What to Do If Your Clivia Grows Crooked? Causes and Hydroponic Tips
I think many people know about Clivia, and most have grown one. Recently, our editor received messages from quite a few Clivia-growing flower lovers asking how to straighten a Clivia that has grown crooked. Below, our editor will analyze with you what causes this situation and how to fix it.
I think many people know about Clivia, and most have grown one. Recently, our editor received messages from quite a few Clivia-growing flower lovers asking how to straighten a Clivia that has grown crooked. Below, our editor will analyze with you what causes this situation and how to fix it.
The fresh feel of orchids makes them very suitable for growing in our own living rooms. As long as we grow Clivia the right way, it is the most beautiful choice, accenting a corner of the home, and no flower is more beautiful than this. But when we grow them, we always run into some problems, and these problems can seriously affect the beauty of the Clivia, so during the growing process we must avoid these problems to ensure the plant's good looks.
Of course, when growing them we will almost always run into one problem: how to straighten a Clivia that has grown crooked? And there are also hydroponic tips! This likewise greatly affects the plant's good looks. If we do not grow the Clivia straight, it will seriously affect its beauty; this not only fails to achieve a beautifying effect but also brings negative effects. You will be in a bad mood because of its crookedness, and such a result is not worth the loss, so we must find a way to solve this problem and ensure the plant's beauty.
If we want to solve this old problem of crooked leaves, we must first understand the problem and treat the root cause, so that we can truly solve it. Below, our editor will analyze exactly what causes the leaves to grow crooked.
Causes of Crooked Growth
Many plants have a certain phototropism, and of course Clivia is no exception. The direction of the sunlight determines the direction of the Clivia's growth, and this is the reason it grows crooked. Many people think this natural factor is hard to change, but the rotation methods we learned earlier can solve this problem. Let's look below at exactly how to fix this crooked growth problem!
Solutions
1. Manual adjustment
When our plant keeps growing to one side, seeing this phenomenon tells us that side is where the strong light is. At this point we need to set a fixed schedule, then regularly rotate it 180 degrees, wait a certain amount of time for the leaves to grow back, and keep repeating the rotation until the plant stays upright.
2. Mechanical adjustment
This method is simply using clips to hold the plant upright, the simplest method of all.
3. Scientific adjustment
This one requires a certain amount of knowledge to use. We need to understand the principle of phototropic bending, then find the point of strong light and use some opaque aluminum foil to block the sunlight. Once the plant grows back upright, the foil can be removed. This method must only be used once you understand the plant's growth characteristics; it cannot be used casually, otherwise the plant will not stand upright.
Hydroponic Tips
Growing Clivia hydroponically is basic hydroponic work; just do the regular water changes. As long as we make sure the water is not in direct sunlight and avoid water quality contamination, we can grow Clivia well hydroponically.
Clivia can be grown hydroponically or in soil, but in our editor's view, hydroponics is easier than soil culture. The above are the detailed cultivation methods, so everyone should save them quickly.
A Brief Discussion of Root Handling and Water Depth for Hydroponic Plants - Experience Sharing
For flower lovers new to growing hydroponic plants, they may not know how deep the roots should go into the water or how to handle the root system. Next, let's take a detailed look, and we hope it will inspire everyone.I. Water Depth for Hydroponic Plant Roots
Many sources say to put half or 2/3 of a hydroponic plant's roots in the water. This is a good method, but it also depends on the plant species and the different stages of growth. For most Araceae plants in the early stage of hydroponics, all the original soil roots can be put into the water. This effectively reduces wilting and ensures that new aerial roots can absorb water and grow quickly, and these new roots are the best adapted to the hydroponic environment and also the most beautiful.
For plants like the money tree and banyan, however, the water depth should be much shallower; just let the roots get slightly wet. You can place pebbles or similar support in the container so that only 1/3 of the roots are submerged. There are also many plants, such as ivy, cordyline, aloe and Clivia, that are not suited to having all their roots soaked in water; put part of the roots in the water, as long as the entire root system stays moist.
II. Root Handling Issues
For roots like those of the evergreen (Rohdea) group, which do not branch and are rather crisp and tender, be careful when washing the roots to keep them intact and not let them get damaged or broken. Roots that have already been broken can be cut off at the base, so they are less likely to rot. For plants like the mini monstera and Monstera, where the main roots and fibrous roots are more distinct, you can cut away more of the small roots and shorten the overly long thick roots, leaving fewer roots; new roots will then grow much faster.
