I am growing amaryllis with roots in rocks and water and bulb above water..it is doing fine but water stinks as soon as it is changed almost. Any ideas to keep water smelling better?
I would recommend using a floral preservative in the water. This will prevent the bacteria from forming.
You can also make your own preservative:
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon chlorine bleach
1/4 teaspoon Alum
mix this with 1 quart of clean water.
Water should be changed every 3 days through the life of the bloom.
After the outdoor flowers are gone and the seeds collected, do you cut the green "leaves" to the ground or leave them?
Leave the leaves. They need the leaves to replenish the plant from all of the energy it lost producing flowers. If you are not in the tropics, you'll want to find a way to bring the plant indoors for the cold months. Also, following GardeningKnowHow's tips on Amaryllis care: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-care-instructions-how-to-care-for-an-amaryllis.htm
The flower petals appear to "glitter." What causes this?
Can you present a photo of it? I know that florists and growers these days tend to sprinkle glitter on flower petals in order to entice more people to buy flowers.
I've forced bulbs before in rocks and water, but this year's bulb isn't producing. How long would you wait before giving up and discarding the bulb?
If the bulb is producing leaves but no flowers, it was probably too small or young when you got it, and didn't have enough energy to bloom this year. But, it still has the potential to bloom later on, so you could plant it in soil (indoors or outdoors) and let it continue producing leaves. If there are no leaves at all, the bulb is probably dead.
Was givin this as a plant and they told me to cut off at bulb replant and put in dark place through winter. This is what produced. Wondering what it is. Thank you
It appears that you have an Amaryllis bulb.
Here are some links that will help you care for this lovely flowering bulb.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-care-instructions-how-to-care-for-an-amaryllis.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-bloom-again.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-outdoor-garden.htm
I have an amaryllis that was given as a gift for Christmas. It had been doing beautifully and during a warm, sunny streak of weather I put it outside with some of my other plants. Well a gust of wind caught it and it fell from my second story porch, no one was hurt except for the plant. The bulbs hadn't cracked so I quickly repotted them (leaving the neck of the bulb above the soil). Some of the leaves had snapped off so I cut back the ones too damaged to save and I was left with three leaves. It had drooped some, though it seems to have perked back up, but one leaf is turning yellow. I placed it in the window hoping that more sun will help with the yellowing. Will my amaryllis grow new leaves over the summer before it goes dormant? Or have I well and truly shocked it?
With this disruption in the bulbs root system and with only one flower remaining, I would just continue care and allow the plant to die down naturally and go into dormancy.
Your bulb will return next year!
These links will help you.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-care-instructions-how-to-care-for-an-amaryllis.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-bulb-storage.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/amaryllis-hippeastrum/amaryllis-bloom-again.htm
We received an amaryllis bulb as a gift at Christmas time, planted it and we're rewarded with long green stalks, also 36 inches now but only one small stubby bloom that dried up next to the side of the bulb. The stalks/leaves continue to grow but alas no flowers. What are we doing wrong?
An amaryllis flower stalk that tall suggests that the plant got very little light. Small, dried up blooms can be the result of indoor environments that are quite dry. Probably not much that you can do for this plant now. (Unless you live in a no-freeze area and you want to plant outside and wait for future blooms.)
Suggestions for next time: keep the plant closer to window. Turn the pot every few days so the stalk grows fairly straight. And perhaps add moisture to the air by adding a saucer with pebbles and water under your pot.
One other thought - many times the bulbs purchased from big box stores have been sitting for weeks/months in dark kit boxes in the store's dry air. These plants are unlikely to perform well. Bulbs purchased from reputable online sellers can be climate controlled until purchased and therefore start out in better condition.