clivia time !

Here are my two girls one in full flower and the other just getting ready

here is the other

sorry that first one was so blurry!

last

Oh, they are Beautiful! I have always wanted to grow Clivia but have never found them for sale in my area. I got two teeny ones in a trade from a gal in California last year. It was fun to watch them grow ... very slow but I had high hopes of them maturing and blooming for me. Then, I had to go out of town for a week and we had tons of rain ... I had forgotten to move them to a covered area! Needless to say, they did not survive. I have always loved the Orange flowered Clivia but that is a real beauty you have there with those pale yellow flowers with dark centers! Lovely! Great growing!

The yellows and creams are very difficult to find. Did you order them from somewhere?

I did a huge double take at my local nursery the other day - needless to say this plant jumped into my shopping cart! It was only £13. I love clivias. That second plant of yours is stunning!

Gorgeous! I have always wanted a Clivia but have never, ever seen one for sale in Florida! The ones I've seen for sale on line are so expensive! I am so excited as I'm getting one in a trade soon! Can't wait! I hope I can keep it alive and have it thrive and bloom for me.

Kniphofofia, I don't know what that would be in U.S. dollars but it sure sounds like a great price! I love that Dracaena in your photo with the variegated foliage too, very nice!

Lin that would be about $26.

Wow! Not bad at all after what I've seen for prices on-line. Look at this: http://stokestropicals.com/Files/Product/Plants_1753/Clivias_1782/Sunrise_Sunset_7895.asp

And an orange flowering one even more expensive: http://stokestropicals.com/Files/Product/Plants_1753/Clivias_1782/Prince_of_Orange_7892.asp

thanks you guys
they are really very easy to grow it sounds like you just had bad luck with your seedlings. the yellow one was a gift from my husband .He ordered it on line I think from white flower farm about four years ago and the other one is orange and I have had it for 15 years . I am surprised they don't sell them in Florida ? I would think they could grow out side there .
kiphofia what a great deal! I payed about that for my orange one 15 years ago but the yellow ones are well over $100 dollars you must have been so excited when you saw it! did you do a little dance ?
laura

Yes, Laura, I think I squealed! :) When I went through the checkout there was only one plant left from the display.. In fact when my sister Chris and I were having a cup of tea in the tea room and had to leave my shopping cart 'parked' I was a little worried that someone would steal my plant!

here is my orange one

the bloom my husband accidently knocked off

Oh My Goodness ... That is Absolutely Gorgeous! The yellow is pretty but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the orange one! I got two in trade recently and am so excited, can't wait to see those beautiful orange blooms!

Lookie what my girlfriend just gave me!!!! She is cleaning up her house--so I inherited this 30-year old specimen just 3 days ago. It is in about a 14" pot and NOTHING has ever been done to it! NO fertilizing! NO dividing! Very little watering!......
This thing weighs about 40lbs!

I have never had one--any reasonable advice is welcome......Do you feed it? When? What?
On the little bit I have had time to read up on it--I would NOT DARE to try and divide it!!!!!

Gita

Here's a close up of one of the bloom clusters....

It is hugely root-bound! Of course it would be! I mean--30 years?????

I also understand that this is how they like to be......

Wow! What a great friend you have! That is a superb specimen! I don't know a lot about these plants either. I just received my first one (well she actually sent me 2!) in a trade two weeks ago! I do remember they like to be root bound. I printed out this info from Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2201/ but it doesn't say anything about fertilizer.

This info: http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/growing-clivia-plants.html talks about using a 20-20-20 fertilizer after it has bloomed.