There is a group of plants, such as spider plants and ribbon grass, that have thick fleshy roots. These swollen fleshy roots rot easily in water, and after successful full hydroponics what grows are some fine roots. These fleshy roots should all be cut off at the very beginning, leaving only some small roots that have not yet swollen. The few remaining roots are all submerged in water; although there are few roots, new roots will grow out quickly. There is also a rather special one, the elephant's ear (Alocasia), whose original roots rot easily after hydroponics and can all be cut off. Or you can leave them untreated; if the roots are not cut off, the leaves of larger plants are less likely to wilt, but you must change the water frequently and prune the rotten roots until new roots completely replace the old ones.
The fleshy stem of the elephant's ear (Alocasia) roots very easily, so you can raise the water to the position where you want it to root. Its fleshy stem will rot, and when this happens you must cut it off promptly. Besides cutting, another way is to break off the already rotten part by hand, using some force to break the yellowed part all the way to a naturally formed separation layer; after this treatment it will no longer continue to rot.
In short, for some plants it is beneficial in the early stage of hydroponics to have all the roots submerged in water. Once the new roots have grown, you can appropriately lower the water level to expose part of the roots, which also makes management more convenient.
Summary: The above is the relevant knowledge about hydroponic flowers. We hope everyone will exchange hydroponic experience more.
A Brief Discussion of the Classification and Application of Peat
Peat is also called turf peat or peat coal. It is an organic matter that is hard to decompose and very stable in nature, formed into layered deposits through long-term accumulation, because the remains of various plants failed to fully decompose under conditions of excessive moisture, poor aeration and relatively low temperatures.I. Classification of Peat
Based on the formation conditions of peat, the characteristics of the plant communities and the nutrient situation, peat can be divided into three types:
1. Highmoor peat: formed in relatively high-lying places, red or brownish yellow in color, formed from plants such as sphagnum and green moss; its growth period is relatively short, its ash content is low, its decomposition degree is poor, and its acidity is relatively high.
2. Lowmoor peat: formed in relatively low-lying places, black or dark gray in color, formed from various Carex plants, reeds, horsetails and other plants; its ash content is relatively high, its water-holding capacity is relatively low, its acidity is relatively low, and its decomposition degree is relatively high.
3. Transitional peat: also called intermediate peat, a type between the above two kinds of peat.
II. Application of Peat
Because of its uniquely superior physical, chemical and biological properties, as well as its low price, peat is currently widely used in various fields.
The countries in the world that developed and applied peat relatively early and quite fully include Canada, the United States, Japan and some other European countries. In these countries, peat is widely used in agriculture, horticulture, construction, industry, medicine and various other fields.
Now, although China is only at the starting stage in peat application, people have gradually come to recognize that peat has unique properties that other materials cannot replace, such as being lightweight, water-holding, air-permeable and rich in organic matter. At present, peat has already been widely used in fields such as urban greening construction, nutrient soil for flower nurseries and flowers, sports fields or golf courses, potted flowers, soil improvement, desert greening, soilless cultivation, industrialized production of turf rolls, edible mushroom cultivation, various peat-based compound fertilizers, and the construction of rooftop gardens.
1. For urban greening construction. Peat can maintain the urban ecological balance, improve the urban environment and play a role in beautifying the city. At present, China's urban construction has increasingly high requirements for environmental greening, and the roads, overpasses, main parks, residential communities, institutional courtyards, urban woodlots, river channels and so on of every city all need greening.
Because the soil quality of different cities and different regions varies, the survival rate and growth speed of greening plants also vary, and this provides broad space for the use of peat. Using peat can solve many problems that arise in urban greening. Peat not only allows greening plants to grow well and be easy to maintain, but also reduces the costs required for daily management.
2. For nutrient soil for flower nurseries and flowers. Using peat as the main raw material, combined with corresponding proportions of leaf mold, pine needles, perlite and so on, various nutrient soils and flower soils can be made, giving sufficient fertility and long-lasting fertilizer effect. Using peat as nutrient soil not only reduces the occurrence of pests, diseases and odors, but also enhances the disease resistance and stress resistance of plants and promotes plant growth.
