What to do if your Clivia won't bloom? Let me teach you the correct way to handle it

Clivia (Clivia miniata) is a plant that can bloom year-round, but its main flowering period is concentrated between spring and summer. Many flower lovers enjoy growing Clivia because it grows lush and green, and when it blooms it is even more stunningly beautiful. Clivia is not only ornamental, it can also beautify the environment.

Many of us novice flower lovers grow Clivia that looks lush and green and very beautiful, but when the flowering season arrives, the flowers are slow to appear, or very few flowers bloom. Why is that? Today Hua'er Gu is here to introduce some handy tips for growing Clivia. With these growing techniques, it will be hard for our Clivia not to bloom. Let's learn together.

For Clivia to bloom, two conditions must be met. The first is that the plant must be at least a four-year-old seedling; only Clivia that is four years or older can reach the minimum requirement for blooming. The second is that the plant must have more than 14 leaves to reach the standard for blooming. These are all conclusions that flower lovers have drawn from their day-to-day experience growing Clivia. If either of these conditions is not met, Clivia generally will not bloom.

So if our Clivia has already met these requirements but still shows no sign of blooming, why is that? We need to analyze further.

1. Light

Insufficient light will prevent it from blooming. Clivia needs a certain amount of light time in order to bloom, so in spring and summer we should let it receive as much sunlight as possible; in summer it should be kept under semi-shade care, and Clivia grown indoors needs to be kept in a place with plenty of scattered light. In winter, when sunlight is insufficient, we should best place it on a balcony with ample light. Avoiding keeping it indoors for long periods can promote photosynthesis and promote flower bud differentiation.

2. Temperature

Clivia is a plant that is rather afraid of the cold. Too low a temperature will cause it to suffer cold damage, so in winter and early spring it needs help with cold protection and warmth. If conditions allow, it can be placed indoors on a closed south-facing balcony with ample light for care, which can prevent it from being hit by cold wind and increase the chances of blooming the following year.

3. Nutrients

Nutrients are very important for plant growth. Insufficient nutrients will prevent Clivia from synthesizing the growth elements needed for blooming, so naturally Clivia will not be able to bloom. Therefore, before the flowering period we need to add some fertile soil, and at the same time add some organic fertilizer or phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to help induce flower buds. That way, when the flowering period arrives, the buds will keep pushing out on their own.

Phosphorus and potassium fertilizer can be applied in late winter. In early spring, Clivia begins to grow rapidly, and we can also use a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Once the flower buds emerge, fertilization can be reduced.

4. Repotting

Clivia needs to be repotted and have its soil changed once a year, to avoid overly large roots causing excessive consumption of nutrients in the potting soil, which would affect the absorption of nutrients for blooming. So we should change it to a pot of fertile soil, and when repotting and changing the soil, prune away some rotten roots and hollow roots, which is even more beneficial for its growth.

5. Watering

Clivia needs to grow in a slightly humid environment. We must not water excessively or go without watering for long periods, otherwise it can also cause it not to bloom. Sometimes the situation can be even worse: when watered excessively, Clivia's roots can develop black rot, causing the plant to die! Therefore, we would rather water according to the principle of "water when dry, stop when wet" than water excessively.