I was given 1 Clivia seed. Please someone tell me the best way to get this to grow.
Clivia seed, need help
I have wanted a Clivia Plant for a long time, but they are just too much $$ for my pocket book! How lucky your are Linda, to have someone who had a seed to part with. Hope you have great luck with germination of your Clivia Seed. Please post photos with progress so we envious folks can watch!
Oh, I would love to try Clivia from seed!
Thanks KayJones for posting that link .... very good information!
Lin
Hi Linda. I have had great luck in germinating cliva seeds in rockwool. I will tell you I understand they rot easily so all the things you use must be very clean. And if you use dirt, use sterile dirt meaning you pour boiling water thru it before use.
I was just at a clivia grower's house last Wednesday and she showed us how she starts them in dirt. She uses sterile soil heavy in perlite, maybe all perlite. I will have to ask again. If Patricia sees this post I bet she remembers what was said. Anyway, she just lightly presses them in and puts tupperwear into a clear plastic bag and seals it. Hers were coming up all over.
I just stick the seed in wet rockwool that is in tupperwear. I then cover it in clear plastic or a clear plastic bag and put under my grow lights.
Here are 2 containers from just now. I used that Glad plastic wrap, Press and Seal as a lid.
Edited to say Mary does soak her seeds for a day. I will ask her again how she does it and post here for you. She is an expert, I am a wantabe. I never soak my seeds but mine are all fresh picked. Well that is not true, I have done ones I bought from China but I didn't soak those either.
This message was edited Mar 5, 2007 12:03 PM
And I usually do not open them until they are ready to plant up because you just introduce rot into them. Here is one of the pots, all have germinated.
Only the big one is ready to be potted up in dirt by my standards.
And one fell out of its hole and has grown a root while just sitting on top. LOL How cute is that??
OK, one of my best clivia has huge red berries that have been ripe for awhile. You got me motivated to pick them and get them potted up.
Here it is at last May.
Here is the berry I just picked. It is huge and has variegation. From my limited knowledge the flowers will be orange/red since the berry is red. I am hoping for a deep red for I crossed it with dark red variegated pollen. But I am still very unclear how the pollen donor influences the offspring.
Since the berry has variegation, it means the seedlings will have variegation. The more white, the more albinos. This one didn't have a lot of white as I recall. I hope not to much!!
I broke it open and found 3 sacs.
Each sac had the seeds inside. I know Mary said she nicked the outer paper covering with a scalpel but she said you have to be so careful not to nick the seed itself. I never have even tried, I just plant as is. Linda, yours looks so dark, I wonder if it is loose and will come off easily.
And here is a little seedling ready to be potted up. So cute I can hardly stand it.
Kell, that varigated plant is to die for.
Linda, I hope yours grows into something beautiful; I love all clivias, variegated or not.
Thanks all for the information, Kell you always post the best photos. You just had to show off that variegated beauty didn't you. That's a bunch of seeds out of one pod. What's the chance they will be variegated?
I just have 1 seed and I want to do this right. It was laying on top of the soil and I said 'is that a SEED', and he (a garden center owner guy) said 'yes, do you want it'?
I have some rockwool, so I think I'll give that a try. How long should I expect it to take to start germinating?
LOL Linda, I am such a show off. LOL. But if you could see what I did to that beauty you would cry. I put it outside last month thinking it needed some cold to flower. I had kept it inside and treated it like gold. I put all my var. ones outside in a very protected place. And all of them got terrible leaf damage in just 2 days. I have no clue how. So now I need to go find myslef another beauty I can adore.
I hate to say this but I toss seeds from lots of my clivia. I am mostly interested in only growing variegated clivia so I toss the green ones. I am so pathetic about sending things out but maybe I can get it together to send you a couple of yellow flowered clivia seeds I have going to waste. I am sending some out this week to a friend in Canada and have no excuse why I couldn't send some to you too. I should have more extras later in the month Lin for you too. But always remember how pathetic I am and unreliable.
Well, those in photo were put up 12/21/06 and you see them today with one just starting to poke thru and the rest up in varying degrees. So awhile. I have emailed Mary asking her method again. She is the expert, I know so little.
All I know is that the worry is too many of those seeds will be albino and thus no good from that huge red berry. So I kept them all but 3 just so I get a few good ones. They are my very first special seeds to sow. I have done many others but not special ones.
Here is the flower stalk which is so variegated that I think the variegation bodes poorly for the seeds. I have asked a clivia group for their sage advice on them. I am such a novice that jumped in with both feet 2 years ago but really hard last year and really have no clue.
Oh Kell, sorry yours are suffering. So far, I've admired them from afar. I'm sure you'll have yours back in no time.
You have d-mail.
I forgot to post the soil (actually perlite) instructions I got from a clivia expert (Mary) if you want to start seed this way. Evidently soil is tough to use and succeed.
1. Soak the seeds over night in plain water to cover seed.
2. remove seed, dry it and remove the skin around the radicle....the little brown spot
3. replace in fresh water overnite; you can add a drop of superthrive.
4. use a 4" pot filled with perlite. Pour boiling water over the pot to sterilize, let cool.
5. sprinkle some physan 20 spray or captan pulv. over surface.
6. place seed on surface. Press slightly into perlite ....be careful if the seed has already sprouted as some do sprout overnite.
7. Sprinkle more captan pulv. over. see.
8. Place in a lettuce container i.e. costco rectangular plastic with lid
9. or place in zip lock bag and seal.
10. place in warm spot...no direct sun over it.
11. Hands off until you see the roots sticking above soil; then you can stick pencil in soil and put the root in, sprinkle with water and add more physan or captan. Everytime you open the lid, you allow bacteria or molds or what have you to enter.
Thanks Kell, I soaked the one I have and put it in rockwool in a baggie. I'm keeping these instructions just in case I get more seeds :-)
You will. LOL. I should do it right now. I have 2 packages to go to the PO too and seeds for Canada. I just need to get up and do it.
Update, this was March 5
in a baggie and sitting in a cup to hold it upright
and today I see this root starting
WOW that is so fast. Must have been a very fresh seed. Now do not open that bag till you are ready to pot it up. That is just great.
Thanks Kell, I'll just watch through the bag.