What is the benefit of dividing your clivia?

does it bloom every year?

how long before the little ones bloom?

josephene, Well, lets see.....benefits of dividing Clivia. First, pot simply won't hold any more plant/roots. Pot gets too heavy to haul in and out twice a year (part of that is I seem to be about 6 months older each time it happens) . Plants in pot far too large to put in house during winter (remember I have two large ones). Plants grow too close together and even under each other, and come up at all kinds of crazy angles = don't look pretty. That's a good start......☺

no, usually bloom at least twice a year.

The three largest divisions I expect to bloom in a year, with good care. The really tiny one probably two or three years.

I have heard all kinds of horror stories about Clivia culture, and think I have proved just about all of them false since I got mine. That's a benefit of growing them before you know how its supposed to be done.....Y'a don't know when you are doing the no-no's, which seem to work all too well.

When you get to AL, get you one, they are really lots of fun.

Bill

Bill, do you re-pot the "children" right away? I really need to divide the big one right by my door, but I'm worried about killing it.

If the little plants have 4-5 leaves, they will have enough roots to be potted up, so I remove them and pot them up ASAP. I have waited several days to repot, but it was for some unexpected reason, and did not harm the plants at all.

When I do repot, I use slightly dampened potting soil (a good grade of commercial potting soil with no water retaining additives) I usually add an extra amount of perlite, or coarse oil dry to help keep the soil from compacting, and to aid In drainage. After repotting I let the pot get pretty dry before watering, and run it dry for several weeks to a month before returning to its normal watering cycle. Lots of folks apparently let their plants go through the winter without much water at all (maybe a little bit once a month or so). they put them in a cool dark place and let them be dormant. I don't do this....I keep them inside in a sunny warm window and grow them all winter. That is probably why I usually get two bloomings a year.

Killing it.....I don't think you will do that, unless you choose to drown it with too much water. Good drainage and run them dry, and I think you will be ok. Don't over pot them, they like to be a bit rootbound, and bloom better that way.

Bill

Thanks, my pots are outdoors...they are very happy outside in coastal Southern California. They bloom on their own schedule; I just noticed a yellow and an orange both blooming on the side of the house this afternoon.

Hi Bill! How timely I ran across this thread! Here is my story.

I have a pot (approx 12-14 in across) with Clivia. I have had it for years. 2013, I dumped it out on the grass to repot. By the time I separated everything I had 9 very good size "starts".

Being a novice to Clivia repotting, I used the same pot, fresh soil, replanted 3 of the plants back in it. And holy cow, it was very difficult trying to fit 3 plants (actually their phenomenal roots!) back into that pot!

I thought the goal was to have a nice full pot of Clivia? Not just one specimen plant? That is why I put 3 back in the pot. right or wrong?

Is that how you know it needs repotting? If there is more than one plant in the pot? Should I have not put 3 back in the pot? hmmm,,,That could be problematic,,,I had trouble giving away the six extras, imagine if I had two more to give away!

I am looking at it and think I should repot again. Pot is nice and full, it only blooms once (in the spring) and I thought it didn't bloom again because it is always needing repotting. How often should they bloom? I am beginning to think they are like Christmas Cactus,,,,,,,blooms only once, what a show so we tolerate it the rest of the year til it blooms again. Do I have that correct?

I have to "store" it in the winter near my doorwall in the kitchen so it is in a slightly cooler location and just light not sun. But it must like that spot because the weather is barely here for plants to go out and it is already setting flowers! And I don't water it hardly. Maybe once. That is it during winter.

I do want to keep it (one pot), it is very beautiful for the brief time mine flowers, but that big pot seems to get heavier every year, spring and fall. And I am getting, well, let's just say,,,,,,not younger.

Can you give some much needed advice? Oh and one more thing. Their leaves sometimes get "ratty" from people and dogs constantly going past it. Is it ok to just trim off the broken parts or should I take the entire ratty leaf off? Rosie

Here is a photo of my bloom. Thanks for any advice!!!! Rosie

Rosie, Lets see if I can keep my train of thought on the tracks long enough to produce the answer you need.

First, in dealing with my two plants I am increasingly of the opinion that there is no real right or wrong where Clivia is concerned. It seems to become more what you want to do with them.