Today, many flower nurseries and horticultural companies have already widely adopted substrates with peat and other materials as the medium for seedling raising, thereby being able to cultivate high-quality flower seedlings. In particular, some relatively high-end flower seeds, or flower seeds with especially tiny grains, are all grown using peat, to improve the seed germination and survival rate, the quality of the seedlings and their uniformity. In addition, various nutrient soils and flower soils with peat as the main raw material are also favored by home gardeners.
In flower seedling raising, the most commonly used peat substrate formula is: 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite, 1/3 horticultural vermiculite (calculated by volume), with an appropriate amount of trace elements added.
3. For sports fields and golf courses. Whether ornamental turf, sports turf or golf course turf, because they all have very high requirements for the soil's water-holding capacity, aeration and soil nutrients, the soil must be specially treated before planting. Therefore, peat can be chosen as the main planting material for the upper turf layer.
Research shows that whether or not peat is used as the planting material for the growing layer makes a very obvious difference to the later growth of the turfgrass and to reducing maintenance pressure.
Therefore, in turf planting for sports fields and golf courses with higher turf quality requirements, especially in turf planting for golf course greens, peat is an indispensable planting material.
4. For potted flowers. Peat has become the most important growing substrate in current greenhouse production of high-end potted flowers and in home gardening. At present, in developed countries, peat is widely used as a growing substrate even in the production of ordinary herbaceous flowers. This is because, in addition to the advantages of high water-holding capacity, good aeration and rich organic matter, its low bulk density is also a very important factor. Peat can make potted flowers more brightly colored, more beautiful in flower shape and longer in flowering period. In addition, potted flowers not only need to be moved frequently but also need long-distance transport, and after being grown with peat they have the advantage of being easy to carry. Using 35% to 70% peat mixed with an appropriate amount of vermiculite, perlite or ceramsite and other materials can make an ideal potted flower growing substrate. Flowers such as orchids, Clivia, azaleas and gardenias can be grown directly with 100% peat. But most potted flower substrates must be mixed in proportions.
When peat is used for potted flowers, two recommended formulas are: (1) 1/2 peat + 1/4 horticultural vermiculite + 1/4 perlite (calculated by volume, the same below), mainly for potted flowers and ornamental plants with high water-holding capacity; (2) 1/3 peat + 1/3 perlite + 1/3 crushed bark (or pine needles), mainly for potted flowers and ornamental plants that are drought-tolerant and have low water-holding capacity.
5. For soil improvement. Whether it is cultivated land soil used for growing flowers or other crops, if there is poor physical structure such as compaction and hardening, then as long as an appropriate amount of peat is added according to the specific situation, the soil's water-holding and aeration capacity and fertilizer-retention capacity can be improved or restored, thereby achieving the goals of increasing yield and increasing economic benefits.
Applying peat can also improve the soil's pH, increase the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, increase the total amount of organic carbon and humic acid, activate soil fertility, and have a significant effect on improving soil fertility.
6. For desert greening. Peat has four obvious effects on desert greening:
First, peat can increase the moisture content of sandy land in desert areas and ensure the normal growth of desert plants. Second, peat can change the properties of the soil and create favorable conditions for plants to absorb nutrients and grow and develop. Third, peat can promote plant growth and increase crop yield. Fourth, peat can increase the survival rate of desert plants and promote the growth of desert plants.
7. For soilless cultivation. When growing various flowers, peat can be used as a soilless cultivation method between soil culture and hydroponics. It is easier to accept and promote than hydroponics. This is first because peat is one of the ideal substrate materials for soilless cultivation, and the material is simple and easy to obtain. In addition, it has the advantages of preventing insects, preventing disease and eliminating weeding. In actual operation, you can use plastic boards or plastic bags on the ground to isolate it from the soil, make troughs and holes, and then fill them with peat as the planting substrate. For something more elaborate, you can build raised planting beds on a frame and then use peat as the planting substrate for growing and producing flowers. Using peat for soilless cultivation is already a widely adopted method abroad.
8. For the industrialized production of turf rolls. At present, the demand for turf rolls in urban greening construction is increasing, and producing turf rolls requires a large amount of land resources, which restricts the conditions for repeated production. By using peat as the main raw material and adding garden soil, river sand and so on to make a culture medium, turf rolls can be repeatedly produced in the same area, improving land utilization, lowering production costs and realizing the industrialized production of turf rolls.
9. For edible mushroom cultivation. Peat soil can be used as the cultivation substrate for edible mushrooms and as the casing soil for edible mushroom cultivation. The substrate and casing soil after cultivation can be used to make organic compound fertilizer, greatly reducing the production cost of edible mushrooms.
