How to choose a colored clivia? Remember these three key points

Clivia, just like its name suggests, is like a modest gentleman, and it is especially lovable when it grows. Whether it is blooming or not, it is a very good ornamental plant. Many people like to keep a pot of it. Its leaves are emerald green, and its flowers bloom in clusters, which makes it appealing. However, when growing clivia, you will also encounter many unsatisfactory situations. For example, yellowing clivia leaves are quite common...

Colored clivia is required not only to have the colored stripes of colored clivia, but also to meet the appreciation standards of green clivia. The specific requirements are as follows: The colored stripes are evenly distributed: white and green alternate, and there must be a certain proportion. The contrast of the colored stripes is good: green and white are distinct, bright and charming, exquisite and clear, with a three-dimensional feel, transparency, and a refreshing feel. The stability of the colored stripes is good: for striped clivia, the more evenly the colored stripes are distributed on each leaf, and the closer each leaf is to this, the better. The colors of colored clivia roughly include five types: edged stripe, mandarin duck stripe, colored stripe, and golden silk stripe. There are strains such as Chinese orchid colored clivia, Japanese colored clivia, Henglan colored clivia, and Quelan colored clivia. When breeding, the color requirements and variety characteristics must be considered, and the parents must be chosen carefully.

I. Breeding

1. Selection of parents

Since the appearance of colored clivia in the 1980s up to now, the seedling emergence rate from hybridization has been 15%-20%. Only by choosing plants with fairly evenly distributed colored stripes as the female parent can the seedling emergence rate possibly reach 70%. Therefore, when selecting parents, the traits of the male and female parents must be considered comprehensively, and the traits must complement each other, so that excellent orchid seedlings can be obtained.

2. Selection of the female parent

Based on previous experience, when selecting the female parent, first choose silk-stripe clivia with very transparent silk stripes, where the front and back silk stripes can show through, and the colored stripes are required to be evenly distributed with high color purity; the greater the contrast between porcelain white and dark green, the better. Next, consider other traits, such as leaf length, width, length-to-width ratio, leaf veins, head shape, rosette shape, brightness, thickness, stiffness, and other conditions. Under the premise of ensuring the seedling emergence rate of the offspring and a relatively high proportion of colored clivia in the offspring, the more other conditions meet the standards of clivia, the better.

3. Selection of the male parent

When selecting the male parent, first choose relatively transparent silk-stripe clivia. Next, consider the defects in the female parent's traits, and select one that compensates for, improves, and enhances the female parent's traits. In production practice, it will be found that some male parents are of very good quality, but when used to pollinate different female parent clivia, the offspring obtained are different. Therefore, the selection of excellent male parents requires long-term practice, recording, observation, and summary before it can be determined.