Ray,
I have one clivia, it did bloom like that once. Normally I keep it in bright light but no direct sun, very cool and dry over the winters. I moved it to an area that was a bit warmer and higher in light which caused the bud stem to stop growing. If I hadn't moved the pot I would never have known that it was blooming that's how far down the buds were, couldn't do anything to correct it for that bloom cycle. Have you moved your's recently? From what I've read they shouldn't be moved to higher light or warmer areas until the stem has grown quite a bit. Hope that helps,
Chaz

Ray, I'm having a similar problem with my Clivia this year and I have a feeling that the reasoning behind it doing this is possibly because of high temperatures (I have it in my living room right now - minimum 80 degrees with 24/7 heating). Here's a snippet of an article I found online.....

Several possible causes for stunted peduncle development (failure of the scape stem to elongate normally) have been suggested. Various corresponding remedies have been proposed.

Possible causes appear to include: excessively high temperatures, excessively low temperatures, nutritional imbalances or deficiencies, excessively high light levels, low light levels, recent disturbance (division), and/or rot. Recent division and rot seem to speak for themselves.

My personal observations have been made in central Indiana, USA, where we have hot, humid summers (usual high temperatures ca. 86 to 90¡ÃF or 30 to 32¡ÃC) and cold winters (extreme lowest temperatures -10 to -20¡ÃF, which is -23 to -28¡ÃC). We grow our Clivia outdoors under shade in summer and inside heated greenhouses in winter. We have generally seen stunted peduncle development here only in hot weather, when off-season blooms stay down in the neck of the plant.

It has been said that bright light suppresses scape growth. We have tried moving plants to a lower light level location, without result. We in Indianapolis are at 40 degrees North latitude; the sunlight is not so intense here as at 30 deg. South latitude. In Pretoria or in Perth, the bright light might be acting to suppress growth; not here.

We have found that moving plants to a cooler location (inside an air-conditioned house) and feeding with soluble fertilizer is the most effective combination to induce the peduncle (stem of the scape) to extend normally. Potassium has been suggested to play a critical role in scape elongation; at high summer temperatures, it does not seem to help by itself.

At temperatures below 60¡ÃF, blooms do not develop readily. In winter, when it is time for the Clivia to start blooming, we raise the greenhouse temperatures to at least 60¡ÃF (ca. 15¡ÃC) at night but try to keep the daytime highs below 80¡ÃF (ca. 27¡ÃC). We feed at every watering with a very dilute solution of soluble high potassium fertilizer. Under these conditions, we rarely see any stunted scapes.

There are clearly several different causes to the stunted scape condition. What makes your Clivia stunt its scape may not be what is making my plant stunt. One size does not fit all!

Here is a link that might be useful: Stunted Scapes

Thanks Chaz & Paxfleur for your replies! After spending some time examining the conditions the plant grows in, I am thinking it might be extreme differences in temperatures. I grow near an East facing window in my 4th floor condos kitchen. We have had days in the 8's & 90's & then the very next day (or later that night) it dips into the 40's. Of course I Open the windows to soak up every last drop of the cool air before summer takes its hold on us! I never took into consideration that this plant might be getting blasted with strong, very cool winds for hours at a time. I always take special care of my orchids growing on the balcony (lower the hurricane shutters, turn the heater on & set it to 65 degrees, etc. I never even thought about protecting the Clivia from drastic changes in Temp. I fertilize it regularly with 15-15-15 Peters water soluble fertilizer (been using it for a couple years with no problems). There is not rotting at the roots or the base of the plant. They leaves are very strong, firm, & healthy. That is the only thing I can think of that has happened in the last couple weeks/month that could have lead to this. Well thank you both for the help! I'll hope for better results next year!! (these only bloom once a year right? That is all I have ever been able to get it to do)

-Ray-