When Does Clivia Bloom? A Detailed Guide to Its Flowering Period

Clivia, also known as sword-leaf lycoris and large-leaf lycoris, is a perennial herbaceous ornamental flower of the genus Clivia in the Amaryllidaceae family. It is native to southern South Africa. Its plant form is elegant and graceful, its leaves are verdant and upright, its flowers are large and brightly colored, and its fruit is bright red. Leaves, flowers, and fruit are all beautiful, earning it the reputation of flowers in one season, fruit in three seasons, and foliage in all four seasons, with extremely high ornamental value. Now let us take a look at when Clivia blooms!

When does Clivia bloom?

Clivia's flowering period is from February to April. After blooming, the flowering period can be extended by appropriately lowering the temperature, improving ventilation, and reducing light. Clivia has a long growth cycle; generally it must be cultivated for four or five years and grow to 20 to 25 leaves before it can bloom. Well-cultivated plants may send up a scape and bloom in two or three years, and some may even send up a scape and bloom in less than two years. At the same time, most Clivia plants can only send up one scape and bloom once a year, though some, due to good cultivation methods, will send up two or three scapes in a year. However, some Clivia plants do not send up a scape or bloom even after being grown for six or seven years, and some bloom once and then never bloom again.

Why does Clivia fail to bloom?

1. Improper nutrition: After Clivia enters the reproductive stage, part of its nutrients must be supplied to the reproductive organs for flower bud differentiation. At this time, if too much nitrogen fertilizer is used and phosphorus fertilizer is lacking, the plant will grow excessively, preventing normal flower bud differentiation and thereby affecting normal blooming.

2. Water imbalance: Clivia's life activities require water, and the nutrients in the soil can only be absorbed by the root hairs after being dissolved in water. Therefore, watering should be reasonable so that the plant's vegetative growth is good, and after entering the reproductive growth stage it can carry out normal flower bud differentiation and bloom in time.

3. Improper light: Clivia is a intermediate-day flower. Under long-day conditions it can only grow and cannot carry out flower bud differentiation, so it is slow to bloom. To make Clivia bloom, it must be moved in the evening to a room where the lights are not turned on; once the scape has emerged, this no longer matters.

4. Improper temperature: Clivia stops growing when the temperature is below 10°C or above 30°C. A room temperature that is too high or too low will lead to poor plant growth, which in turn affects bud formation and blooming. Therefore, the room temperature for cultivating Clivia should preferably be 11-17°C.

What should be done if Clivia's scape is trapped?

1. Adjust the temperature: The suitable growth temperature for Clivia is 15-25°C. Below 15°C it grows poorly. In particular, if the temperature cannot reach above 15°C before the scape emerges, the scape will be difficult to send up. Therefore, the temperature should be adjusted in time to help the scape emerge.

2. Adjust the temperature difference: Clivia's growth habit favors a large day-night temperature difference. If the temperature difference is small, sending up the scape is difficult. After flower bud differentiation and before the scape shoots up, the temperature should be controlled at around 10°C, which makes scape emergence easier; otherwise, the scape may become trapped.

3. Reasonable fertilization: After Clivia has been grown for 3 years, the number of fertilizer applications must be increased once autumn arrives. It is best to apply liquid fertilizer with a relatively high phosphorus content, and alternating applications of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are preferable. When necessary, a 0.2% monopotassium phosphate foliar fertilizer can be added to promote flower bud formation and earlier blooming.

4. Timely watering: If Clivia lacks water when the scape emerges, the growth of the scape will also be hindered and the scape will become trapped. Therefore, when the scape is shooting up, the amount of watering should be increased to keep the potting soil moist; otherwise, the bulb and leaves will suffer from lack of water, hindering the plant's physiological activities and causing the scape to become trapped and affecting blooming.

5. Slit the scape: When Clivia shifts into reproductive growth, pay constant attention to changes in the bulb. If the scape becomes trapped because the pressure from the bulb is too great, a sharp knife can be used to slit the leaf sheath clamping the scape by 1.5 cm to reduce the pressure of the leaf sheath base on the scape and encourage the scape to emerge.