Edible Fungus Disease Prevention and Control Methods and Fertilizer Selection for Clivia

Fertilizing flowers is essential. Flower enthusiasts who are new to growing Clivia will ask what fertilizer to use for Clivia, worrying about choosing the wrong one. Common Clivia fertilizers fall roughly into two main categories: liquid fertilizers and solid fertilizers.

(1) Liquid fertilizers: a. Soybean cake, hemp seed cake, peanut cake, sunflower seeds, large and small hemp seeds, etc. can all be used, but they must be crushed and soaked in water to ferment beforehand, for a period of at least two years (the longer the better) before use. b. Use the scales, fins, bones, and heads of freshwater fish such as carp and crucian carp, soaked in water and fermented before use. c. There are also those made by soaking animal blood (cow, sheep, pig) and animal bones (crushed) in water and fully fermenting them before use. All the above liquid fertilizers must be fully fermented before use. The liquid fertilizers I use have all been fermented for more than three years.

(2) Solid fertilizers: a. Large hemp seeds (castor beans), small hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc., used after being stir-fried until cooked. b. Animal manure such as horse, sheep, and rabbit droppings works very well after fermentation, but fermenting at home is difficult and easily pollutes the environment, so it is not recommended. c. Animal blood meal and animal bone meal (dried and crushed, or roasted and crushed) can both be used, but not in excess.

Use of common fertilizers:

(1) In autumn, winter, and spring, every 10 to 15 days, take 1 part of fully decomposed liquid fertilizer stock solution, dilute it with 20 times its volume of water, and pour it evenly along the edge of the pot. Before applying fertilizer, the potting soil must contain sufficient moisture, and on the second day after fertilizing, water with clean water to dilute it.

(2) Solid fertilizers such as stir-fried small hemp seeds are used as base fertilizer and waist fertilizer when changing the soil. After changing the soil in autumn, waist fertilizer can be added twice more, in December and in February of the following year.

Deodorizing methods for common liquid fertilizers:

After fermentation, all liquid fertilizers give off an unpleasant odor. As time goes on (after 3 years), the odor will diminish somewhat, but it will still be overpowering when used. At present, the most effective deodorizing method is to add a large amount of orange peel (either dried or fresh) to the liquid fertilizer, which can effectively suppress the odor in the liquid fertilizer, giving it a faint orange fragrance. This peculiar smell can disperse completely within one or two hours after fertilizing, making it suitable for home use.