clivia plant care
Winter flowers are a great remedy for icy winds, and growing a houseplant that buds and blooms inside is particularly satisfying. Consider clivia plants as an alternative to azaleas, chrysanthemums, or traditional holiday plants. Clivia miniate is an elegant and imposing flowering plant that produces dense clusters of orange, lilylike flowers in cool night temperatures and a six-to-eight-week rest period with minimal water. Its straplike, dark evergreen leaves are virtually blemish-free, making it an attractive foliage plant even when not in bloom. If you want to know: “clivia plant care” Read to the end!
CLIVIA FLOWERS
Clivia, a member of the lily family, is a colorful plant that clusters together to form large, conspicuous flower heads. Its primary color is orange, but there are also rare and expensive yellow-flowered cultivars. Clivia’s are large, heavy plants that can grow up to 3 feet tall and almost as wide, with long, arching worldlike leaves. They require a large, wide-based, clay pot that won’t tip over and can remain in the same pot for up to five years. Like many flowering plants, clivia prefers to be kept rootbound and can remain in the same pot for up to five years. As it takes a few years for a clivia plant to bloom, it’s best to purchase a mature plant unless you are very patient.
DIFFICULT TO PROPAGATE
The Chicago Botanic Garden’s head of Ornamental Plant Research, Dr. Jim Ault, argues that clivias grow slowly and are hard to reproduce. “If you grow clivias from seed, it takes three to five years for them to bloom for the first time,” according to him. “The big, marvelous plants you see that fill a whole container take five to 10 years or more to reach that size.”
According to Dr. Ault, the fact that clivias cannot be tissue-cultured makes propagation much more difficult. Commercial growers may generate hundreds of plants from a single bud or even cell using tissue culture, a laboratory plant propagation technique, with the assurance that every new plant is an identical replica of the original. This is particularly crucial in.
clivia plant care : In seasons and situations
clivia plant care: IN THE WILD
Dr. Ault claims he has seen clivia growing naturally in the subtropical woods of eastern South Africa. “You’ll find them growing in very organic material, in deep to partial shade, sometimes on top of rotting logs,” he stated. In South Africa, he has also observed a rare clivia with yellow flowers blooming in the wild.
Additionally, a very uncommon clivia with variegated leaves is grown. “I have seen it once,” Dr. Ault said. According to the coworker who owned the plant, “it was very bashful about making offsets, very slow in making new plants.” Even after owning it for a long time, his coworker was still unable to spread it.
clivia plant care: IN SPRING AND SUMMER
Despite their majestic appearance, clivia are surprisingly simple to cultivate. It works well with a bright north window or a sun-shaded east or west window. It is not misted or in need of high humidity. A clivia requires frequent watering in the spring and summer growing seasons, but in between watering, it should be allowed to go completely dry. Weekly automated watering is frequently excessive and might lead plant decay. Apply a half-strength diluted solution of 20-20-20 fertilizer once a month. Plants may be divided and repotted virtually at any time of year, however they rarely require repotting. Just chop or peel the big leaf fans apart, making sure that each section has.
clivia plant care: IN FALL AND WINTER
The clivia’s autumnal timetable resembles that of a Christmas cactus. Once the foliage starts to droop, stop feeding, water the plant sparingly, and move it to a cool space such as a porch where nighttime lows are below fifty degrees. The creation of flower buds depends on this six- to eight-week rest period. Delays in flowering might be caused by a shorter chilly spell. Water very sparingly once indoors until flower buds start to emerge between the leaves. Just when winter is about to reach its darkest point, you will be rewarded with a magnificent bloom—it could take two months. To stop seed set, cut off the stem at the base of the faded blooms. Resuming regular feeding and watering in the spring.
clivia plant care: AT THE GARDEN
Both the yellow and orange clivias may be seen if you travel to the Chicago Botanic Garden’s greenhouses in the late winter. However, you can grow them without a greenhouse—they make unique, fulfilling houseplants for practically any type of household.
How and when to repot clivia
Clivia needs repotting only once the existing pot is full of roots. Move up to the next pot size only, gradually increasing the size over time. Ultimately, clivia thrives in a good-sized pot of at least 20cm in diameter.
Repot in spring only when necessary, using a good quality, peat-free multi-purpose potting compost with added loam. Ensure the neck of the fleshy bulb-like rhizome, or swollen root, is above soil level.
Read more: how to grow clivia from seed?