10. For various peat-based compound fertilizers. "Peat preparations" with peat as the main raw material can expand the resources of organic fertilizer, prevent land compaction and degradation, reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer used, protect the environment, and improve the yield and quality of agricultural and sideline products.
11. For building rooftop gardens. The bulk density of peat is very low, generally 0.2 to 0.3 g/cubic cm dry weight and 0.6 to 0.7 g/cubic cm wet weight. By comparison, ordinary soil has a dry weight of 1.25 to 1.75 g/cubic cm and a wet weight of 1.9 to 2.1 g/cubic cm. When building a rooftop garden, if 100% peat is used, the weight of the soil base can be reduced by 2/3 to 3/4.
In actual use, a mixed soil made by adding one part peat to two parts ordinary soil is generally used to build rooftop gardens, reducing the weight of the soil base by about 25% to 30%, and the aeration and nutrient content of the soil base are greatly improved. It can be said that peat is an ideal material for building rooftop gardens.
Compared with traditional growing substrates, peat has stronger water-holding capacity and permeability and is more conducive to the growth of plant roots, so its application prospects will certainly become broader and broader.
In succulent cultivation, the use of peat soil is often discussed, and the most common is peat soil, perlite and vermiculite in a ratio of about 1:1:1. Below, let's talk about how to choose peat.
First, look at purity and consistency. High-quality peat has good aeration, uniform coarseness, a loose texture, is rich in elasticity, does not stick to the hand, has few impurities, low coarse ash content and contains no soil. Sphagnum peat comes from high-lying production areas with few nutrients and is mainly composed of moss plants, so fewer plants are mixed in, its purity is high, and because the environment tends acidic, its decomposition degree is relatively small and its coarse ash content is low. Grass peat comes from low-lying production areas with high nutrient content, and the plants that grow there are higher vascular plants of many kinds, so more admixtures enter during formation, the peat's decomposition degree is relatively large, and its purity and consistency are relatively poor. When buying, you should choose peat with a suitable fiber coarseness and uniform consistency according to your needs.
Second, color. The color of peat includes yellow, brownish yellow, brown, dark brown, black and so on, which is directly related to the peat-forming plants and the decomposition degree. Because the peat-forming plants differ, sphagnum peat is lighter in color, generally yellow or yellowish brown; herbaceous peat is mostly brownish brown, brown or blackish brown, such as domestically produced Northeast peat. In addition, as the decomposition degree of peat increases, the color changes from light to dark; as the admixtures increase, the consistency of the peat's color becomes poorer. Generally speaking, high-quality peat soil should be yellow or yellowish brown and uniform in color.
Third, look at the decomposition degree. High-quality growing peat should have a relatively small decomposition degree, thereby maintaining suitable bulk density and porosity, which is conducive to plant growth, and its properties are also relatively stable. Generally, it can be determined by adding water to the peat and squeezing it. The specific method is to moisten the peat and squeeze it by hand. Peat with a small decomposition degree, because it contains little ash, releases almost transparent water when squeezed and quickly expands and returns to its original shape when released, such as the Canadian Fafard peat. Peat with a large decomposition degree contains more ash, the squeezed-out water is cloudy or even black, and the decomposed peat will flow out between the fingers; after being squeezed by hand it becomes muddy and will not expand and return to its original shape.
A flower lover once did a comparative seedling-raising experiment with imported peat and domestic peat and concluded that imported peat was superior to domestic peat. In fact, much imported peat is generally strictly sterilized and has fertilizer and trace elements added, while the post-extraction processing of domestic peat raw materials is relatively rough and generally has no fertilizer or trace elements added, so such a comparison is unfair. According to the test results of some domestic institutions, in terms of mineral raw materials, the main components of domestic peat are similar to those of foreign peat, and some indicators are even better than foreign peat. At present, the price of domestic peat on the market is a fraction of that of imported peat, but after domestic peat is matched with appropriate fertilizer, the seedling-raising effect is basically the same as that of imported turf peat, so it is suggested that you choose more domestic peat from the perspective of cost-effectiveness. Of course, before use, be sure to remember to sterilize it and add fertilizer and trace elements.
Summary: The above is the knowledge about the classification and application of peat that our editor has summarized for everyone. We hope that after reading this article you will have a deeper understanding of peat.