Amaryllis Bulb Update - 2019 Winter Flowers

Time to check in our our Winter flowering bulb project: our planted amaryllis for Christmas flowers.  All of them are at different stages and provide a nice contrast between the set of four bulbs in pots. You can see the three Menards bulbs in the photo at the top here with the Star of Holland bulb being the one that has shot up the furthest and is starting to have a flower emerge.

For reference: This is the full set of four from November 23rd - three weeks ago - that shows all four of the bulbs including a few of the Menards ones that had some early (and pale green) growth from the bulb. 

And here's a set of photos from the end of November that shows how far these have come in a couple of weeks. 

I also tracked our bulb last year - here's a look at it on Christmas Day - no bloom. 

Back to this year, we have a clear leader: The Star of Holland - a red flower with white stripes.  Here's a closer look at the Star of Holland:

The bloom is right around 10" in height and thanks to (maybe???) the alcohol/water solution, I've limited the height and have kept it from getting too 'floppy'. 

The pot, however, has some white mold growing on it - which isn't a good sign.  However, the dirt is NOT overly wet and I've checked for proper drainage.  So, I'm not sure what to do with this mold other than to wipe it off with a little bit of cleaner to try to keep the mold down.  This is different than 'limescale' that comes with aging of clay pots, but there isn't much to do as this is the nature of clay pots.    Here's a close look at this white mold.  We have some spray with a diluted bleach in it that I think I'm going to spray on a paper towel and wipe this down. 

The largest bulb - the Cherry Nymph Amaryllis from Wannemakers got the earliest start and is in the largest pot - but is now in what I'll call 'last place'.  It has just recently shown some signs of waking from dormancy as you can see the tip of the bud peeking out of the base of the bulb in this photo below.  This is the bulb that came at 3X the cost of the others, so I'm hoping that the payoff will be great in terms of double-blooming vs. single-blooming from Menards.

The Apple Blossom bulb is the one in 'second place'.  In the photo below, you can see that one closest to the window.  And the Red Lion Amaryllis is the last one - the one on the lower right that has a bloom that has emerged from the bulb, but hasn't put on any height just yet.

It seems that the whole "Menards Amaryllis bulbs aren't great" line isn't a fact after all, is it?  Between the bulb selection (note to self...I picked bulbs from Menards that seemed to have a 'start'), the use of clay pot with good draining (vs plastic) and actual potting soil (vs. the disc of peat moss that comes with these bulbs) have all combined to send all three of these bulbs into bloom.

Also, while we're going to get some early Christmas flowers, I'm thinking that we might end up with a bloom closer to Christmas?  I'll track them all as we get closer to December 25th - and beyond.