How to Grow Hippeastrums in Australia

Hippeastrum (Hippeastrum hybrids) is a bulb of the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), grown for huge trumpet flowers on hollow stems from late spring into summer. Shops often sell it as amaryllis, but the belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is a different South African plant. Hippeastrums come from tropical Mexico, South America and the Caribbean, so they suit warm gardens and pots almost anywhere. The usual mistake is burying the bulb, when its neck belongs above the soil.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Burying the bulb. Planted like a tulip, with the neck under the soil, a hippeastrum sits wet at its most rot-prone point. Set each bulb so the neck and roughly the top third stand above the soil, in the ground and in pots.
2. Watering often, and over the bulb. Hippeastrums are drought-hardy, and too much water causes stem rot and red marks on the leaves. Water once at planting, then weekly at the soil once the flower stem grows, never onto its nose (the tip).
3. Cutting off the leaves after flowering. The leaves rebuild the bulb for next year's flowers, so a bulb stripped early often returns with leaves only. Cut only the spent flower stem, and keep watering and feeding the leaves until they die back.

When to plant

Frost sets the timing. Plant dormant bulbs from late winter into spring, once frost has passed, and earlier in frost-free gardens. A bulb planted in full sun usually flowers 5 to 8 weeks later, so the planting date sets the flowering date. In frost-free gardens, established clumps stay in the ground and come back each year.

To hold bulbs for a Christmas display, keep them in the fridge crisper, never frozen, and pot them up in mid-November. Label them and keep them apart from food.

Site, soil and setup

Sun and drainage matter most. Hippeastrums grow in dappled shade but do not flower in real shade.

The garden hybrids are not a declared weed in any state or territory. One wild species, Hippeastrum puniceum, is recorded as naturalised in New South Wales and on Lord Howe Island, so keep spare bulbs out of bushland.

Container growing

Hippeastrums flower well in pots, one large bulb to a pot 15 to 20 cm wide, which holds up to about 4.5 L. Use good-quality potting mix and a pot with drainage holes. The compact Sonatini types need less room, and a pot 10 to 14 cm wide, about 1.5 L, suits one bulb.

• Watering. Water once to settle the mix, then keep it on the dry side until the flower stem grows strongly. Water generously from then until flowering ends.
• Feeding. Mix a controlled release fertiliser for containers into the potting mix at planting. Add fish and seaweed blend at 25 mL per 9 L every fortnight once shoots appear.
• Position. Full sun outdoors. Turn the pot regularly so the stem grows straight, and tie a tall stem to a thin bamboo stake.
• After flowering. Repot into fresh mix every two or three years, when the bulbs crowd the pot. In cool districts, move the pot to a dry spot once the leaves die back.

Planting Bulbs

Hippeastrums start from bulbs sold dormant and ready to grow, so plant them soon after they arrive.

When bulbs arrive

Plant firm bulbs, and set aside any that are soft or show red spots on the neck. That is where the red blotch fungus survives (see Pests and diseases).

Planting in the ground

• Set each bulb pointed end up and plant it high, as Three mistakes that matter describes.
• Space bulbs 10 to 30 cm apart, using the closer spacing for the compact Sonatini types.
• Firm the soil around the bulb and water once to settle it.
• Expect the flower stem first, often before the leaves.

Care by growth stage

Hippeastrums are hungry and thirsty while in leaf, and want to stay drier while dormant.

If growth is weak in poor soil, a light dose of all-purpose controlled release granular (NPK around 14-5-10), scratched in at planting, can help.

Offsets (small bulbs that form beside the mother bulb) crowd a clump or burst a pot within a few years. Ease them away with their roots, replant them with their tops standing above the soil, and water in. See dividing perennials for the method.

Companion planting

Good company for hippeastrums is low, happy with weekly water, and leaves the bulb necks in the sun.

Grows well with

• Petunias around a potted bulb, which fill the pot with colour before the stem rises.
• Dusty miller and ornamental chilli as pot underplanting, which hold interest until the flowers open.
• Daffodils in a mixed bed, because hippeastrums take over the display as the daffodils fade.

Keep apart

• Crinum, clivia and spider lily, which feed the same lily caterpillar.
• Lawns and beds on frequent sprinklers, which keep bulbs wet and prone to rot.
• Onions and other edible bulbs, because the onion-like hippeastrum bulb is poisonous.

Harvesting Blooms

Cut stems for the vase when the buds show colour but have not yet opened.

• Wear gloves, because the sap can irritate skin.
• Cut the stem near its base with a sharp knife and put it straight into water.
• Slide a thin cane or a straw up the hollow stem to carry the weight of the flowers.
• Change the vase water every couple of days.
• Leave the leaves on the bulb (see Three mistakes that matter).

On the plant, each flower stem lasts about two to three weeks, and cutting the flowers can help the bulb bloom again. In frosty gardens, lift large-flowered bulbs in April or May as the leaves die back. Cut the leaves close to the bulb, store it somewhere warm and dry, and replant in spring once frosts have passed.

Common problems

Leaves but no flowers. Real shade, small bulbs and leaves cut too early are the usual causes (see Three mistakes that matter). Move the clump into sun and feed its leaves.

Leaning or toppling stems. Potted stems lean towards the light and heavy flowers tip them over (see Container growing for turning and staking).

Soft, rotting bulbs. Bulbs rot when they sit in wet, boggy soil, so bin a rotten bulb at once and replant elsewhere. Read more

Pests and diseases

The main threats are a caterpillar, snails, two fungal diseases and a virus.

Lily caterpillar (Spodoptera picta). Striped caterpillars up to about 5 cm long feed in groups on the leaves, then bore down into the neck. They can kill the bulb, and are recorded in Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. Pick off leaves carrying egg masses, which are covered in pale brown hairs, and remove the caterpillars by hand.

Common garden snail (Cornu aspersum). Snails chew rising flower stems, buds and leaves, most often after rain. Hand-pick them at dusk, and check under nearby pots and mulch. Read more

Red blotch (Peyronellaea curtisii). This fungus, also called leaf scorch, marks leaves and flower stems with red spots or blotches. Badly infected stems bend or dry up without flowering. It survives on the bulb neck and spreads in moist, humid weather. Remove spotted leaves, keep water off the foliage and destroy badly affected bulbs.

Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). A thick grey mould grows on ageing flowers first, then on stems and leaves, most often in cool weather with heavy dew. Remove spent flowers and affected parts, and give plants room for air to move.

Hippeastrum mosaic virus (a potyvirus). Light and dark green mottling or pale streaks run along the leaves and flower stems, and flowers come up stunted. Aphids spread it and there is no cure, so dig out and bin an infected bulb rather than dividing it.

Prevention first

• Keep new bulbs well away from old plants with streaked, mottled leaves.
• Sterilise the knife between plants when cutting flowers or dividing clumps.
• Check under the leaves weekly in warm months for caterpillar eggs.
• Cut away spent flowers and dead leaves, and bin them rather than composting them.

Tips

1. Plant a few bulbs in dappled shade as well as in full sun, because shade delays flowering and spreads the display.
2. Bring a potted hippeastrum indoors while it flowers, then return it outside so the leaves can finish refilling the bulb.
3. Choose the biggest bulbs on offer, because a bigger bulb carries more flowers.

Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send hippeastrum bulbs to Western Australia or Tasmania.