Wow, you lucky, lucky thing! What a fantastic gift!

it was your lucky day! What I do with mine is I top dress it with potting soil mixed with some compost you could add to that some osmocote for insurance , another thing I do is when you can see gaps between the roots and on the sides of the pot I make a slurry of potting soil compost and water and carefully pour it all around so it flows into the places that need it ( does that make sense?). I wouldn't repot it right away, let it settle in, it looks perfectly content , it is producing flowers and the bigger pot you give it the heavier it will get !. but when you do decide to re pot do it right after it flowers and at that time you can take pieces off the mother plant. you can be quite brutal with the roots but since it is an old plant I would tread softly , they are very long lived plants . when you do repot it may not produce flowers the next year ( mine did so it is a little iffy )
good luck
laura

laurawege,

Your orange blooms seem a lot deeper in color. Is that just the light, or are there actually 2 shades of orange? Maybe yours is healthier?
I realize that the friend, that gave this Clivia to me, has NEVER fertilized it at all--in 30 years--so maybe I need to give it something.....You said--after it blooms?

-How long will the blooms last? Do I just let them be?
-Do they then make seeds? Have you ever grown this from seed--and how many years does it take before it is a bloom-sized plant?
-I read up a bit on it on the Tropicals Forum. Seems that they discouraged dividing, but I guess just pulling one of the offshoots away is not the same as :dividing" it--right? wrong?

I will be asking everyone a lot of questions....I like to get to know as much as I can about a new plant.

Thanks for any and all advice! Gita

gitagal
. It may be the age and lack of nutrients, but it also could be the cultivar. It flowered so I think it is healthy enough.
I said to repot or divide it after it blooms, I would get a bucket the whole pot cand fit in fill it with room temp water and a weak soulution of liquid plant food ( I use Neptunes Harvest ) then top coat it with some compost mixed with potting soil and osmocote. Osmocote it is a slow release fertilizer that you can mix right in with the potting soil ( it is little beads and it comes in a jar and I think it is good for three months) so it is fed each time you water .
They will make seed if they are pollinated . I have grown them from seed before , you need it to be fresh seed that has been left on the plant till the pods turn a deep red ( it takes quite a while) then you remove the seeds and peel the red jacket off them. They should be a nice healthy white , place them on top of some good sterile potting soil ( the kind for starting seeds) you don't want them to dry out but you also don't want them to rot so it is fine balance to get them to germinate ( I think I gave them some bottom heat too). you really have to pay attention to them . hen I grew them from seed it took a good 4-5 years for them to reach blooming size. If you don't want to try seeds this time around just cut the flower stalk off leaving it a little above the place it came from so you can get your fingers around it so that when it shrivels you can pull it out .
I have had no problem taking a shoot from the mother plant when I am repotting. and in your case it might not be a bad idea to get a baby considering the age and neglect . Mine even bloomed the next year.
I think that they mean dividing in half and that would be drastic.
sounds like a lucky plant to land with you where it will be cared for . ( don't you love old plants? ) I feel honored to have them 5 have a christmas cactus that belonged to my grandmother that has to be 70 years old and some irises from my other grandmother too. I love a plant with a history
Laura

Laura--one more quick question-----

Should i wait until the plant is done blooming before I fertilize it? I like the soak in the bucket idea.....
Also--it IS OK to take it oustside in the growing season--right? I would keep it in filtered shade.....

Thanks, Gita

I would do it now I don't think it would hurt. I like to soak plants from time to time especially when they are very dry sometimes the soil looses it ability to absorb water and it just drains through . soaking fixes that then you can top dress and water .
I put mine out side in the warm weather in filtered shade until the threat of frost then they go down in the cool basement till they start to push new green leaves up from the center of each crown You can look down into the new growth and see the flowers coming don't bring them up to soon let the flowers rise a bit but you can give them a drink of water then around march bring them up and enjoy the show
laura
that is how I have done it right or wrong it works for me and you will find a way that works for you too
: )

Just be sure that when you put in outside for the summer, you keep it out of direct sun, even for a portion of the day. Those leaves will sunburn and then have to be cut off. Err on the side of too shady rather than any sun at all, especially if this plant has never been kept outside. In the fall, I just bring my large clivia in to the room where I want it to bloom, and it always does by mid to late winter. I fertilize in the summer when I think about it, usually every few weeks or so with a half-solution (half the recommended strength when you mix it), probably no more than five times a year. Last year, I gave it one application of Osmocote and it did well.

Ok, I finally got some pic's of our Cliva blooming! Got it last year at a plant sale, don't know which one it is...
just love it anyway! Happy Gardening, Terry.

