The cultivation of Amaryllis and Hippeastrum requires the following crucial aspects. These aspects are enumerated briefly here.

A. Planting

Before planting of bulbs, soil should be pulverized and property manured. Planting should be done from December to January in the plains and in February -March in hills. Size of bulb, depth of planting and spacing between plants have been found to influence growth and flowering.

Large bulbs produce larger number of bulblets and flowers. Flower production is Improved when large bulbs are planted at a shallow depth and 20 cm apart.

B. Irrigation

Bulbs are usually planted in moist soil. If the soil is dry, watering is done few days before planting in an optimum moisture level. Generally, irrigation is done at an interval of 15-20 days, if the weather is dry watering should be done during the period of vegetable growth and it is with held after flowering till new growth starts.

C. Weeding

Weeding is an important operation in the commercial cultivation of Hippeastrum. Hand weeding is laborious and more expensive than chemical weed control. Pre-emergence application of 'weedone' (2,4,5- T) at 10 litres per hectare proves very effective in controlling the weeds.



Manures and Fertilizers
Proper nutrition is very important for normal growth and development of plants. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium markedly influence these processes. In case of Hippeastrum treatment with high level of nitrogen (3 N) causes maximum plant growth and number of flower stalks and flowers. High dose of phosphorus and potassium also proves beneficial. Deficiency of these nutrients results in low yield of bulb and reduced flower production. The adverse effects of low levels of nitrogen (1/10) and phosphorus (1/10) appears at the early stage of growth and production of flowers are severely affected. The effect of potassium deficiency, on growth and flowering, however, is less pronounced. However application of nitrogen @ 200 kg/ha shows significant increase in weight of bulbs and number of bulblets and flowers. Treatment with phosphorus @ 400 kg/ha significantly increases the number of flower stalks and flowers, but it did not improve the production of bulblets. Low dose of nitrogen and phosphorus inhibits the growth and flowering. The maximum yield of bulbs, bulblets and flowers are obtained with a combined application of 200 kg N. 400 kg P and 200 kg K/ha.



Next : Growth and Flowering of Amaryllis and Hippeastrum plants