Keeping Amaryllis to flower for another season

justflowers

In 2019 I bought two Amaryllis bulbs which flowered really well all over the Christmas season - I looked up how to store them to ensure they flowered again last Christmas but with no success.  One produced a couple of large healthy looking leaves and the other just produced a couple of spindly leaves - no flowers at all.  On balance, is it worth trying to keep these plants going beyond one season, or, given how cheap the bulbs are to buy, is it best to replace them each year?  I like to keep plants going where I can and it didn't really matter much this year as we were on our own for Christmas 

The advice I had was to let the leaves die down after flowering was over and put the plants outside in Spring when all frosts were over, then to leave outside until new shoots appeared and then to re-pot and store at room temperature until leaves developed fully and new flowers appeared.

I would be grateful for advice on whether I did the right thing and what might have gone wrong, but also is it worth bothering, and should I just buy new bulbs each year?

Many thanks!

fidgetbones

If you want them for xmas, buy prepared bulbs each year. I often save mine, and I get random flowers, usually in the summer.

BenCotto

I did all the things text books say you should do to get it to flower again at Christmas but it chose to flower in May. 

I am giving it a period of dormancy now and will take off the sorry looking leaves in Spring. I’ll then water to see if new leaves grow, then feed and see what happens.

Eustace

Mine usually flowers sometime in the summer. I have had them for almost 5 years now; they need very little care and are left on their own with a bit of watering once a month or so.

justflowers

Thanks for the advice.  As I really want them to flower over Christmas, I will buy new prepared bulbs each year.  Might try to keep the old ones going too, just to see what happens!