Update-----Here is mine now (inside) with all the bloom clusters open. I should take it outside on these balmy days, but it id SO heavy I can hardly lift it.

Not great exposure---the flash went off....
Gita

Here's a close-up of one of the clusters--NO flash!

beautiful!

Rosehip, I love the blooms on yours they are really pretty and sunny


Gitagal, Yours are just like mine think, very pretty, and they sure are heavy. I get one of my sons (24, 21 , and 19 ) to bring it out for me. Here I have to wait till memorial day for the danger of frost to pass . I think you would loose the blooms if you brought it out when it was flowering anyway
laura

Laurawege, beautiful Clivias. I've had one for years and it's never bloomed. I've had it in a north facing window at work since I bought it, in addition to the office flourescent lights. I retired in December and brought it home. It's under artificial lights for about 14 hours a day. I've had it for at least 5 yrs and have yet to see a blossom. I have very little shade outdoors except on my patio which gets strong evening sun. My front porch gets only morning sun. What am I doing wrong? How can I get it to bloom? I believe it's a Clivia Miniata. I would love to get more but not if I can't get them to bloom.

Thanks for any help!!

colibri--

This is the first Clivia I ever had. I got it from my friend in full bloom. I have NO idea of it's care--sorry! She sais she has basically done NOTHING to it for years and years...
As she put it--total neglect! My friend keeps it in her sun room all winter (summer too???--I didn't ask...). It is 30 years old.

Mine is now done blooming and it is sitting outside in almost total shade. It catches a few early morning rays of sun--that's it. Where the blooms were are now forming seed-pods. I will let them grow----I understand you can get good money even for seeds.
As much as I am tempted to divide it--I woun't. At least not know....It seems happy in it's 30-year pot bound state.

I hope someone with more experience can help you out......

Gita

colibri, I am no expert but what I do with mine is very easy ( thats why I call it the perfect house plant) In the spring , after the danger of frost has past ( for me that is memorial day) they go out side in a shady spot that gets a little morning sun( they can take some more sun but you take the risk of burning the "house " leaves ) and they stay there all summer Occasionally I give them a little plant food jut plain old fish emulsion , nothing with high bloom . in the fall when the frost is threatening I lye them on their sides and hoseum down to get ride of any debri that might have collected . then they go into the cool basement for the winter they stay there until they show flower heads emerging from the inside of each group of leaves about march. then they come up into the living room , put on their show and out they go again . They do need a dormant period for flowers I don't think they need any extra light . they are from africa where they have to survive the "dry" periods followed by the rainy season . I think that is what promotes the blooms
good luck
laura

laura,

When you take them to the basement--do you keep them there in the dark? Or--does it have light?

My friend that gave it to me had them in her Sun room all winter----warm....great light....etc.
I do not know if she, normally, took them outside for the Summer....

I will go with my "gut feeling" on this plant--but I still like to know all the details from people that have grown them for a while....

I just came home today from a trip to Longwood Gardens with a bunch of DG people. They had Clivias all over the place in the Conservatory!!! Yellow AND Orange! All in full bloom!

Thanks, Gita

...and Orange.....

Thanks for all the help...I guess I will put mine outside on the front porch for some morning light. I'll take pictures when it blooms.

One more question. Does it like to be pot bound and how often should it be repotted?

Colibri: Here's the link to information in Plant Files for Clivia miniata: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2201/

gitagal , My basement is very low light just the florescent bulbs on the ceiling and they are only on when I am down there doing laundry , and basement windows . It doesn't seem to matter. I do what I do with them more out of lack of storage than a ridged routine . I think the real key for blooms is the dry period of dormantsey .
Longwood Gardens , sounds like my kind of place !
ColibriGardener, they can be repotted but they don't really need it . they can be climbing right out of their pots and will be fine . I tended to repot when they got top heavy . if you do repot, like most plants after blooming is a good time if yours didn't bloom than spring is good

Thanks everybody. Since it's been awhile since it's be repotted, I think I will repot and put it outside on the patio for the summer!