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puglvrmax2018

Clivia Potted...

3 years ago

Hi all, I was wondering how often are you guys watering your potted Clivia plants. I have one in an 8 inch pot and noticed the potting mix was staying a little on the moist side so I decided to repot it to a

smaller 6 inch pot to give it some extra drainage and noticed some of the roots have rotted. I have been watering it every 10 days from Spring to Fall and basically stopped watering it in winter. Apparently every 10 days during the warm/hot weather was too much. Should I water every 2 weeks or is that too much also? I know everyone has different soil mixes but I repotted mine with potting mix, mixed with some smaller Orchid bark and some perlite. It had a very small bloom last year but nothing so far this year and probably won't have it. I've had the plant appx. 3 or 4 years.


Thanks in advance


Comments (6)

  • 3 years ago

    Thanks so much for your comments and advise Bill! Your Clivias are absolutely beautiful and very healthy. I will take your advise and water when they are dry.


    My small Clivia is in a 5.5 or 6" Clay pot and is in a bark, perlite, potting mix and drains very freely, I think I was over watering it that is why some of the roots were mushy.


    Here's a picture of it...Thanks again for your reply and advise.



  • 3 years ago

    But the rotten parts off the roots, dust with baking soda or cinnamon, whichever you have, let them dry overnight, then repot it in a size larger pot in fresh, sterile soil. It's part bloom time for them anyway, so you won't disturb the bloom cycle. I have two that have never bloomed, but I love the leaves, so I keep them. My problem is I can't keep them dry or cool enough in the winter. I can keep them dry, but not cool or I can keep them cool, but not dry. They'll probably never bloom, but I still love them. I had a huge plant with 7 pups that bloomed once for me. Then snails almost killed it, and I had to stump it (cut all the leaves off) to get it to live. I managed to save two small pups, and I gave one away. The mother plant is gorgeous and just sent up another pup, but I don't think it will ever bloom.

  • 3 years ago

    Thanks DG!! Appreciate your advise and comments...I've had this for several years too so even if it doesn't bloom I'll keep it till it croaks Lol...

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I think clivias are being fussed over unnecessarily. I had bought 4 1gallon pots from Monrovia , 2 yellow and 2 orange and placed them in part shade and after I bumped them up to 3 gallon pots, they all bloomed. I fed plants with controlled release fertilizer a couple of times per year and watered when top 1 inch of soil was very dry unless it rained on them. I used fast draining good quality potting soil. Also bought a bunch of seedling on line and grew them in pots for a couple of years with goal of placing them in my landscape.

    All my clivias went into the ground under a loquat tree and other landscape this past summer. I wanted to test their low temp limits and they all survived several nights of temps down to 22 degrees. most of their foliage was burnt by the cold but plants stayed alive and burst into growth during spring. This spring all the big plants bloomed and many of small plants also put out small blooms with the new foliage. they are now in ground to stay and I do nothing specific for them. They feed on whatever I put down for loquat tree and gardenias in same areas. I am in 9B just north of Gainesville in a very open area and we get severe frosts. This winter was the lowest temp freezes I have seen in past 10 years. If we have a mild winter I expect all foliage to survive and for plants to put on a serious show... fingers crossed.

    If plants are not blooming, the usual main culprit is not enough light, I would increase the light exposure but shy of midday full sun as they will burn, morning and late afternoon sun are fine.


    BTW, Puglvr, looking at your plant it seems a little water stressed and I would certainly move it to a plastic 8 inch pot with good quality potting soil. The white mineral buildup on the outside of the pot could cause root burn.

    puglvr (9B) thanked Ben(8b/9a north FL)
  • 3 years ago

    Thanks Ben, I will give it a little more light, some morning sun. I had it in a bigger pot and I read they like the roots tight, so that is when I decided to put it in a smaller and noticed some of the roots were mushy, thinking I was over watering it. That was a recycled pot and I never washed off the mineral buildup off the old pot Lol...Now I'm not sure if I should wait a few weeks to move it up to a larger pot? Thanks for your help!