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Keeping "amaryllis" healthy indoors

Making It Grow Radio Minute

If you have amaryllis bulbs (actually the genus is Hippeastrum but we’re never going to call them that) blooming in your house over the holidays, you can take some steps to keep them healthy. First, be sure that the container they’re planted in is heavy and/or deep enough so that those tall heavy flowers won’t tip it over. You might need to put the container it arrived in inside another --perhaps a more decorative one -- and place in bright indirect sun. Use the digital method to decide when to water – that is stick your finger in the soil about two inches --- if the soil is dry, then take the container to the kitchen sink (be careful not to break off that tall flower stalk) and slowly add water and let it drain well, don’t worry about fertilizer while its blooming.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.