After a couple of days the stigma will unfurl like you see in the image above. When it does it is ready to accept pollen from either the same flower or another Amaryllis you may have blooming at the same time. I'll either snip off the stem that holds the pollen and tap it onto the stigma or I'll collect some on the tip of a small artists' paint brush and brush it onto the stigma. Both methods have proven to be easy and effective for me.
You'll know if you were successful in pollinating your Amaryllis because the seed pod will swell like the pod on the left hand side. The one on the right looks sickly and flat and is starting to wrinkle. After a few weeks your seed pod will split open and inside you'll find relatively flat black seeds. Those you can pot up using either a ghetto greenhouse or by using the baggie method for seed starting.One you've successfully germinated your seeds it will be 2-3 years until they are old enough to bloom and you'll see the fruits of your labor.
From my readings and experience Amaryllis Apple Blossom does not readily accept it's own pollen. You can propagate this Amaryllis if you provide pollen from a different bulb and you can use the pollen from an Apple Blossom to pollinate another bulb.
If your bulb is unhealthy or you are trying to encourage it to grow do not attempt to reproduce it this way because it will spend most of it's energy on producing seeds and it will weaken your bulb. Once your Amaryllis bulb has finished flowering you should start fertilizing on a regular schedule and encourage leaf growth until next season.
You can see more photos of my Amaryllis flowers if you use the search box on the side that searches my three blogs.
How to Pot an Amaryllis Bulb.
Potting an Amaryllis is really easy. In this garden video I'll explain how I choose a pot, how to place your Amaryllis bulb in a pot and how to water your Amaryllis the first time.
How to Pollinate an Amaryllis Flower.
Amaryllis bulbs can be very expensive to buy, especially for the nicer variety of bulbs. Fortunately, pollinating an Amaryllis bulb's flower to produce seeds is very easy. When you pollinate a bloom you're sexually propagating a plant. In this garden video I show you how easy it is to pollinate an Amaryllis flower and what the seed pods look like.
How to Propagate an Amaryllis Vegetatively.
UPDATE: Visit www.AmaryllisBulbs.org a blog I've devoted exclusively to posts about growing Amaryllis bulbs.
You got me excited in trying to do this myself. I don't have many amarylis at all or if they'll even bloom.
ReplyDeleteI do have quite a bit of lilies that bloom. I wonder if it's easy to pollinate them too.
But what I worry about is that once I get the seeds, what if I do a terrible job in growing them? At least I figured out that the hibiscus seeds have to be planted as soon as the pods open because they just don't last long at all. I planted many seeds two years ago but only two appeared to be viable and grew.
Hey DS,
ReplyDeleteYeah they're easy to do too. And with a little bit of attention should be easy to get started. You just have to figure out what the seeds need.
BTW you can store pollen from Amaryllis bulbs similar to how you store pollen from DayLilies. So if you have plants that aren't blooming at the same time then you can always cross pollinate.
I just wanted to tell you that your pictures are outstanding!
ReplyDeleteHi, first off your blog has been very very helpful to me in my playing in the garden adventures but I have a question. I grew a bunch of amaryllises from seed (more grew then I expected) and now I want to give a couple to my grandmother but I am hesitant to repot them because the last ones I popped out of the little flat they were in died promptly afterwards. I don't want to give her the entire flat and I want to put them in a pretty pot because it will be her birthday present. Any thoughts on how I should go about it and or what I did wrong the first time? thanks a bunch.
ReplyDeleteHi HippieAtHeart,
ReplyDeleteI say to leave the Amaryllis seedlings in the flats until they have a couple of leaves on them. By then the roots should've developed sufficiently, and you'll have higher success rates.
Hi, this is so helpful! Today my amaryllis plant flowered and I was a little too excited and pollinated it a little too early. OK, actually, I was really excited. But, I'm afraid that I have done something drastic by pollinating it earlier. Will it still produce seeds? What should I do? Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteI brought out my 4 year old bulb from the closet and started it a few weeks ago. All I get now are the leaves. I think it is worn out. If I want to cut the bud like in your video, shall I wait until the leaves are browned? Cut them off? Do I need to leave the bulb rest another season?
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your Amaryllis help. I have my Dad's plants (one bulb is 35 yrs old) They are a beautiful reminder to me of a beautiful man. I have what I think is a seed pod (growing fat after flower bloomed) how can I start new flowers from this pod?
ReplyDelete