I have two plants. I was given three seedlings in 4" pots, the first to bloom never did get the blooms to come out of the axials of the leaves, so after three tries it was out.....out of the house into the trash. I am all but absolutely certain that the three plants I got were from seed off the same plant...basically a selfing of a single plant.

Both my plants have blooms that are for all practical purposes identical to each other. The plant habit is basically the same, with one glaring difference. One of my plants throws off baby plants left and right.....The other plant has NEVER produced a pup.

I relate this little bit of information simply because it sounds like you have a plant that is very prone to producing baby plants, and that will have a lot to do with how you probably should treat that plant.

Packing three of those "sardenes" back into your "can" is fine from the standpoint of producing a beautiful display of blooms, but when you consider all three of those plants are genetically the same, when each of them produces three or four babies sometime in the not too distant future, you truly will have a house full of you know what.......Clivia.

I generally wait for my large plant to produce tree or four pups, then I repot it and strip it of all its little ones, and return it to the same pot.....alone.....☺ I don't get as many blooms, but then I also don't get as large a disposal problem either. This happens about every three or four years, which Is about the time, I figure, the potting soil needs changing.

I know lots of folks let their plants go dormant in the winter.....reduce temps, light, and water, and let the plant just exist through the winter. Here In central SC we are too cold in winter to let the plants stay outside in winter, and I never wanted to put my plants in the basement, so I kept them with all the rest of my small collection of assorted plants in a south facing huge plate glass window shaded with oak trees. The oaks are bare of leaves in winter, so the plants get dappled shade produced only by the bare limbs of the large trees.

My two Clivia love this winter home, and grow all winter. I continue to water and feed them through the winter, and they seem to love it. They demonstrate their approval of the treatment by rewarding me with two bloomings per year. Rarely has either failed to do this. I am told often that they only bloom once a year, and my response is that in the beginning neither me nor my Clivia knew they were suppose to bloom but once a year, and now that the precedent has been established we neither want to change.

I believe the Clivia do bloom better when they are a bit pot bound, so I do keep mine in slightly smaller pots than I might have another kind of plant in. There is nothing scientific in this statement, just a gut feeling I have. As long as they want to bloom twice a year, I'll gladly keep them in smallish pots. I repot my plants when they have been in the same dirt for several years, the pot is full of plants (plural) and when I stick my finger down into the soil, all I seem to feel is roots. Oh, I also begin to have difficulty keeping the plants watered. The more plants, the more they drink.

As for repotting your plant now, I think I would wait probably at least a year before I did that.....several reasons.....first, two potting shocks back to back might not be good. Second, you might not have a nice grassy spot to do the work this time of year. Third, what ARE you going to do with two more plants? and fourth, I do understand that neither you or your Clivia are getting any younger, and those pots do get heavier each year. In my house, neither me or the Clivia are getting any younger or lighter.

Oh, I also have a Cactus....mine is a Thanksgiving Cactus.......no, actually its a Thanksgiving/early spring cactus. hummmmm that cactus and the Clivia both live as neighbors all winter.....you think there is a conspiracy there anyplace? Actually, I just believe that plants are about as reluctant to live by the "rules" as we humans sometimes are.

Yours are really nice blooms.....A bit more yellow in the center than mine, and I like that. I am kinda sorta looking for a green, thinking that it might be interesting to cross with one of my plants. But old men have to be a bit wary of long term projects.....I catch myself contemplating the purchase of green bananas at times.

Seriously, I hope this helps.....If not, ask again...you probably won't get a short answer, but I will be glad to answer.

Bill

Thanks Bill! I really never want a short answer, I prefer a helpful answer. Yours was very helpful.

Ok, here is the plan. Repot NEXT year. (but fyi,,,, it is still summer here, 90 degrees and humid so repotting on the grass could be an option! lol)

Winter care has to stay the same. Tucked in corner with not much water. Dormant sort of, if you will.

My Christmas Cactus is almost 50 years old. It is the original old fashioned one. My friend gave it to me last year. She was gonna toss it. AND a very old [40 years old] Easter Cactus. Again she was gonna toss it. They are huge and it was a real struggle to find a place to put them during the winter.

