How to Grow Amaryllis Indoors: Bulb to Bloom in 8 Weeks

An amaryllis bulb is the closest thing to a guarantee in indoor gardening: eight to ten weeks from planting to a flower the size of your hand, in the middle of winter, with no grow light. It also fails in entirely predictable ways, and every one of them is fixable.

Choose the bulb, not the kit

The bigger the bulb, the more flower stems it can support. A 26/28cm or larger circumference amaryllis will usually send up two stems; a small bulb sends one, or none. Kits are convenient but often contain undersized bulbs and a pot with no drainage. Buy the bulb, then find a pot 1–2 inches wider than the bulb on each side — amaryllis like to be snug.

Plant it correctly

1. Use a pot with drainage holes and free-draining compost mixed with perlite.
2. Settle the roots, then set the bulb so its top third sits above the soil surface. Burying the neck invites rot.
3. Water once, thoroughly, then leave it alone until you see green growth.
4. Keep at 65–70°F in bright light. No direct midday sun on a south window in a hot room.

The first six weeks

Water sparingly until the shoot is a few inches tall — a dormant bulb in wet compost rots from the base. Once two leaves have opened, water whenever the top inch of compost is dry, and turn the pot a quarter turn every few days so the stem grows straight instead of leaning at the window.

The flower stalk usually appears before the leaves, which alarms first-time growers. That is normal. A stalk with no leaves is a healthy amaryllis doing exactly what it should.

Supporting a heavy flower

A stem carrying four huge trumpets will topple. Stake it early with a slim cane and a soft tie, before the first flower opens. As each flower fades, cut it off at the base of its own stalk so the plant’s energy goes into the remaining buds rather than seed.

Waxed amaryllis: nothing to do, and that is the point

Wax-dipped bulbs are sealed with a decorative coating and need no water, no soil and no pot. Set one on a table and it will bloom on stored energy. The trade-off is that a waxed bulb is a one-time display — the wax prevents rooting, so it cannot be grown on afterwards. If you want a bulb for next year, buy a bare bulb and pot it.

After flowering

Cut the flower stems off but keep the leaves, move the plant to the brightest spot you have, and water and feed it like a houseplant through spring. In late spring, after frost, plunge the pot into the garden or repot into fresh compost. Stop watering in late summer to trigger dormancy, then start again in autumn for a second winter’s bloom. Amaryllis can flower for decades with this cycle.

Troubleshooting

Browse amaryllis bulbs for red, white, striped and double varieties, or start with a waxed bulb if you want a zero-effort gift. Both ship free, and both are covered by our 60-day guarantee.