From my perspective, I am a bulb, a living storage container. All the energy I need to produce my magnificent flower is stored within me. The process of flowering is incredibly taxing. If I was forced to bloom in a previous season without adequate time to replenish my stores, I simply may not have the strength to do it again. This is often because my leaves were removed too early after my last bloom. My long, strappy leaves are not just for show; they are my solar panels. Through photosynthesis, they absorb sunlight and create the carbohydrates that are sent down to my bulb to be stored for next year's flower. If you cut them off while they are still green, you starve me.
I have an innate biological clock that tells me to follow a cycle of growth, bloom, and rest. After my flowering show is over, I enter a long period of leaf growth to gather energy. Once this is done, I need a period of dormancy—a long, cool, and dark nap—to reset my flowering cycle. This typically requires 8-10 weeks in a cool, dark place like a basement, with very little water. If you kept me growing in a warm, sunny spot all year round, my internal signals get confused. Without this crucial rest period, I receive no clear environmental trigger to initiate a new flower stalk. I'm simply too tired and disoriented to begin the process.
While my dormancy requires darkness, my rebuilding phase demands brilliant light. After my rest period, when you bring me back into the warmth and water me, I will send up a flower stalk. But immediately after blooming, my focus must shift to leaf production. If you place me in a spot with insufficient light after flowering, my leaves will become weak, spindly, and pale. They will be inefficient solar panels, unable to generate enough food to bulk up my bulb for the following year. I need a very bright, sunny window for at least several months to eat my fill and prepare for my next performance.
Although I arrive from the nursery with all the food I need for my first bloom, that supply is quickly exhausted. Flowering is a massive effort that depletes my stored nutrients. Once I finish blooming and my leaves are growing strong, I am hungry! I am rooted in a limited amount of potting mix that contains very little natural fertility. If you never feed me, I am trying to rebuild my energy reserves from a place of poverty. A balanced, water-soluble fertilizer every few weeks during my active growth phase is like a vital energy drink, giving me the strength to not only survive but to thrive and prepare a new flower bud deep within my core.
You might think I would appreciate a large, spacious home, but quite the opposite is true. I actually bloom best when I am slightly pot-bound. A too-large pot has several negative effects from my viewpoint. First, the excess soil holds too much water, which threatens to rot my roots and my bulb itself. Second, my energy will be directed towards expanding my root system to fill this vast new space, rather than towards the critical task of flower production. Being in a cozy pot where my roots are a bit crowded creates a mild stress signal that encourages me to reproduce—and for a bulb, reproduction means flowering.
