One has blossoms, my other two stayed inside for the winter and they have not set buds,so I moved them out since it is in the 40s and 50s at night.
clivia about to bloom
Mine are planted in the ground and didn't go dormant, so they are now recovering from our hard winter - new leaves appearing - should bloom in late April.
Hi GAgirl and Kay, I just purchased my first clivia, french hybred orange, and was wondering if ya'll could give me some growing/watering/feeding/lighting tips. I have always wanted to grow this plant and found this one in bloom at a garden and patio show for $8. and couldn't resist. I have it in my living room in a 12" pot with indirect light. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Joyce
Wow, Joyce, you should have bought all they had at that price, expecially in bloom.
This is what I know....they like there roots to be bound so I would keep it in the pot it is in until it starts pushing up. Don't overwater. They do require a cool spell to help them bloom (50s, i think). Once they do have blooms you need to increase the water a little. If the buds do not grow like they should give it a little more light, but never direct sun.
The one that is about to bloom, it stayed on a covered protected deck all winter, but the other two I have stayed inside. They do not have buds as yet, so I put they outside with the other one, for their cold treatment. I do not believe they like much fertilizer either.
I am by no means an expert, the above is just what I have read here and there, so that may not be accurate. I have to say they can put up with some neglect.
GAgirl - well shoot, I repotted it the day I bought it. It was in a monrovia pot and I put it in a teracotta one just an inch or so bigger. My pot is in an iron stand and thought it would look better. Well it does but I hope I haven't set the clivia back any. That was 2 weeks ago and more buds have opened since then. It was the only one the vendor had or I would have gotten more! I haven't watered or fertilized it thank goodness. Thanks for your help. Joyce
It will be fine, especially since it is already in bloom. Like I said, that was what I read about it, but I know alot of people down in Florida plant theirs in the ground and they do fine. Its kinda the same thing with agapanthus, they say they like their roots crowded too, but that for the most part it is a landscape plant and you plant them in the yard so of course their roots are going to be 'bound' in the ground. I think it is more that they don't like to be disturbed. Good luck
Thanks GAgirl, I haven't noticed and irrigularites in the foliage or blooms so hopefully it will be okay. I am used to the requirements of agapanthus so I just pray my clivia will do as well.
Here is my orange Clivia today:
Here is my yellow Clivia today - should bloom next week:
Kay the orange clivia is a beauty. I'd love to see the yellow in bloom. Hope you will be able to post a pic of it too.
I will post a picture as soon as it blooms - I'm hoping the critters don't eat the buds!
Human hair is a good deterrant for deer and rabbits if those are the critters you are talking about. Hair salons will save it for you. Critters get the human scent and leave.
I am wondering if anyone could help me on advise for my new clivia - I received it from school and have noticed the tips turning brown... any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Usually brown tips are a sign of a 'watering' problem. It either dried out for too long or maybe staying wet too long. Clivias don't require much water and they like well drained soil.
Is it in the ground or in a pot?
I wonder if I let it dry out too much... it is in a pot (as it was given to me, have not done anything to it). I have been watering it when I water my orchids... it is in a bark mix with what I think is charcoal and some other bark like materials... so well draining. But I think I missed watering it last time now that you mention the water thing. I was worried about light - but maybe I was over thinking it. Just in case, its in a window that gets afternoon sun. It came from a greenhouse at school, not sure that matters at all. Are they forgiving? or have I stressed mine out and need to baby it or will it do ok if I get it right from now?
oh, the cultivar is 'Sara' Im pretty sure.
My experience is that they are pretty forgiving. I pretty much ignore mine and they do fine.
GardeningNC,
I emailed Dr. Craig Ruggles, who grows and sells many Clivia - here is his response to your question:
QUOTE: "Yellow leaves on Clivias are multifactorial. They can be just regular senescence. The outer leaves die off every year. On big plants, you can pull 2-4 leaves a year. When plants are transported or transplanted, they can lose one or two leaves. Still outer leaves usually. When they come into a new environment, they can lose leaves a well. Be sure the plant is well fertilized and watered with fitlered light. If it is too wet, the plant can drown, so water only when the soil is completely dried out. They can go months without water, even in hot temps (mature ones), so you are better to run them dry than wet. They do best with watering every other week or so."
Oh wonderful, thank you so VERY much!! I think it has lost one - probably due to the general year loss and the move into my house from a greenhouse setting. Though it does sound like i need to move it, as it gets some pretty bright light and I have another location that is maybe more suited - I hope. I think when it got missed watering it may have gone a bit too long, so between the light and the water sounds like I have been rough on it. It sounds like my watering schedule was ok, just cant miss it - a month was too long :-(, thats probably the cause of the tips.
Thank you all so much - Ill try to let you know if it likes the new location and me watering it on schedule a bit better.
If you would like to email Dr. Ruggles directly, dmail me and I will give you his email address.
I don't know how old it is, but if you want it to bloom, you will need to expose it to cool weather for a while. I have three, two of which I kept inside this past winter, and the other kept outside on a protected and somewhat heated deck. It was the one that bloomed this year and the other two did not. They are the same age.
Here is mine when it bloomed this year - it's planted in the ground.
The colors are beautiful!! Mine appears (in comparison to ya'll's pictures) to be very young. It has much thinner width wise leaves, and I know it was only put in its current pot in the past year when they had to re-pot a bunch in the greenhouse - they have some much closer in size to ya'll's. I was told that they were donated by a young woman who didnt know what to do with her mother's collection, which is probably 10 cultivars or so, some are massive!
There are so many differrent varieties out there these days. I have some with the traditional leaves and some babies with both very thin and fat roundish leaves. There are even some variegated ones out there right now.
Reading this thread reminded me I have to get out there and find all these plants that I had hidden under others for the summer.
I wanted to let ya'll know that with the change in location and of course watering it (i have been keeping to the every other weekend), it is doing much better! The 'new' leaf it had begun putting out when I brought it home is growing again and the brown area is not getting bigger :-) Thank ya'll again!!
I finally repotted my clivia yesterday. It was horribly pot-bound, roots twined around like ropes. I had to cut the pot off of it. have no idea just how many plants are in there by now. Should try and count them, I guess. I bought it from a catalogue, so it was very small when it came. I almost let it croak a few years ago because it didn't seem to be doing much of anything. I didn't, and it has bloomed the last 3 years.
I've heard they only bloom when rootbound --anyone know if that's true?
I've heard that too.....mine bloomed pretty good. But there is pot-bound, and there is pot-bound. Mine was definitely the latter. The bottom of the pot was getting rounded, the roots were coming out of the top, twined around like they were gonna come and get me when I wasn't looking. :>) Sooooo........I suppose it will show me next spring and not bloom at all.
I think you are right about the root bound, they do better and tend to bloom more in that condition however I think Anna's may have been in real need, like you said there is root bound, then ROOT BOUND. I dont figure Ill be lucky enough to get blooms for a few years - but from what ya'll have said and I have seen from everyone - well worth the wait :-) Anna - how old is yours? you said it was a baby when you got it and it bloomed the last three years, that great!
It is 7 years old. I got it from Logees, (I think).......the 2nd year I almost let it croak because I wasn't impressed. Well, it huffed its way through the summer after I left it in the greenhouse to fry. Anything that was that determined to live deserved to, I guess. So, I have taken care of it decently and it has rewarded me.