to flow back and dry up naturally. The concern is that if the flowers are pollinated during the care process, they will produce seeds, which can be pollinated by wind or insects. Successful pollination will result in seed formation, and sowing seeds can be challenging. Moreover, after flowering and seed formation, the seeds will consume a lot of nutrients, causing the bulbs to shrink, especially if the bulbs we purchase are imported and may bloom without developing roots, affecting their later growth.
If you do not want to produce seeds, you can directly cut off the flower spikes. The pruning method is to leave about 10 centimeters and cut it off directly. Do not pull it off with your hands, and do not cut too low, as this is not good. When watering, especially when watering the pot, it is easy to pour water into the center, causing the bulb to rot. When watering normally, try not to pour water into the pruning wound. Of course, if you have not pollinated and the plant is grown indoors without forming seeds, you can let it dry naturally, allowing nutrients to flow back into the bulb, replenishing nutrients, and encouraging rapid root growth, which is also fine.
The second thing is to fertilize in a timely manner. We know that flowering is a process that consumes a lot of nutrients, and after flowering, a lot of nutrients are consumed. If we want it to grow quickly and recover the bulb, we must fertilize. The first application of fertilizer should preferably be a multi-element fertilizer to supplement the nutrients, promoting rapid root and leaf growth. It can get enough nutrients to prevent the bulb from shrinking, making it bigger each year, and it will bloom well and larger the next year.
How to plant Hippeastrum
Otherwise, if you only water after pruning and do not take care of it, the bulb will be significantly smaller than when you first bought it, and the quality of the flowers will not be good, or there may be fewer or no flowers the next year. Fertilize and water it regularly for a year, and then deal with it in winter, which is the third thing we mentioned, to allow it to bloom again the next year.
The third thing is to handle it properly, with low-temperature treatment to allow it to differentiate flower buds and bloom. Hippeastrum has a characteristic that it must go through dormancy to produce flower buds and bloom. How to make it dormant? If you grow it in the south, the temperature is consistently above 10 degrees Celsius, around 15 degrees, and it can continue to grow leaves and bulbs without going into dormancy, so it will not differentiate flower buds and will keep growing. Even if you use more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, it will not bloom. Therefore, the best method is low-temperature treatment.
Because Hippeastrum will be in a dormant state below 10 degrees Celsius, the range of 10 to 5 degrees Celsius is best. After about a month of low-temperature treatment, it can properly differentiate flower buds and then bloom. In the south, it is difficult to achieve this, so we can take out the bulbs, wrap them in toilet paper or something similar, and put them in the refrigerator at a constant temperature of around 5 degrees Celsius for a month before planting them, which will make them bloom directly. In the north, there is no need to do this; you can just put it in a cool place without taking it out, keeping the pot with soil and moving it together, without watering, forcing it into dormancy. After about a month, take it out and put it in a warm place, and it will grow directly and produce flower buds to bloom.