The tropical flower Kaffir lily has long taken root on windowsills and is loved by gardeners. Reproduction at home is carried out by root suckers and seeds. It has short, fleshy rhizomes, which, under good conditions, quickly produce lateral rosettes and create lawns. In captivity, the flower is propagated by transplanting into a new container. You can grow clivia from seeds obtained from flowering plants after pollination.
Obtaining planting material
In a cramped pot, there is not enough space for the roots. If you take a large dish while the roots are filling it, there will be no flowering. In a cramped pot of fast-growing clivia, replanting is necessary. When the plant has entered the flowering period, it forms shoots around it, which are separated from the mother bush at the time of transplantation.
If cross-pollination is performed during flowering, large berries are formed on the plant. When they become soft, 1-6 pieces of seeds are extracted from them, which germinate well when fresh. Clivia from seeds blooms later, in the third or fourth year. Breeders use seed propagation to create new varieties of flowers. Seeds can only be obtained from plants over eight years old.
Requirements for dishes and soil
Under natural conditions, clivia grows in fertile, humus-rich soil. Accordingly, a drainage layer is placed in the pot and a cushion of substrate is poured:
- - 1 part;
- humus - 1 part;
- turf soil – 2 parts.
Additionally, perlite, or vermiculite and sand are added to the soil for clivia. Granulated superphosphate poured onto the bottom of the pot will ensure better root development and abundant flowering.
Experienced gardeners use ready-made soil for orchids when replanting. In such a substrate, the roots become fatty, the plant develops and blooms faster.
The pot for replanting needs to be selected only slightly larger than the previous one. The choice of ceramic or plastic dishes determines how easily and without injury the plant can be removed. Smooth inner plastic surfaces are preferred for this plant. The conical shape of the vessel will make it easy to remove the plant. Drainage holes should ensure good drainage of irrigation water.
Transplanting clivia at home
If circumstances do not arise that require immediate transplantation of the plant, clivia is transplanted after flowering, during the dormant period.
If you are not going to propagate clivia from seeds collected from the plant, the flower shoot needs to be cut off. The plant is greatly weakened, devoting strength to the production of offspring.
When transshipping, it is necessary to preserve the roots, since the wounds can become infected and the roots will begin to rot, especially since the plant likes to be watered abundantly. Young plants are replanted annually, while old plants only need to change the top layer of loosened soil. When planting in a new container, the layer of soil should not cover the base of the leaves. Constant dampness in this place will lead to rotting.
If the roots are damaged during handling, they must be carefully treated with charcoal dust. The planted plant is shaded and comfortable conditions are created for rapid rooting.
At the same time, new shoots can be carefully removed from the mother plant for propagation of clivia. An indispensable condition is that young plants have at least four leaves. Only under this condition can the young plant feed its roots.
Young babies can be placed in separate cups with a bottom hole and a drainage layer. In this case, the diameter of the dishes should be about 7 cm in diameter. You can root two or three plants in one container. When clivia is propagated by children at home, it will produce a flower shoot for the second or third season.
It is considered important not to create a dormant period of two years for young plants. They must intensively throw out leaves and accumulate food reserves in order to bloom faster. Constant watering will speed up the formation of shoots.
Obtaining clivia from seeds.
The seed propagation method requires more patience. Seeds can be grown independently when the mother plant is eight years old. They need to be sown in a school of peat, turf and sand. The seeds will hatch in six months. Favorable time for sowing is from October to April. The container is kept warm and slightly moistened all the time. After the leaves come out, the plants are transferred to separate cups.
Seeds germinate if they are kept moist in the berry. To prevent the berries from drying out, they are kept on a cut stem until the sowing time.
There is also a faster way to obtain sprouts - in a warm place in a damp cloth. The hatched seeds are sown in separate cups.
After the seedlings grow up, they are transplanted into large cups and more nutritious soil. Over two years, three-time transplanted plants without a dormant period gain mass and roots. They are fed and kept at a temperature of 20 0 C. When clivia is propagated from seeds at home, flowering will occur in the fourth year of the plant’s life.
Video about propagating clivia by seeds
Clivia is popular among floriculture lovers. It is easy to grow even for novice gardeners. But in order to achieve flowering, you need to know the intricacies of caring for Clivia at home and putting it into a dormant state.
Clivia belongs to the amaryllis family. But it differs from the usual lilies in that instead of bulbs it has a rhizome. The leaves growing from the ground form a basket-like pseudostem. Long, dense leaves of a dark green color are located on both sides, tightly adjacent to each other at the bottom and resemble a pigtail. The height of the flower and the length of the leaves depend on the variety.
