I had good flowers, even seed pod formation from a rootless bulb of H.cybister "Chico", too.Nothing to worry about; new roots will appear afterwards.Clean the soil from the root remainders, replant the bulb, keep just moist, and be confident. > Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 11:31:52 -0500 > From: nickplummer@gmail.com > To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > Subject: [pbs] Rootless Hippeastrum cybister > > Earlier this autumn, I purchased a Hippeastrum cybister 'Chico' from one of > the large commercial bulb companies. It arrived dormant with a few > dessicated roots, so I potted in a mix of about 50% stalite, 50% potting > soil and kept it dry. When the inflorescence appeared, I started giving it > a little water. That may have been a mistake. Yesterday, I knocked the pot > over, and the bulb rolled out. The dessicated roots have rotted away, and > there is no sign of new root growth. I have repotted the bulb into pure > gravel, just to hold it steady. > > What should I do now? If this were a rootless orchid, I would cut the > inflorescence to avoid exhausting the plant and to encourage new vegetative > growth. Can a Hippeastrum bulb be allowed to bloom without roots? Should > I keep it dry until I see leaves or continue to water occasionally? My > only other Hippeastrum are some recently germinated seedlings and some > plants that I got from Telos and the PBS exchange while in growth, so I > don't have any experience managing rootless bulbs.