How to grow clivia? Five key points of cultivation and management
Clivia belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family, genus Clivia, and is a perennial evergreen herbaceous flowering plant. Its leaves are crisp green, upright and elegant, poised and graceful, airy and broad. It is enjoyed for its foliage all year round, its fruit for three seasons, and its flowers for one season; it does not compete with the hundred flowers in the heat of summer, and begins to bloom in the depths of winter. As a precious flower beautiful in leaf, flower and fruit alike, it has long been deeply loved by gardening enthusiasts.
Most clivia enthusiasts like to grow them at home, but during care problems such as uneven leaves, rotten crowns, flowers that do not set fruit, flowers hidden among the leaves, or failure to bloom can occur. If you want the clivia grown at home to have high ornamental value all year round, the following points should be noted during cultivation.
1. Temperature: The suitable temperature for clivia growth is 15-25°C. When the temperature exceeds 30°C for a long time in summer, or falls below 5°C in winter, growth will be inhibited. Therefore, temperature must be well controlled so that clivia can grow normally in both winter and summer.
2. Humidity: When clivia is in a relatively high temperature range during growth, higher air humidity is needed to regulate the temperature; in summer, as the temperature rises, humidity should increase accordingly. Otherwise, the leaves will wilt from dryness and the leaf color will become lighter and turn yellow. However, humidity should not reach above 90%, otherwise the leaves very easily become long and narrow, showing symptoms of leggy growth.
3. Light: Clivia is a semi-shade plant, fond of diffused light, and averse to strong direct light. Grown indoors, it generally can satisfy its light needs. When light is too strong, the emerald green, glossy leaves will turn dark green and lose their luster; especially with the strong light of summer, if shade measures are not taken in time, the leaves of clivia will dry up and lose their luster, and may even become lighter in color and turn yellow (Note: to make clivia leaves grow evenly and symmetrically, be sure to rotate the pot, once a month, turning 180 degrees from north to south).
4. Watering: Clivia should not be watered too frequently or too much; the water required differs at different stages. Spring and autumn are the peak growing seasons for clivia, so water timely; the principle of watering is to water thoroughly but not to the point of leakage. In summer's high temperatures, clivia is basically in a dormant state, so water less to prevent root rot.
When the air is dry or the temperature is too high, for those caring for plants indoors, since air conditioning lowers the temperature, normal care can be given, watering simply on a see-dry-water-wet basis; for those caring for plants outdoors under tree shade, besides alternating dry and wet watering, the leaves should be misted appropriately, or water sprinkled to maintain humidity and lower the temperature. In winter, plants generally need to be brought indoors; at 5°C, the potting soil should be kept dry, with alternating dry and wet conditions being sufficient; when the temperature is gradually adjusted to around 20°C, the frequency of watering needs to be increased to keep the potting soil slightly moist, because this is the bud-forming and flowering stage, and only with an adequate supply of water can good growth be achieved.
5. Fertilizing: The principle of fertilizing clivia is to prefer dilute over concentrated; a high fertilizer concentration will burn the root system and cause the leaves to scorch. Generally, during the spring and autumn growing seasons, apply well-rotted organic fertilizer at a concentration of 15%-20%, once every 10-15 days. After applying liquid fertilizer, water once promptly, but the amount of water must not be too large; this on one hand promotes the dissolution of the fertilizer, and on the other hand rinses the newly grown fleshy roots to prevent damage from the liquid fertilizer.
The type of fertilizer applied should vary in emphasis by season. Generally, in autumn, apply more nitrogen fertilizer, such as soybean cake water, to benefit leaf growth, while in winter and spring, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, such as castor beans, sesame, and bone meal, to benefit the formation of leaf veins and to enhance their brightness. In addition, 0.1% monopotassium phosphate, superphosphate, or Peters fertilizer can be sprayed on the leaves as foliar topdressing, which can make seedlings grow quickly, produce more flower stems, and yield larger flowers and larger fruit.
Foliar topdressing can be carried out all year round, especially in summer; frequent spraying of the leaves not only provides nutrients for the growth and development of clivia, but also plays a role in cooling; moist leaf surfaces can also enhance photosynthesis, allowing clivia to grow vigorously (fertilizing can be stopped in summer and winter when the temperature is above 28°C or below 10°C).