Hi Marg,
Running water over the roots might help untangle them. I prefer not to cut any healthy roots as they are what "drive" the plant.
It's often advised to leave the offsets attached to the mother until there have 10-12 leaves or off blooming age. They grow faster and stay healthier.
I'm surprised that you're repotting now. Won't that interrupt the bloom cycle?
Gail

Thanks Gail. My clivia were very crowded in their pots and seldom flowered at all. I should have repotted after they were given to me but unfortunately I didn't. This may set them back for this year but I'm hoping I will get flowers next year. This may sound like a strange question (sorry) but from everything I've read and been told clivias need good drainage. The woman who gave me these pots said her brother was a grower. Why would a grower put those styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottom of the pots and then set the clivia on top of them? I tried that once with my outside planters and found the soil stayed to wet and encouraged mold so I couldn't understand why he did it. That pot was the only one that I found roots starting to rot. Marg

Marg,
Actually, the use of styrofoam packing peanuts is fairly common for good drainage. It allows for air pockets so that oxygen can get to the roots and also lightens the container. I imagine that you did have drainage holes in the planters. Some things work well for some people and don't for others. It probably depends on individual cultural practices and, for outside plants, the weather.
Yes, clivias do need good drainage. I'm trying a home made orchid type mix containing bark, perllite and charcoal.
Gail

Thanks for the info regarding the use of packing peanuts. Maybe next time I'll give that a try! These pots had barely any soil in them except for an inch or so on top. Most of it was a sandy grit mix. Maybe that's why the clivias did so well. Marg

I am so sorry to go against the grain here, but peanuts do nothing but push a perched water table up further into the pot, make a pot lighter, and take up room for the roots to spread.

Therefore the reason you said that the one in the packing nuts was looking like they were starting to rot. They do nothing to alleviate wet soil or help with drainage..

I would use a soilless mix that is open, porous, and free draining without the packing nuts, and use a clay pot if you are really looking for the roots to breath and stay healthy, expand without crowding to quickly..

Repotting at this time of year will definitely inhibit flower growth as you accepted, but avoiding over crowding and root rot is always a better choice, no matter what time of the year.

The roots to me do not look healthy, but can definitely be made to heal if provided the kind of soilless mix as I suggested.

Cutting the roots apart should cause no harm.I do it all the time and you would be surprised how quickly they heal.They are resilient plants..Unless of course you over water or plant them in a soilless mix that takes too long to dry out, suffocating the roots..

I use a gritty mix myself and have them all planted in clay pots, with the bottom mostly knocked out with a hammer, then a screen placed at the bottom..The roots LOVE the extra oxygen that they receive and the fact that I have to water often, because the soilless mix dries rather quickly..

Good luck with yours..:-)

meyermike_1micha: I thought the roots looked fairly healthy, at least the plants do. What should the roots look like? I did cut off the rot that was starting to form and was sleptical about the packing peanuts. Some of the roots were about a foot long and I had to cut some off. Is that a normal length for them? I have been using clay pots and will continue to use them. Thanks for the tip about knocking out the bottom of the pot to provide better drainage. Sorry for all the questions, still learning. Marg

Hi Marric..

They probably are come to think of it..I am just used to looking a plump whiter roots like those on mine. I think it is because I use no soil on mine, the brown I see on your roots is probably just soil stain, or just that they are a bit dehydrated..Sorry:-(

Oh ya..Normal for roots to be that long. I once measured one on mine that was almost 2 feel long..Crazy hah?

Never stop asking questions..That is how I got this far. Members here are as kind as you can get. No one will ever mind helping you succeed. I learned the drainage method from a clivia grower over here at a trade show..Just don't don't forget to use some kind of screen on the bottom. I go to a craft store, and use those hole screens that people use to knit designs into..I think plastic hole sheets for embroidery art.

I also go step further by using a brick cutter or stone cutter called a grind saw, and make slits half my up all my terracotta pots..Some day I will post a pic once I learn to use my camera.

Post some pics after you have potted up so we can see the finished project. I would love to see them. I am sure they will do fine..Look how healthy the growth of the leaves are!

