How to Divide Amaryllis Bulbs

A healthy amaryllis produces several beautiful flowers on one stalk. The large, central bulb of this plant produced four stunning flowers.

First, you will need a healthy amaryllis bulb. This is amaryllis "Apple Blossom" which I bought at Walmart several years ago.

Several years passed, and the bulb went dormant. It looked like it was dead - all of the leaves died back. But I looked at the pot and noticed it was bulging out at the sides. I suspected that my dormant bulb was actually more than one bulb. It was time to repot it.

To remove it from the pot, tip the pot over and tap the sides until the bulb and soil comes out. As you can see from the picture above, this REALLY needed to be repotted! The roots fill the pot completely.

Both amaryllis in my house plant collection needed repotting. The one on the right shows not one parent bulb with a side bulb but FOUR bulbs! The main bulb had produced three additional offshoots. To remove them, use your fingers and gently pry them apart. Make sure that each little bulb has a bit of root.

When planting an amaryllis bulb, you want the tip of the bulb to peek out above the soil. Don't plant them too deeply or the bulb may rot. After you replant your bulbs, cut back any green showing from the tip, and keep them moist but not dripping with water.

All of these bulbs came from just two plants (plus I had two other bulbs on another windowsill). Total of 7 new plants from two parent plants. I'll let these rest and grow. Hopefully soon, I will have a new flower.

My office will be full of these beautiful flowers and I can't wait. Amaryllis are so easy to grow and replant that they are a wonderful house plant. Be sure to keep them in a very bright, sunny windowsill, keep them moist but not soggy, and replant when they are dormant.

Hope you enjoyed learning how to plant amaryllis bulbs in pots.