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Florida Gardening

Clivia question

16 years ago

What kind of fertilizer do you use on yours? What time of year do they bloom? I have one that is old enough, rootbound enough, has enough leaves to bloom, so I'm trying to push it a little this year. I'd love to finally have a bloom out of it.

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Comments (7)

happy_girl
16 years ago
My neighbor gave me three clivia a couple of years ago. Reading that they need to be root bound to bloom I put two in pots & one in the ground. Well, of course THEY can't read, so guess what happened. The one in the ground bloomed just a few months after being transplanted & has bloomed twice since then. The second bloom just finishing & it has sent out several pups. Neither of the two in pots has shown any desire to bloom. This is one reason I love gardening. The plants just keep on suprising me. You never know what will happen.
katkin_gw
16 years ago
I have mine in the ground as well and they just finished blooming. ;o)
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It has to do with watering. The plant rests through fall and winter; in winter it should be kept cool and dry. After that, watering should increase slowly or the emerging buds will get caught among the leaves. When the flower stem is 4 inches long, move the plant to a warmer place and water more but do not overwater. Do not turn the plant at all. Cut the stem off after flowering to prevent the plant's energy going into fruit formation. I have found it is best to keep your plant outside in a shady spot until temperatures approach freezing. This helps encourage flowering for the next year. Elsie, the stem may still grow above the leaves. I have had mine take some time to grow up between the leaves. This is a very forgiving plant. One year my husband left a window open on a day with minus 30 temps with my clivia in front of it. She partially froze and I thought she was a goner but she did fine and bloomed beautifully that spring.
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Go here and Clivia USA will teach you how to plant clivia in areas with high humidity/rain. http://www.cliviausa.com/planting-clivia-seedlings-and-plants/ Also, they actually sell the plant mix which seems to solve the problem of areas that get high humidity and lots of rain: http://www.cliviausa.com/products/our-own-clivia-potting-mix.html I live in Northern California, ~ 40 miles east of the coast which is pretty dry in the summer in which I use my own home made "soil mix" that drains and drys well for my area. I use 3 parts regular Miracle soil (said to be a no-no, but I cheat), 3 parts cactus mix (Organic mix from home depot in a red and white bag), 1 part sponge rock, 3/4 parts charcoal chips, 1 part pine chips, 1 part bark compost. I soak the bark compost in fungicide before using (since I don't trust it without doing this). I only water once every 2 weeks in the spring/summer until October in which plants get no water at all until the following May, meaning I move them out of the weather elements for fall and winter and don't water (unless I notice wilting). In the summer, plants are under 20X15 shade structure to protect them from the sun (I'm thinking it's equivalent to 60% shade. I feed clivia with 20-20-20 fertilizer, mixed 1/2 strength every two weeks (extended if weather is cool) from May until the end of September. Repot plants every 3 years. They say Clivia are easy to grow, but they are a bit fussy when it comes to the appropriate amount of water they get. They usually grow on sides of cliffs and steep inclines in the African jungles, so they get water washing down the incline, but rarely get drenched. My dad grew Clivia since the 70's (he lived in So Cal), so even though I modified my soil mix from his mixture, I learned from an expert. He even taught me how to save Clivia with crown rot, which if you do research is virtually impossible :-) You can experiment to see the proper mix for your area. You want plants to get water and not dry out too much in the summer, but you don't want them to stay water logged, otherwise, you'll get root and possibly crown rot.
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short flower stem means the plant did not have sufficiently long period of cold - more time in cold stage = longer stem. usually about a month of cold temp 40-50 and dry, will create nice long stem. the leaf looks like a ?sunburn - but i'm not really sure 100% - try turning the plant around and see if it gets better or worse - that will test my theory - paul m.
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cycadjungle
16 years ago
I use a mild time release fertilizer called Nutricote during the year and in early spring I use triple super phosphate to help flowering along. Mine are producing flowers and are not pot bound at all. The key to good flowering is that they prefer to have a 6 week period in late fall where the lows get down to the 50s. Given that they have this cool period, if I remember the right number, it is 45 days after the cool period that flowers are initiated. Professional people who don't get this period have big coolers and put their plants in those coolers, and stagger their timings so new plants are flowering in stages, so they can sell the plants in flower during a longer period of time. I have a decent collection of clivias, but am still paying with them to figure them out. I have a lot of yellows and a few apricots and some crosses of the two, including a cross of the San Marcos Yellow and the "Sunrise Sunset", which are both fragrant. These have not flowered yet, but I could smell my SS in the greenhouse from 40 feet away. If I figiure these things out to make it worth while, I will put up a small shed in the back and put a wall unit air conditioner in, and put it on high and do the cooling thing to help increase my flowering and so it will be consistant enough to bring them to the shows and sales here in Florida.
junkyardgirl
Original Author
16 years ago
There's my problem, then. I've been bringing them in when it gets below 50. Shooting myself in the foot once again. I guess I'll have to wait until next year for a bloom.
bodiggly
16 years ago
I have mine in the ground, also. They like shade and do not like being moved. Mine are blooming now.
cycadjungle
16 years ago
Under the oak trees mine have been fine with our short duration freezes going down to about 24F. What I would do is keep them out when it gets cool and if you are going below the mid 20s, just cover the plant up with a sheet or something for that one day, and then you are good to go.
PRO
Jan Sword-Rossman Realty 239-470-6061
15 years ago
After reading this post, I was going to plant my clevia in the ground but I saw buds pocking out. Hurrayyyyyyy!!!
First time flowering for me. I did move my pot to the dining room so I can enjoy the flowers, I hope that doesnt make the flowers fall off. Do I water as usual or less?
I am so happy.(doing the happy dance): )
I did plant some of the Yellow ones and the smaller ones.

Jan

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