Clivia (Kaffir lily) cultivation methods and key technical points

Clivia is favored by many discerning enthusiasts for its gentlemanly character and graceful flower form. For friends who grow clivia, two questions often come up: how to grow clivia? and how to grow clivia properly? Below, we explain these two questions based on the characteristics of clivia.

Clivia is suitable for indoor cultivation, mainly determined by its internal structure and physiological functions. Clivia is an evergreen perennial herbaceous plant with strong shade tolerance and thick, large, dark green leaves. The leaf mesophyll contains large amounts of chlorophyll, and can absorb carbon dioxide and water in sunlight, synthesizing organic matter for its own growth and development while releasing oxygen. In addition, the broad, thick, fleshy leaves of clivia have many stomata and hairs that can secrete large amounts of mucilage; during gas exchange, they can absorb large amounts of indoor dust, dirt and harmful gases, making indoor air clean. Therefore, clivia is also praised by people as an “absorption machine” and “dust remover,” a guardian of human health. So how can you make this guardian of health grow healthily in your home too? Household care of clivia should mainly start with temperature and humidity, soil, water, light, nutrition and other aspects.

Because clivia originated in the mountainous forests of South Africa, where the natural environment is like spring all year round, the various organs of the clivia plant have already adapted to this neither-cold-nor-hot natural environment. Therefore, in daily care, the temperature should be controlled between 15-25 degrees. When the temperature drops below 10 degrees, clivia's growth and development slow down, and when it drops below 0 degrees, it will freeze to death. Likewise, when the temperature reaches or exceeds 30 degrees, it will also seriously affect the normal growth and development of clivia.

Yellowing of clivia leaves is mostly a physiological disease, triggered by some physiological factors such as temperature, light, water and aeration. To prevent yellow leaves from appearing, the cause should be identified and treated accordingly.

(1) Temperature: The suitable temperature for clivia growth is 15-25°C. When the temperature exceeds 30CC for a long time in summer, growth is inhibited. If the air humidity at this time is below 6Q%, clivia leaves will become lighter and yellow and even wilt; if the humidity is above 90%, then stems and leaves will grow excessively. To prevent these undesirable phenomena, the temperature should be lowered appropriately, and attention should be paid to ventilation and light transmission, and humidity should be controlled. When the temperature drops below SC, clivia basically stops growing. If the temperature drops to around OC, frost damage may occur, causing leaf tips and leaf margins to lose green and turn yellow, and even yellow-white necrotic spots to appear. Therefore, in winter, good insulation work should be done for clivia to prevent frost damage.

(2) Light: Clivia is a semi-sun-loving flower that prefers scattered light. Too strong light is unfavorable to its growth and easily causes sunscald. However, if the placement location is too dark and light is insufficient for a long time, the leaves will also lose their luster, old leaves will become dark green, and new leaves will become thinner and turn yellow or yellow-green. Some people call this yellow-leaf phenomenon shade yellowing. At this time, clivia should be moved to a place with slightly stronger light; when it is not suitable to move it, artificial light can be used to supplement lighting.

(3) Soil and fertilizer: Clivia likes loose, fertile sandy loam. Soil compaction and insufficient fertilizer supply will cause leaves to turn yellow and affect flowering. At this time, thin liquid fertilizer should be applied more, and the soil should be loosened.

(4) Water: Clivia likes moisture. If the potting soil is too dry for a long time and the temperature is also high, the leaves are prone to turning yellow. But long-term overwatering easily leads to disease. Therefore, in clivia cultivation, the soil should be kept moist in spring and autumn, slightly drier during the winter dormant period, and the potting soil should not be too warm in summer. Every morning or evening, clear water can be appropriately sprayed on the leaf surfaces and surrounding ground to maintain a cool environment.

(5) Aeration: If clivia is placed too densely and the surrounding environment is closed off, air circulation will be hindered, making the plants thin, weak, yellow and poor. Therefore, indoor ventilation should be strengthened, and crowding should be avoided.

Water is an important component of the clivia plant. According to measurements, clivia contains 60%-80% water, and especially its fleshy roots have a strong water-storage function, giving it strong resistance to drought. Clivia prefers neutral water. Clean, unpolluted tap water, well water, river water and so on can all be used for watering, but because fresh tap water and well water have a lower temperature than the soil and contain some impurities, they should be left to stand for 1-2 days before use. As for watering, there are also many particular points. For clivia seedlings, the best method is to spray-irrigate with a spray bottle. Spray upward toward the leaves with the nozzle. The advantage of doing this is that besides achieving the purpose of watering the flower, it can also wash off dust, and at the same time leave mist droplets on the leaf surface, ensuring a certain humidity on the leaf surface; in sunlight, water evaporation can lower the leaf surface temperature and prevent sunscald. However, for clivia that is blooming, spray irrigation cannot be used for watering, to prevent water from entering the leaf sheath and causing heart rot. For clivia in the flowering period, water can only be poured into the pot. So when should you water, and how much water is appropriate? This mainly depends on the ambient temperature where the clivia is located. The general watering principle is “see wet, see dry; do not water if not dry; water thoroughly when dry.” Watering thoroughly means making all of the clivia's root system be in the same humidity. Judging whether water has been watered thoroughly cannot be decided only by whether water flows out of the bottom of the pot. Because sometimes after the potting soil dries it becomes compacted and shrinks into a ball; after watering, water quickly flows from the pot wall to the bottom of the pot and runs out through the bottom hole. But the central part of the potting soil has not been touched by even a little water. If watering is stopped at this time, clivia leaves will wilt, and when the flower spike is emerging, it will form a clamped spike. Here is a simple and effective watering method for you: immerse the flower pot entirely into a basin or bucket filled with water, soak for half a minute, then take it out. However, the disadvantage of doing this is that nutrients in the soil are relatively easy to lose, so if you want clivia to have deep roots and large leaves, you should also pay attention to supplementing nutrients in a timely manner. The nutrient elements needed by clivia mainly come from organic fertilizers, such as soybean cake, peanut oil cake, animal offal and so on. Generally, applying them once in spring and once in autumn within a year is enough. In spring, apply once after flowering, around late April to early May; after the fruit is harvested in autumn, apply once more around mid-September to late October.