Vegetative Reproduction of Amaryllis Bulbs

Amaryllis Bulb and offset(Amaryllis offset)
In the article on How To Pollinate Amaryllis Bulbs I explained how to propagate Amaryllis bulbs sexually with the aid of pollen from the Amaryllis flower. Amaryllis bulbs can also be propagated asexually-meaning without the use of Amaryllis pollen. This process of vegetative reproduction of Amaryllis bulbs is simple and doesn't require much, if any, work from the Amaryllis grower because the Amaryllis bulb does all of the work for you.

Amaryllis bulbs will produce offsets at the base of the original ("mother") bulb when it has been properly grown and given plenty of sun, water and fertilizer. This is a good way of propagating those Amaryllis bulbs that are hard to pollinate or Amaryllis bulbs that you want an exact copy of.

Sometimes you get lucky and an Amaryllis bulb that you got in an Amaryllis bulb kit will already come with one or two offsets ("babies") or you may notice some offsets on your bulb at the end of summer. When your Amaryllis bulbs produce these offsets at the base of the original bulb, like in the image above, it is best to leave the Amaryllis "baby" attached to the mother bulb for a couple of years.

"When can I remove the Amaryllis babies?"

When you first spot the offsets on your bulb your fist instinct may be to remove the "baby" Amaryllis and place it into a pot of its own to grow. Resist the urge to remove the little Amaryllis bulb from the "mother" bulb until it grows two to three leaves. This may take about two years but in the mean time it will be producing its own set of roots and growing even larger.

Once your offset has its own root system that can properly support it you can gently twist it off of the base of the larger Amaryllis bulb and pot it up in a good sized pot. Alternately, you can leave your offsets attached to the original plant for a few years and have a much larger display off flowers. A clump of Amaryllis bulbs flowering together at the same time is a sight to behold and creates a bigger visual impact than a few flowering Amaryllis bulbs scattered around your house.

Some Amaryllis bulbs will produce more offsets than others and you could grow an Amaryllis bulb for years and it may not produce offsets. There isn't anything "wrong" with your Amaryllis bulb if it doesn't produce any "babies" and they shouldn't be expected every year and on every Amaryllis bulb. The Amaryllis offset above is growing on my 'Minerva' Amaryllis and I have a 'Apple Blossom' Amaryllis that is a smaller bulb but has many offsets while other Amaryllis bulbs have no signs of offsets.

Posted by AmaryllisBulbs at 5:56 PM

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10 comments:

  1. At what age will the offsets begin to flower?
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  2. Thank you! I was wondering what the seeds would look like as this is the first time I've let a bloom form the seed pod. Good to know what to do with them also! I hope this is a hybrid and I get a variety. The surprises will add interest to growing these beauties.
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  3. Thanks for providing such an informative site about Amaryllis and especially how to pollinate and collect the seeds.
    I retired and now live in the Philippines and began obtaining different colors of Amaryllis about a year ago. I had no expertise, but my original plants have already bloomed twice, and I have so many babies already. When the new offsets produce leaves about 9-10 inches, I break them off and replant. This quickly, my original dozen plants have doubled in number. I don't know if it's the climate, or that I have such fast growing and hardy plants, but they impress me continually. I have bought a few (red, orange, and pink), got 2 from a friend (white with pink), talked the owner of a restaurant into giving me 2 bulbs from his white Amaryllis display, got a red with white stripes from another guy, and most recently a double flower from a man with an Amaryllis garden (this last already has 2 offsets with leaves).

    Now that I have read your instructions on pollination, I am anxiously waiting new flowers (I think within a month) so that I can start experimenting with my colors.

    Thanks again for your great site,
    Dennis Scott (cidsar@yahoo.com)
    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry for the late follow-ups on the first two comments.

    The offsets should flower within 2-3 years.

    @ Anonymous from May 11th: hope you had success with yours.

    @Dennis

    Sounds like you chose the right place to retire too if you want to grow some Amaryllis bulbs. The climate seems to agree with them and the people seem really generous to share their plants. Enjoy your plants.
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  5. I have managed to grow 4 amaryrillis plants from seed and each plant has at least 4 leaves on it, what should I do now just wait till they grow bigger, should I be exposing the top of the bulb. In the winter should I take them out of the pot and cut the leaves off. Please help.
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  6. Anonymous,

    Sounds like you did a good job raising them from seed. Just continue to do what you're doing. If you want to you can pot them up a little higher so that the tops are exposed, but that's really up to you. Don't cut off the leaves of your Amaryllis bulb unless they are dead.
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  7. can you root the leaves
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  8. Hi Anon,

    No you can't root the leaves of an Amaryllis bulb.
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  9. hi, my mom received an amaryllis from a friend and we both don't know how to propagate it... it's lovely, with white flowers that have pink veins, and i don't want to risk losing it by doing something foolish.

    it has already flowered twice, i don't know what its flowering season here in the philippines is, but the flowering always seem to coincide with the first rain after a few dry months...

    do you think it's ready for separation...? i still haven't checked if it already have offsets. this is the first time i'm going to attempt propagating from bulbs.
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  10. Hi
    I bought some bulbs and some came in there own pots and some i planted.The thing is when they flowered each bulb had 2 flower stocks.I pollinated each flower from another color flower and now have about 300 seeds with the bump as you call it.Some are in water and some in soil,no signs if germantion yet.its been just alittle over a week for some of the seeds and some are just now bursting open from the seed pod.I hope I can get some to germanate and grow.
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