Ok..I'll bite...

Only from what I have heard....3-5 years from childhood to adulthood..;-). yOu need at least 5-6 leaves or more on each side for any type of flower to produce..

I have been wondering about this as I have some clivias that are in their 10th leaf and are still actively growing.

QUESTION: If I let them grow up to their 12th leaf and put them to dormancy, will this make them bloom? Something kinda like "forcing" with the hippeastrums?

Geeezzz...I would really love to see them flower!!! Specially the miniature ones (Henglans and Sparrows) I have a variegated Sparrow that has 12 leaves right now. Would I really, really see this one flower soon????

{{gwi:571929}}

Hi....

I was at work and can not pull up pics...My computer has a block. But I didn't want to wait till I get home, since I have a couple of minutes..;-)

Are you feeding your clivia all summer? Are you giving them good nutrition to prepare them for birth? If so what?

Yes you can get them to flower. I have seen some as few as 8 leaves in full blomm at my local nurseries. I actually had to force mine to do so.

You need to give them conditions condusive to blooming. Let them rest all winter with cool temps, very little light, and very little water. At least 4 worth of rest.

You CAN get these things to flower. There is lots of ideas here on this forum about bringing clivias to bloom.

Craig here has had lots to share. He has such beautiful ones too..

You CAN get yours to flowers by winters end this year...-)
And thanks for the compliments on my variegated one..Thankyou.

I got a few of these from a friend from China..Would you believe that she grows hers in her insy bitsy apartment. She must have dozens and dozens and put them everywhere, even under her bed. She uses flourescent lights to keep them growing semetrically perfect, and puts them in the dark under her bed for weeks at a time to get them to flower..lol

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the heads up!!! Yipeeeee!!! I am so happy to know that these "tiny" clivias will be blooming soon. They are such slow growers (here in my growing conditions) and their seeds/plants are so expensive too!!!

Yes, I feed them every watering. I mix a fertilizer (half or recommended dosage) solution in a big 24 gallon tub, add some Potassium and Superthrive, and water everything...Hippieastrums and Clivias. I try to alternated my fertilizers so they'd get whatever they need. I also use organic fertilizers mixed in their top soil and a dose of Fish Emulsion once a month. I hope that's enough feeding for them...lol!!!

I am planning on putting my clivias to rest (cool period) just like my Hippeastrums. Around November/December, my unheated garage should be in the 50sF. This is actually my first time to do this to the clivias.

Another Question: Won't they need some kind of light when they are put to rest since they are "in leaf"? Or should they be in the dark side like under the bed? Oh my, these Henglans and Sparrows sure will fit under my bed with no problems!!! LOL!!!

{{gwi:571931}}

You know, even though she says she does this, I still find it hard to beleive...LOL
You should see her plants though!! They make mine look sick..lol
I personaly, would use a flourescent light and give them at least 5 hours of light at most...That is all I give.
While they are getting just this amount of light, they are resting and yet still growing.
They even get to symetrically grow towards the light getting into perfect shape for the spring, one leaf growing directly over the other, back and forth...
As Feb comes, increase light an hour every 2 weeks until April. They will bud. ALL mine did, even the yougins...

Looks like the fertilizer routine you have is ok..:-)

They sure are expensive ha? Have you seen how much some can cost on e-bay?////WOW

You know, even though she says she does this, I still find it hard to beleive...LOL
You should see her plants though!! They make mine look sick..lol
I personaly, would use a flourescent light and give them at least 5 hours of light at most...That is all I give.
While they are getting just this amount of light, they are resting and yet still growing.
They even get to symetrically grow towards the light getting into perfect shape for the spring, one leaf growing directly over the other, back and forth...
As Feb comes, increase light an hour every 2 weeks until April. They will bud. ALL mine did, even the yougins...

Looks like the fertilizer routine you have is ok..:-)

They sure are expensive ha? Have you seen how much some can cost on e-bay?////WOW

Flourescent!!! I got that covered! I grow my younger Hippie seedlings under 2 shoplights. These "little clivias" can share with the Hippies then. Oh my...but the hIppies get 14-15 hrs. of light/day. Maybe moving them in the very end of the shoplights would be just right???

Expensive: I will not be surprised of how expensive they can get. They are such slow growers!!! And I saw a pic of the Henglan or Sparrow in bloom somewhere. They do not have a lot of flowers to pollinate and make seeds. Their flowers are just like kinda stuck in between those leaves and not an umbel. Can you imagine how long it will take for a $5 Henglan/Sparrow seed to grow into a blooming size...10 to 12 leaves as you have said. This little things grow like 1 leaf in 6 months!!! Here in my non-perfect growing conditions anyway!!!

Thanks for the tips Mike! I surely will "try" to follow them. Geeeezzzz....winter growing space sure will be another big problem this year.

Will I still be alive to see the seeds in these berries flower??? Oh gosh...just waiting for them to ripen takes foreeeeevvveerrrr!!!! LOL!!! And the worst part about this is that I took time to pollinate them with different pollens that I have stored here. I used those white tiny tags with strings that I use with my hippies and wrote the pollens used. Then they got rained on and dried, got wet from watering and dried for months. Hahaha...they're all either washed out or stuck together! Bummer!!! So I just took them out and will just call the seeds "Good Quality Variegated Clivia Seeds". They could have been "VERY GOOD Quality Variegated Clivia Seeds"

For real...I got to use San Marcos Yellow, Mandarin Duck,Fukurin, Lemon Chiffon (Thanks to Jim Shields), Solomone Yellow (Thanks to Jose of TX) pollens.

{{gwi:571933}}

Here's one with...strings. No wonder a lot of clivia growers sell clivias/seeds with "lost tags" LOL!!!

{{gwi:571934}}

Lol...Beautiful!

I would put them farthest from the light, as you suggested.
You could even put them right under the lights to, and if you can remember to do this, drape a black cloth over them while the others get the light, and remove everyday at the same time..lol
That would be quite a task!
I think it would be easier just to stick them furthest from the light as you would christmass cactus, and let them dry out fully before even adding a bit of water every so often.

Tell us what you do and how it turns out...k

Mike

Wow! That is so awesome. You have so many plants and they look happy

beautiful, I started a few clivia seeds this fall, I have never actually seen one in bloom they are not a common plant up here, even as a houseplant. It seems that it takes a long time to get them to flower, but I am used to that, I breed peonies and they can take 5-7 years before you know if you got something good, and if not, it's "out to the compost pile" with them. With clivia there does not seem to be any "ugly" blossoming ones, they are all beautiful.

Where did you get your sparrows. I am looking for them in the US and not sure I would trust breeders outside the states.