Even without flowers, a well-groomed plant decorates the room. Children are formed by shoots from the main root. In order to separate them, it is necessary to separate the rhizome by cutting off the baby. During flowering, an inflorescence of buds is formed on the peduncle, the number of which can reach 60 pieces. The flowers look like large bells of red or bright orange. The plant blooms for a month, when dying buds are replaced by new ones. Flowering usually occurs in February, after a dormant period.
Origin and distribution in nature
The plant appeared in Europe in the nineteenth century in England, when it was brought from South Africa. And the flower, according to legend, received its name “Clivia” after it bloomed at the home of Duchess Charlotte Clive. Because before that the flower was grown as a beautiful foliage plant.
It has another name - Cape lily. After all, the habitat is the Cape region, Natal in the south of the African continent. Among the natives, it is used to treat snake bites, which is explained by the presence of toxic substances in the rhizomes and stems.
When growing indoors, care should be taken when transplanting.
After flowering, the popularity of the flower began to expand, and it reached Russia under the name meerkat flower lily, which determines its color.
Clivia varieties
Several species of clivia are found in the wild, growing from marshy lowlands to rocky highlands. New species were brought to Europe by military personnel serving in southern Africa.
Clivia Nobilis (nobilis)
Appeared on the European continent in 1828. It is distinguished by its small height, rarely exceeding thirty centimeters. The dark green leaves taper towards the ends, reaching forty centimeters in length and up to six in width. A peduncle up to 50 centimeters high ends in an inflorescence on which about fifty slightly curved flowers bloom, drooping downwards. The predominant color is orange with a carrot tint or pale red.
Photo of Clivia Vermilion (Miniata)
It has a second name - Clivia 'Miniata'. It was brought to Europe in 1850 from the province of Natal, where it has a wide habitat. The variety grows in the lowlands of coastal areas, in the mountains, where it was found among rocks at an altitude of 800 meters. The leaves are shaped like the noble clivia, tapering towards the edge. The plant reaches half a meter in height. The flowers are arranged in an umbellate inflorescence, spreading radially in all directions. Large flowers of red or orange color, which smoothly turns into the yellow color of the throat, grow up to three centimeters. The number of flowers in an inflorescence ranges from ten to twenty.
Clivia Gardena (Gardenii)
It also appeared in Europe in the mid-nineteenth century. It was brought by Major Robert Garden, so it received his name. At home it grows in the province of Natal, in shady mountain forests. It is distinguished from other species by its lighter, bright green leaves. A notable difference is the tuft at the bottom of the leaves, which forms a false stem. Leaves can grow from thirty-five to ninety centimeters. The height of the plant does not exceed half a meter. Narrow flowers bloom on a tall peduncle, which usually appears in February. Their number ranges from ten to sixteen flowers. It differs from other plant species in its shade tolerance.
It is a variety of Clivia miniata. It was found in the forests of South Africa at the end of the 19th century. The plant received its name for its unusual yellow flowers with a creamy tint and yellow berries-seeds.
It was discovered quite recently, at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It differs from other species both in appearance and in its habitat. It grows in the arid regions of southern Africa and is characterized by increased resistance to lack of moisture, scorching sun and light frosts. Its leaves have a white stripe in the center, and closer to the base the leaves have a dark burgundy tint. The plant has not yet become as widespread as other species, but it has already attracted the attention of flower growers.
Many new cultivated varieties of clivia have been developed from wild plants. They are distinguished by their unusual color, which in cultivars varies from snow-white, pastel color to lemon, yellow tint.
Transplanting a plant
Clivia is one of the plants that does not like unnecessary disturbance. Therefore, its transplantation is carried out only when necessary. Adult plants are transplanted when the roots protrude strongly from the surface. This is approximately once every two to three years. Young flowers can be replanted annually. Plants older than ten years are not recommended to be replanted, only to renew the top layer of soil.
Pot suitable for Clivia
When choosing a pot, you need to remember a couple of nuances:
- Do not take a pot with a much larger diameter, otherwise you will have to wait several years for flowering until the roots fill the space of the pot. The pot is selected two to three centimeters larger than the previous one (in diameter).
- The pot should be in the shape of a cylinder, without narrowing downwards. This is due to the characteristics of the rhizome, which grows downwards and not outwards.
The plant can be replanted only after the end of the flowering period. When transplanting, the transshipment method is used to minimize trauma to the rhizome. If the transplant is carried out with the separation of children, then the incision sites must be sprinkled with powdered activated carbon and dried in air.
