I have an Amaryllis.....

...that I bought at Trader Joe's before Christmas. It came with a square glass bowl and stones. I followed directions with putting the bulb in the stones and putting in water. I have 4 tall leaves, two short but growing leaves and no sign of a flower stalk. Questions:

Should this bulb be in soil now?

Should I fertilize this bulb? In the water? In the soil?

Thanks all.

I don't know about anyone else, but I would plant it in soil. Amaryllis bulbs are pretty large to be growing in stones. I would think that if it does get a bloom or two, it will fall over.

I'm thinking in terms of producing a flower. Do you think soil is the difference for bloom production? I've never grown one of these, but always had blooms on paperwhites and daffodils in stones.

The first year you buy the bulb, the flower is already formed inside (assuming it was raised correctly before it went to the store). So really nothing you do will affect that the first year. Is your house on the cool side? I always find my amaryllis take a lot longer to bloom than other people's, and I suspect it's because I live in a cool and drafty old house. Mine are usually blooming about the same time as the crocuses, mid to late March here.

Mine is in the window in my office. I don't know if it cools off in here during the weekend, but weekdays are quite hot.

If I don't see anything by late March, I'll start to worry again. Thanks!

Amaryllis grow and bloom without soil, even without water. I had several of them this year, one came out completly with no water at all, since it was in a pot with christmas decorations. But they need a temperature above 20 Celsius.It seems to me, your Amaryllis is in some state of refusal, what can happen (transports? conditions before it came to you?) I know, never give up too soon.Do you give it some more chance? Sometimes it helps to put plants somewhere and forget a while about what they do.

It was warm outside when I bought it before Christmas, so it didn't get a shock there. I've had it in a warm office in a sunny window since, and have had no trouble producing leaves. I hope a flower will follow.

I had so many Amaryllis this year, because nobody bought them, and they were all breaking through there paperboxes in the shop (very low price too). My daughter and I were really sorry for them, so we adopted as many as we could carry. They were all over the place, my mother got some...in a cooler house, where it took them about three weeks longer to bloom. Thinking about it, I believe that all of them bloomed before they got any leaves.
Last summer, I had two pots with agapanthus, they had leaves, but never got any flowers.I was frustrated and looked in every book, what could have caused it. This sunday I could see small green tipps coming in the middle of the pot, I had to think really hard about what kind of plant it was.I did not expect them at all. So I will look at them with some apprehension this summer.
To sell good bulbs seems to be a risky business that takes a huge amount of controlls on the side of the producer, as I could see in a film about bulb-
growers in the netherlands.
I would like to give you some hope, but the real gardener is usually inconsolable, if something like that happens.I know.....