I finally got around to deadheading our one and only Clivia on Friday. I plucked off two nice red seed heads from one of the stems. It grows outdoors, in the ground (rich clay soil), on the north side of the house with a lot of bright shade and some winter chill (down to upper 20s / low 30s). If these seeds take, I plan to grow them outdoors in the ground or in a pot in the patio.

I've grown other plants from seeds but never Clivia -- so I came straight here to learn how to do it. I opened the seed pod, removed the membrane, rinsed the seeds, and found two beautiful, large, pearly-bronze seeds. I soaked them in a solution of 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 2 parts water, then wrapped them in a damp paper towel and put them in a ziploc baggie on top of the fridge. That was 2 days agao, and and now I'm waiting...

When they germinate, I plan to plant them in 1-gal nursery pots filled with a mix of orchid bark (small pieces), peat, and perlite with the seed half-buried and the root in the soil -- then, cover loosely with clear plastic and put them on the back of our covered patio which faces north and gets bright shade. Is there anything about that plan that I should differently? I know they take several years to bloom, but getting them started is half the fun.

Here's a photo of our Clivia which I bought at a local nursery. I'm assuming it is a standard orange variety.

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