Mike..:-)

Thanks for all the help Mike. I have finished dividing and ended up with 9 pots, the big ones I put by themselves but I put the babies 2-3 in a pot. I'll try to get pictures and post in the next few days. Marg

Hey Mike,
How do you knock out the bottom of the pots. Knowing me, I would end up breaking the hole pot.
Marg, I've had it with the orchid mix (and my watering habits). The dog knocked over one of my best clivias this morning - Ughh! However, thank goodness he did. Half the roots have rotted. I'm switching to the gritty mix!!!
Gail

Hey monet,

All I do is hit the bottom of the clay pot on the bottom with a hammer, chipping a way at the hole a little at a time, until I get the desired size I want. Usually, the bigger the hole the better.

Then I put the screen on the bottom so the soil does not drain out..All set.

Hi Gail. I'm going to check the roots on mine in the fall and see how they are doing. If I need to I can transplant again, this time in a lighter grit mix. BTW, my dog doesn't do anything more than smell the flowers but only if they have the right scent! Marg

Mike,
You have similar growing conditions to mine. How often do you water using the gritty mix?
Gail

Hi Monet,

When they are resting to encourage bloom in my cellar, once a week is fine.. I would water more frequently if the lights were on longer. But I keep them on only 4-6 hours a day, until March. Then I up the lights to 8-9 until I bring them out, watering them twice a week.

It is vertually impossible to over water in this gritty mix if you sift out all the dust and fines, and use particle sizes larger than 1/8 inch big.

When they come up from the cellar in April, they go outside and I can water every day, and rain besides, and they do not rot. They are always evenly moist, and always happy. It feels good to know they are safe. I can't do this in peaty soils or dirt mixes..You always have to worry about over watering and root rot.

Last year, it rained 45 out of 60 days days all summer with cool temps, and my clivias thrived. If they again were in a peaty mix, I would of had to watch them every day, or bring them in from the rain.

Mike..;-)

Thanks, Mike. I went out today and was happy to find all the ingredients plus lime. I potted up one clivia, but dang I didn't rinse out the dust. I did notice it and used the medium at the top of the mix where there wasn't much. Do you think I will be okay? In a day or two I'm really going to flush out the pot, do you think any that is there will rinse out?
Thanks again,
Gail

Hi Monet..

What do you mean about lime?

If you are using the gritty mix, you absoulutely should use gypsum, not lime..Lime is for a peat and bark mix.

If you didn't rinse and sift the fines out, you will end up with a perched water table somewhere in the pot, please be careful...

If you decide to not fix the medium, then I would invest in some good chop sticks, or some kind of wooden dowel, and use this to gage whether you should water or not.

If the stick comes out the slightes bit damp, after poking it down to practically the bottom as close to the root zone as possible, I would not water.

What ingredients did you finally end up with to make sure you made the gritty mix ok.?

Mike..:-)

Hi Mike,
I read that lime contributes to the calcium level. However, after doing some research because of your post, I realized that I should have used gypsum - thanks. (Lime increases the pH and Clivias like a lower pH.) I do think I will fix the medium.
I was able to find Turface MVP, Gran-I-Grit (grower) and Repti-Bark (fir). I mixed in equal parts. It looks like the pictures in the posts. Thoughts?
Gail

Wonderful! Great job.

Just rememeber, that is you have sifted the fines out, and the dust, and kept the size of all your particles from 1/8 inch or bigger, you will have a superb mix!

Mike..:-)

Hope it worked out for you..

Mike..:-)

Mike,
I believe it did. Though, I was surprised at how much left over fines remained from the turface. I used a colander that I picked up at Walmart on their clearance rack. It probably worked out to be about a #9 sieve (a bit large from what I've read) but, boy does the mix look good. I've only potted up four plants so far. I thought I would wait on the others until I can sift outside. I did place the colander and turface in a plastic bag before sifting and let the dust settle down before opening. So if I get the urge I can do that again.
Gail

Oh, such a great job..Your clivia roots will rejoice in that mix...Breath 1,2,3, breath, 1,2,3,lol

Don't you just love watering it after the repot is done? And the soilless mix is so pretty too.

I am not sure if you are aware of this, but I think you can use a bug screen to sift the turface too..You get a lot more of turface to use per bag..:-)

If there is any way you can post a pic, please do..I will also post some of mine just as soon as I can figure how to do it with my new PC...

Mike..:-)

Does anybody live near Phoenix and willing to help me repot 10 yr old clivia? it is rootbound with lots of babies. thanks!