Be sure to add about two centimeters of drainage to the bottom of the new pot. For drainage, you can use expanded clay, pebbles, and small pieces of brick. A small layer of earth is poured onto the drainage. Clivia roots are carefully placed on top and gently sprinkled with soil. Care must be taken not to cover the growing point from which the leaves emerge. It is better if it rises slightly above the soil.
As a soil, you need to choose a light, loose mixture with a slightly acidic reaction. When making your own soil, it is recommended to take soil from the garden, peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. To loosen the soil, you can add charcoal, vermiculite, and crushed tree bark. You can purchase a ready-made mixture at flower shops. For clivia, ready-made soil for orchids is suitable, in which the plant feels great.
How to care for clivia at home
Although the flower is not a capricious plant, when caring for clivia, a number of conditions must be observed. In terms of illumination, windows on the east and west sides are most suitable for it. There is not enough light on the north side, but there is a lot of sun on the south window in summer. You can place the flower on the south side, but be sure to provide shading from direct sunlight. Clivia feels good on the balcony.
In summer, a comfortable temperature for it is considered to be in the range of 20-25 degrees. But in hot summers it has to withstand higher air temperatures.
Watering and fertilizing
The Cape lily does not like excessive moisture, so excess water in the pot can lead to rotting of the roots. You can water the clivia after the soil in the pot has completely dried. The remaining water is poured out of the pan. The water must be settled, without chlorine. The temperature of the water for irrigation should be several degrees higher than the surrounding air. In winter, watering is reduced to twice a month.
Clivia leaves respond well to spraying, but it is necessary to ensure that water does not remain in the rosette of leaves, otherwise rotting may begin. Spraying can be replaced by wiping the leaves with a damp sponge.
The plant needs to be fed with fertilizers. It is better to take ready-made complex fertilizers, which are fertilized once every two weeks during the growth period. Mineral fertilizers can be alternated with organic ones. During the dormant period, stop feeding with fertilizers.
Important! Please note that nitrogen fertilizers promote the growth of green mass, and potassium fertilizers promote flowering. Therefore, in summer, fertilizing is chosen with a predominance of nitrogen fertilizers. After the flower stalk appears, feed the clivia with potassium fertilizers until the end of flowering.
Rest period
Clivia belongs to plants that need to be created during a dormant period. This refers to the intricacies of growing clivia at home. In September, stop feeding the plant and significantly reduce watering. The duration of the dormant period depends on the age of the flower. Young plants need rest for two months. The older the flower, the longer the dormancy should be.
In order for the plant to thank you with abundant flowering, it needs to provide temperature conditions during the dormant period. The temperature should be between 12-14 degrees Celsius. A short-term decrease to seven degrees is allowed. The dormant period ends with the appearance of the peduncle. Watering during the dormant period is reduced, watering only when wilting of the leaves is noticed.
Flowering period
After the peduncle appears, the pot is placed in a warm room with a temperature of about twenty degrees.
Important! The peduncle must grow to 10 cm before entering the heat.
To make clivia bloom at home, during the flowering period, increase watering and fertilize with potassium fertilizers.
Clivia flowering continues for a month, when faded buds are replaced by blossoming ones. After transferring to a warm place until the end of flowering, the pot must not be turned, much less rearranged. After flowering ends, watering is again reduced until active growth begins. The peduncle is cut off after complete drying.
Care errors
Even an experienced gardener can make mistakes in care, especially those related to watering and lighting. Externally, this is manifested by drying, rotting of the leaves and darkening of the tips. Also, flower growers often wonder why clivia does not bloom. We present the main causes and measures to eliminate the problems of growing clivia in the table.
| Signs | Causes | Corrective Action |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves turn yellow and die | Natural process | - |
| Excessive moisture | - Transplant the plant into new soil, removing rotten roots; - water in moderation. |
|
| Lack of fertilizers | During flowering, it is necessary to feed with fertilizers twice a month. | |
| When growing seeds, the leaves turn yellow due to lack of nutrients, which are spent on seed ripening. | Remove fruit | |
| Disturbing the dormancy of a flower - replanting, moving or drafts | Move the pot only as a last resort | |
| Brown spots on leaves | Sunburns | Remove the plant from direct sunlight, shade it with a curtain |
| Pale leaf color | Mineral deficiency | Fertilize with fertilizers |
| Leaves rot | Excessive watering. When spraying, stagnation of water formed in the rosette of leaves. | Stop watering until the soil dries |
| Brown tips of leaves | Excess moisture | Reduce watering, remove water from the pan |
Diseases and pests
Clivia is disease resistant and is sometimes attacked by scale insects and mealybugs.
