The seed pods stay on the plant for months and, on C nobilis, turn red. If you sow the seed immediately it's ripe it will probably strike easily. The seedlings take a few years to reach flowering size and seem to prefer being planted in wide/shallow pots rather than deep ones. I've noticed that plants I've bought from supermarkets have been extremely low on food. The leaves have been quite yellow, and there's been little soil left around the roots. They bounce back after being fed with an even N-P-K slow release (with a swig of orchid food - but don't tell!) If they're growing outside under trees, even in a pot, then the leaf litter and rain will probably be enough to keep them happy. If they're indoors, then I think I'd topdress after flowering even if I did leave them to become pot bound. PS - on the 'pot-bound' aspect - use a pot you won't mind sacrificing. Those roots really push hard on the sides of the pot! Cutting off the container is probably the only way to liberate the plant.

I have a clivia about twelve years old that looked like this one year when I procrastinated too long in the Fall, and didn't bring it in until a light frost hit it. I just trimmed back the leaves to the healthy part, and saw no ill effects. To be on the safe side, in case this is not the problen, I would moisten a cotton ball or cloth with alcohol and wipe off my cutting tool after each cut and dispose of the leaves in the trash, and not in a compost bin.

Corrie: It's great to hear that your weather should not be a problem. Those cooling ocean breezes must help temper the scorching heat I remember from my visits to Florida. Boy, do I envy you, especially today with snow on the ground! I wanted to point you to a less expensive list of clivias than most of the ones I suggested before. For as little as $15, you can get a one or two year old clivia from Floral Architecture in a one-gallon pot. this probably means it would take a couple years to bloom, but they can live for decades once they're established. The French and Belgian hybrids tend to bloom a little younger than some others. The other possibility is to ask one of your neighbors for an offset. Happy clivias produce one or so every year. And this way you would know you have one that can thrive in your climate. Here is a link that might be useful: Floral Architecture Clivias

Mjsdos: You are in the right track with your plan to use gritty mix and fertilize weekly, weakly with foliage pro. But, please do not soak the plant. It may seem like the gritty mix doesn't hold enough moisture, but it holds more than you realize and clivias do much better if they dry out between waterings. I sometimes go weeks without watering mine when they are outside during the summer and we have regular rain. I water them about as much as I do my jade plant. In fact, I incorporate osmocote in my gritty mix so I know they are being fed whenever it rains. As for the advice about giving them a cold treatment in the fall, that is widely followed in the clivia growing community. The standard is to give them 6 weeks of temps between 40 and 50. (Forget the dark treatment.) But I have a friend in Hawaii who grows them in his yard where it rarely gets below 70, and they all bloom more than once a year. Re: light -- I grow mine in dappled shade with a few hours of sun in the morning. Experiment by slowly giving them a little more light (but no full afternoon sun) and see how they do. They need some bright light. I grow mine in a southeastern facing window in the winter.