How to grow Clivia? A ten-year veteran grower teaches you to grow it easily

Clivia is a flower with a "noble" and "gentlemanly" character, and growing it at home is very stylish. But many flower lovers feel that Clivia is a very difficult flower to grow. Although it is beautiful, they can only watch others grow it. Never mind, today the editor will share with you the care methods for Clivia.

Garden plant practical guide brought to you by Yizhia together with the Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Nanjing Agricultural University

The full text is 1600 words, and reading takes 4 minutes

Aliases: sword-leaf stone garlic, Damu orchid, Damulan, large-flowered Clivia.

Taxonomic status: Amaryllidaceae, Clivia genus.

Morphological characteristics: perennial evergreen herbaceous flower. Roots fleshy and fibrous, with a pseudobulb formed by leaf bases at the base. Leaves sword-shaped, alternate, arranged on both sides of the plant, entire. Umbel terminal, each umbel (commonly called an "arrow") bearing 5 to 30 small flowers, some can bear more than 40. Small flowers stalked, tepals 6, funnel-shaped, vermilion or orange-yellow. Berry spherical, initially green or dark green, red when mature, purple-black when fully ripe. The maturation period is long, about 8 to 10 months. The flowering period lasts 30 to 50 days, mainly in spring and summer.

Place of origin: southern Africa.

Ecological habits: prefers a cool and moist environment, avoids strong light, high temperature, and dry environments, and is a semi-shade plant. The optimum growth temperature is 15 to 25°C, and growth stops when the temperature is below 5°C.

Cultivation management: For the soil for cultivating Clivia, a mixture of humus soil, clay, and fine sand in a ratio of 2:2:1 is ideal.

The best pH value for potted soil is around 67, so taking black topsoil rich in humus from under the forest and adding some decomposed chicken manure or horse manure as the growing medium will do. Urban residents can buy ready-made "Clivia growing soil" at flower markets.

Deep pots are best for planting. Although Clivia has a certain drought resistance, it does not grow well when short of water, so watering should follow "water when dry, dry when wet", and frequent watering and poor drainage must be avoided.

During the growing period, fertilizer should be applied regularly. If fertilizer and water are insufficient, the leaves grow thin and lanky. Only with appropriate fertilizer and water can the leaves be kept broad, thick, and glossy. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be applied 3 months before flowering.

In summer, special attention should be paid to shading and ventilation; in winter, it should be moved indoors to receive light. The environmental humidity should always be kept at 60%. To make the leaves grow neatly and beautifully, the flower pot should be turned 180 degrees every half month.

Before flowering, an adult Clivia first pushes out the flower stalk, commonly called "pulling the arrow". However, in some plants during growth and development, the flower buds form before the flower stalk has been pushed out, becoming trapped in the pseudobulb, causing the "stuck arrow" phenomenon. The causes are various, such as: room temperature (the temperature above the pot) being too low, which is not conducive to cell division and elongation of the flower stalk; insufficient nutrition during the flowering period, especially a lack of phosphorus and potassium elements; compacted pot soil, lack of permeability, and insufficient watering, and so on. The solution is to appropriately raise the pot soil temperature; strengthen fertilizer and water management before the flowering period, and a drug treatment called "Cui Jian Ling" can also be used.

Propagation methods: seed sowing or division propagation. For sowing, because Clivia has a low ability to set seed through self-pollination, artificial pollination is needed to obtain seeds, and the seeds can be sown once mature. Sow the seeds in a shallow pot with the seed hole facing down, cover with 1 to 15 cm of sandy soil, water thoroughly, then place indoors, keep at 20 to 25°C and keep the pot soil moist, and they will germinate in about 1 month.

Afterward, control water appropriately and provide sufficient light. Generally, seedlings grow only 2 leaves in the first year. For division, Clivia easily produces tillers around the root crown, commonly called "foot buds", and these tillers can be used for propagation. Division is generally carried out in spring from March to April together with repotting. After separating the "foot buds" from the mother plant, plant them in plain sand to grow roots, and after about 1 month new roots will form, at which point they can be replanted.

Practical value: Clivia is a precious potted flower with both beautiful flowers and leaves, and its flowering period is from New Year's Day to around the Spring Festival. Decorating halls and studies with it looks extremely beautiful and elegant, clear and refined.