| View | Signs | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Scale insect (shield aphid) | Dark spots-growths on leaves | Wash the leaves with soap, soap and tobacco solution, then spray with insecticide. A 0.15% Actellik solution is recommended (dilute 1-2 ml of the product in a liter of water). |
| Mealybug | Resembles white cotton wool on leaves | Wipe the leaves with a damp soapy pad. If this method does not help, then it is necessary to treat the flower with an insecticide. Treat every week until cured. |
| Rot | The leaves turn yellow, the plant begins to die | The reason is rotting roots. Damaged roots are removed, and the sections must be sprinkled with activated carbon. The plant is transplanted into new soil. |
| Fungal diseases | Rusty stripes along the length of the sheet | Treat with fungicide according to instructions. |
Reproduction
Propagation of Clivia at home is done in two ways - by children or seeds. It is easier to separate the children when transplanting an adult plant. With this method of propagation, you can get a flowering plant in the second or third year, if you do not make a mistake with the size of the pot. Otherwise, you will have to wait until the roots fill the pot.
Reproduction by children
Clivia babies at different stages of growth
Clivia propagation by children is carried out in the following order:
- When transplanting, the extracted roots are carefully separated with a sharp knife.
- All sections are sprinkled with crushed activated carbon and left to dry for half an hour.
- In the meantime, new pots are being prepared for the children and the adult plant.
- After planting, the pots with the children are placed in a warm, bright place, watered little by little
The procedure for growing clivia from seeds
Propagation by seeds will not give quick results. But if you wish, you can try to grow a clivia plantation. Seeds can be bought in specialized stores or obtained from your own specimen. To do this, pollinate the flowering plant with a brush. It is worth warning that growing seeds exhausts the plant, because the ripening of the pilaf lasts nine months until the fruits become red and soft.
- The collected seeds are sown immediately before they lose their viability.
- Dry seeds are soaked in water on a damp cloth for a day until they swell
- Prepare a container with an earthen mixture composed of:
- peat and perlite with equal shares;
- peat, sand and turf soil.
- Prepared seeds are planted at a distance of about two centimeters, slightly deepening into the ground.
- The box with seeds is covered with film or jars
- Ventilate the greenhouse daily for 10 minutes, moistening as necessary.
- After the leaves have formed, they are transplanted (picked) into small pots with a mixture of humus, deciduous and clay soil in a ratio of 1:1:1
- Young seedlings need annual replanting
Seedlings from seeds begin to bloom after 4-6 years.
Conclusion
If you follow simple rules for caring for clivia, it will thank you with abundant annual flowering. Watching a flowering plant on winter days brings great joy and lifts your spirits.
Despite all its exoticism and rather difficult care, this flower attracts with its undoubted decorative qualities. As part of any composition of indoor plants, a pot of clivia immediately becomes its central, memorable component.
This flower can be propagated by seeds or by separating root shoots (babies). But first, let's find out which soil is best for growing clivia in any way.
Choosing a flowerpot and soil
The soil for clivia should be nutritious and loose. In nature, in tropical forests, this beauty lives on fertile soils with a high content of humus. At home, you can use soil for orchids (it can be purchased in special stores) or make it yourself. To create a soil substrate, you need to take one part of peat, one part of humus and two parts of turf soil. It is necessary to add sand or any other component to the mixture, which will make it more loose and breathable. A drainage layer must be placed at the bottom of the flowerpot - expanded clay, crushed stone, pieces of brick or fine gravel are suitable here. The main thing is that the drainage fulfills its function - it allows excess moisture to pass through well. Stagnant water near the roots can cause them to rot and cause plant disease. It is recommended to sprinkle calcium superphosphate granules on the bottom of the flowerpot - this phosphate fertilizer is useful for the growth and development of roots, as well as for the further formation of buds and flowers.
When choosing dishes for planting at home, you should remember that clivia likes to grow in close quarters. Therefore, the pot for replanting is chosen not much larger than the previous one. The peculiarity of this plant is that at the beginning of its growth it strives to fill the flowerpot with its roots, and then begins to form a peduncle. For the same reason, cone-shaped plastic flowerpots are chosen. It is easy to remove the plant from such dishes when replanting without damaging the rhizome. Yes, and in a plastic flowerpot it is easy to make drainage holes to drain excess water.