I should start trimming both of them soon. Anyone who reads this if you would like some cuts for postage, PM me. Hope I am not in trouble for posting that here, but I can't stand to throw away cuttings of any kind! Clivia will drive me nuts next year when I repot it! LOL Rosie

I have a lot of clivias that are pot bound and have to be separated and would like to plant them on the ground in Palm Beach Florida on a spot that doesn't get a lot of sun. Is this possible. We do have a lot of snails that eat my orchids and I just read somewhere on this site that they get eaten by snails. Is planting my clivias on the ground a good idea or should I just separate them and replant them all in pots.

Bill I wish I had an extra spot for my Clivia in winter so it didn't need to be dormant. But alas we live in a home (built 1876) that has tall, narrow windows. Violets and smaller pots struggle for table space & light during the winter. No room for a large pot of Clivia. So that is why it gets relegated to an out of the way corner aka dormancy. The only other option is the compost pile and NOTHING ever gets thrown away if it is a living plant. Not cuttings either. My downfall lol.

But I don't think I will repot this fall. Next spring after it blooms sounds ok with me. It blooms so early in the year that I will have all summer to do it! I had given my daughter a pot of it (3 in the pot) when I tore it apart 2 years ago and hers has bloomed for her without missing a beat!

Rest assured I will post the extra babies here to see if anyone wants them! Wouldn't mind trading for a bright yellow one!

I must say,,,,,they do have one heck of a root system! Rosie

Hi all,,,Rosie back with Clivia questions. One of my questions didn't get answered and I didn't realize it until I now that I have to bring in my Clivia.

1] If some of the leaves are "ratty" from weather, wind, people going past etc. do I trim just the "ratty" tips off?

2] Or do I cut the entire leaf off as far down as I can?

I also have 2 green seed pods formed from this year's spring bloom. I have no idea what to do with them.

I will be hauling that pot in within the next week to it's "spot to be dormant in". All I will do is clean it up and stuff it in it's corner until spring. Unless you tell me something else to do.

What do I do with the seed pod????? It is still green and their are 2 of them. Thanks! Rosie

Rosie, I have 4 large plants to bring in.....along with all the other stuff.....☺ I took 4 or 5 pups off of one of my large plants this summer, and when you do major surgery like that, there will be significant damage to mama...Some of the bottom leaves still look really ratty, and some middle leaves have tip die back. I cut the most severely damaged leaves back to the base, and the others I trim back to healthy tissue. I usually allow the die back alone until it stops on its own, then trim. If you are careful and don't get water on the leaves, and let the plant run dry after "surgery", I find these things usually do not progress too far before they stop on their own. Sharp sterile blade (I use Exacto) and fungicide if you desire...I usually don't use fungicide on the first cut, but do if that does not stop the problem.

The seed pods...I would leave them on the plant until they turn soft and reddish. If they don't ripen, you have only lost a few seed, If they do, you are ahead of the game.

I have always grown my plants through the winter, and usually get blooms, but this year, unless someone relieves me of a couple of large plants, I may have to try the dormant routine.

Bill

Thanks Bill, I wasn't sure what to do about the seed orbs. I will leave them alone and see what happens.

I will, however, go ahead and cut off the "ratty" leaves. It would be nice if they would dry up and blow away on their own, but I don't have that much time to spare. It is gettin' a little chilly in these parts! lol

Repotting, I will take your previous advice and wait till they bloom next spring and THEN dump them into the grass!

AND, when I repot in the spring, I will only put one in each pot. Maybe. There is no one to trade with around here so that means I will have more babies. [frowny face] Compost pile NOT an option.

Just one more thing. Should I give it just a little soil topdress now? Or just let things ride until I repot and give fresh soil in the spring? Thanks! Rosie

You know what.....I don't know how to answer that last question.....I have left my large plant in the same pot/mix for what I think were extreme lengths of time because of the season-seeds maturing-baby plants not large enough to pot- etc. etc. Once I had many roots exposed, and could stick fingers down into the mix and it felt like all there was were roots. None of that seemed to upset the plant one bit....That's why I call them "tough old birds" ☺ I would tend to say do what ever you think best....what ever makes you feel good will probably be ok with the plant.....

Bill

Thanks Bill,,,think I will let it ride. I have never topdressed before,,,why start now? lol. One less job to do. Anyway I am gonna tear it apart in the spring after it blooms and it will get fresh soil then. Thanks again! Rosie