How to prevent and treat root rot in clivia? Do this in spring and summer

Clivia root rot: Spring is the season of vigorous growth for clivia, but improper water and fertilizer management can easily lead to root rot. The main causes are as follows.

First, overwatering: Whether seedlings or mature plants, water must not be applied in excess. When there is too much water, the temperature is high, and ventilation is poor, clivia will certainly develop root rot.

Second, the soil is too raw: Whether using leaf mold soil, horse manure soil, or peat soil to mix nutrient soil, it must be fully fermented. If some raw soil is put into the pot, under high-temperature conditions, this raw soil will ferment and generate high temperatures, scorching and rotting the fleshy roots.

Third, the fertilizer is not fully fermented: When applying soybean cake, hemp seeds, fishy water, and the like to clivia, they must all be fully fermented first. If some raw fertilizer is applied to the potting soil, it will also generate high temperatures and scorch and rot the fleshy roots.

Fourth, excessive fertilizer application leads to root rot: In particular, chemical fertilizer must not be applied in excess, because chemical fertilizer is too stimulating. Although it can promote rapid leaf growth in the short term, excessive fertilization damages the fleshy roots too much and can easily cause shrinkage and root rot.

Fifth, using porcelain pots or plastic pots with very poor air permeability to grow clivia: Because of poor air permeability, the roots and stems are smothered and rot.

Sixth, the temperature is too high: Especially during the seedling stage, the bottom temperature only needs to be kept at 22°C, but some people leave seedling pots or boxes on a heated kang or radiator for a long time, and as a result the seedlings quickly have their roots smothered and rotted.

Based on the above situations, if we take targeted precautions, clivia root rot can be avoided. But if by chance it is discovered that clivia has already developed root rot, there is no need to worry. Just knock the plant out of the pot, cut off the rotted roots, apply charcoal or soot to the cut surfaces, then replace the soil and repot it. If the fleshy roots have all rotted away, it does not matter either. You can pinch off all the rotted roots, then wash the root crown clean with clear water, and place it in coarse sand to encourage new roots. Part of the leaves should be cut off.

Clivia root rot occurs mostly in summer, mainly caused by the specific environment of high temperature and high humidity and by growers lacking care knowledge. For example, some people, for the sake of appearance, grow clivia in porcelain pots, plastic pots, or purple clay pots, which have poor air and water permeability. After watering in summer, because the pot has poor permeability and air circulation is difficult, root respiration is blocked, causing root rot. Some, although they plant clivia in clay pots, fear a shortage of water and fertilizer in summer, so they water as soon as the pot surface soil looks dry (while the potting soil is actually still moist), and they often apply concentrated fertilizer. When root respiration is suffocated, concentrated fertilizer scorches the roots, and in addition some harmful bacteria multiply quickly in summer, root rot is caused.

For clivia, whether in the vegetative growth stage (from seedling stage to before flowering) or the reproductive growth stage (after flowering begins), the suitable growth temperature is 5-25°C. Generally, because families lack the necessary equipment when growing clivia, they should proceed from actual conditions. In the hot and humid summer, in addition to measures such as shading, ventilation, and cooling, they should proceed from the perspective of controlling its growth (keeping the plant in a dormant or semi-dormant state, which is beneficial to growth and development in other seasons) and strengthen root care in summer. The methods are:

First: Use clay pots to grow clivia.

Second: In summer, do not fertilize or apply only a small amount of dilute liquid fertilizer.

Third: In summer, control watering and insist on not watering until the soil is completely dry. To prevent excessive water in summer from suffocating the roots, you can use a large wooden box filled with wet sawdust and bury the flower pot in it (do not water inside the pot), then check frequently and spray water to replenish when the sawdust is dry.

If root rot occurs by accident, rescue it quickly. First knock the clivia with root rot out of the pot, remove the soil, cut off the roots, wash the roots with clear water, then apply a potassium permanganate aqueous solution to the rotted root areas, then wrap all the leaves with white paper, expose the root area, face the root area toward the sun, and sun it for half an hour, using ultraviolet rays to kill pathogens.

After treatment by the above methods, if only a few roots of the diseased plant have rotted, it can be directly planted in sterilized nutrient soil, watered less for the first half month, and can recover growth in one and a half months; if more than half or all of the roots of the diseased plant have rotted, it should be planted in a pot filled with fine sand and placed in a cool place to sprout new roots. After about two months, when new roots have grown, replace the nutrient soil, and normal management can then be carried out.