Growing from seeds
The seed method of propagating clivia is used by breeders. In this way, new varieties of plants are obtained.
After flowering, clivia produces large berries with seeds. But in order for the seeds to be suitable for subsequent sowing, they are artificially pollinated. From one berry, when it becomes soft, about six seeds are taken out. Seed material is selected only from the fruits of a sufficiently mature plant, which is already 8 years old. Seeds from younger clivias may simply not germinate.
At home, seeds can only germinate fresh. Until the time of sowing they are stored in the berry itself. And so that it does not dry out completely, it is left on the cut stem.
The grains are sown in the cold season, starting in October. To germinate, they are carefully laid out on the surface of the soil substrate at a distance of 1 - 2 cm from each other and lightly crushed with soil. The soil mixture should include peat, humus and leaf soil and a little sand. Clivia seeds germinate very slowly - the first signs of germination are noticeable only after a month and a half. Then the first leaf appears and you can start replanting the plants into separate pots.
At home, you can germinate seeds by wrapping them in a damp cloth. This method of germination is considered faster. After the seeds hatch, they are carefully placed in separate flowerpots.
Some sources recommend keeping plants in a common container until the second leaf appears. After this, they are placed in separate small pots - up to 7 cm in diameter. In such flowerpots, seedlings grow during the first year of life. With normal development in the first year, clivia grows from 4 to 6 leaves.
After a year, the plant is transplanted into a larger pot - its diameter should be 9 - 10 cm. The soil should already be loose and contain more nutrients. Be careful with replanting - the roots of the plant are extremely fragile. It’s better to carefully reload the plant with a lump of old soil than to break the roots. In the second year of life, three more pairs of leaves appear on the seedlings.
A year later, the young clivia is transplanted into a pot with a diameter of 13 cm. In the third year of life, a dormant period of 2 months can already be organized for the plant. From September, they stop watering it and reduce the temperature. After the plants are transferred to a warm room with a temperature of 20 degrees, some seedlings may develop a peduncle. During the third year of life, two more pairs of leaves appear.
In the fourth year of Clivia growth, it is no longer replanted, but a long dormant period is arranged - the plant is kept in the cold until the arrow appears. During the fourth year of growth and development, almost all clivias grown from seeds bloom.
Reproduction by root suckers
You can also grow a new plant at home with young offspring (or children, as they are also called).
Clivia grows quite quickly in width. As we know, this plant likes to grow in cramped containers. In such conditions, its roots quickly fill the space of the flowerpot, and it blooms faster. But during flowering it forms many young shoots, which can be separated from the parent bush and planted in a separate container. Clivia shoots are planted after flowering.
Young shoots must be separated very carefully. The roots of clivia are fragile, it is important not to damage them when untangling the root of the offspring. If the roots are damaged, their fragments are carefully treated with charcoal powder at home. It should be taken into account that each baby plant must have at least four leaves - only in this case the roots of the young plant are strong enough to feed it.
Young offspring are planted in separate small pots - up to 7 centimeters in diameter. For better and faster rooting at home, the shoots are planted in damp coarse sand and constantly moistened (the sand is pre-washed beforehand). The presence of a drainage layer and a bottom hole in the pot is a prerequisite. In some cases, you can plant two or three plants in one flowerpot. With this method of propagation at home, the plant blooms in the second or third season.
Just as with seed propagation, the offspring are not given periods of rest for two years. During this time, plants quickly throw out leaves, build up bark mass and accumulate nutrients for future flowering. Regular feeding and moderate watering will significantly speed up the appearance of the flower stalk. In two years, you can hope for the first flowering of young clivias.
Which method is better
Each of the considered methods of propagating clivia is good in its own way. And everyone has their own shortcomings.
The seed propagation method allows you to immediately obtain a large number of plants. But they will not bloom soon enough - you still need to try to turn the weak seedlings into a strong plant, ready to bloom. As stated, this takes 4 years.
In addition, obtaining seed material is very problematic. To obtain good seeds that can germinate, you need to carry out artificial pollination. But in this way, you can cross the desired plant varieties to obtain new varieties.
At home, clivia is often propagated by planting offspring. Clivia does not grow many shoots, and there will not be a large number of new plants. But young clivias obtained in this way bloom within two years.
Both methods are applicable for propagating clivia at home. It all depends on what you want to get as a result.
There are 5 types of clivia in total. The most popular species grown at home is clivia cinnabar (Clivia miniata). Its other names: orange clivia (matte red, red lead, red lead), or kaffir (Cape).
A huge number of clivia varieties have been developed that have a rich range of colors. The plant comes in almost all shades of orange, red and yellow.
Caring for clivia at home
This section describes in detail how to care for clivia cinnabar at home.
Temperature. When caring for clivia, the temperature should vary depending on the time of year. In summer the recommended temperature is from 20 to 25 °C, in winter - no higher than 15 °C.
Lighting. Indoor clivia likes fairly sunny places, but can get burned from direct sunlight. With a lack of sun, flowering will not be complete, the flowers will become small and the flower stalks will be short.
Watering clivia. Clivia should be watered sparingly at home. A decrease in temperature affects the demand for moisture. It is preferable to use soft, boiled or settled water. By the way, you need to pay attention to the water temperature; if there is no flowering for too long, it should be warm. When flower stalks 10 cm tall appear, you need to water more often.
Air humidity does not play a role in cultivation, so it makes no sense to spray the leaves for the purpose of moisturizing.
Top dressing. In the spring and summer, fertilizers can be applied every half month. These can be either complex fertilizers or alternating organic and mineral ones. Feeding should be stopped when clivia enters a dormant period, as this will exhaust its strength and the flower may die.
Soil and drainage. Growing works best in loose, slightly acidic soil containing peat, humus (25% each) and turf soil (50% in composition). Drainage for cultivation is a must.
Clivia transplant
This flower tolerates transplantation quite painfully. Damaged roots will rot after replanting. Therefore, it is often better to only transship the plant.
Transshipment of clivia should be done after flowering, but not more often than once every two years. For young clivia, you can do it once a year. It is also recommended to simply update the top 5 cm of the substrate once a year.
It is definitely worth remembering that clivia loves a cramped pot. And once again she shouldn’t be bothered with transplants. And if you have already started replanting, then you need to do this very carefully so as not to damage the roots of the plant.
Reproduction
The plant is propagated at home by seeds or suckers.
Sow to a depth of 1 cm in a mixture of sand and peat, cover with film or glass to retain heat. After about 40 days, shoots appear from the seeds, and after another 60 days they can be replanted. Interestingly, young plants love the same small pots.
Seeds in substrate
Vegetative method of propagation of clivia includes dividing the bush during transplantation. It should be separated carefully, because the root system is very delicate. Children must have at least 4 leaves. Interestingly, this member of the amaryllis family lacks the usual bulb. It is replaced by leaves that wrap around each other and form a fairly strong stem.
The toxicity of clivia
Clivia contains the alkaloid lycorine. Therefore, the plant is a poisonous flower, this should be taken into account by those who have children in the house.
Diseases and problems with flowers
This beautiful plant can get sick from,. Follow the links to see photos of damaged plants and pests, and how to deal with them.
Why doesn't clivia bloom? If there is no flowering at all, then you need to check whether the air temperature is high, whether there is enough light, and whether the clivia is given a rest period in full volume.
Why do clivia leaves become covered with white spots? If white spots appear on the leaves, it means the flower has received a sunburn.
Why did the tips of the leaves turn brown? The tips of the leaves have turned brown, which means that the soil is too moist.
Why do clivia leaves turn yellow? If the leaves turn yellow in small quantities and are periodically renewed, then everything is in order with the flower. This is a normal process. But if most of the foliage has turned yellow, then this is the first alarm signal. There may be several reasons. Leaves may turn yellow if watered too little or too much. If the second is true, then the clivia must be immediately removed from the pot and checked for root rot. If rotting occurs, bad roots are carefully removed and the cut sites are disinfected. After this, the clivia must be transplanted into a new substrate.
Also, the leaves may turn yellow after a change in environmental conditions (for example, the flower was moved to another place in the room). Lack of feeding can also lead to yellowing of the foliage.
Videos of clivia
Clivia (lat. Clivia), or kaffir lily- a genus of herbaceous perennials of the Amaryllidaceae family, which has seven species, two of which are popular ornamental plants. The scientific name for Clivia was given by botanist John Lindley in honor of Charlotte Clive, Duchess of Northumberland and future governess to Queen Victoria. Clivia comes from South Africa. Both decorative types of clivia are grown indoors.
Homemade clivia - description
Clivias are evergreen perennial herbaceous plants, reaching a height of 60 cm. Their leaves are leathery, linear or belt-shaped, vaginal, tightly covering each other and thus forming a false stem. The bases of the leaves are attached to the rhizome. Clivias occupy an intermediate position between rhizomatous and bulbous plants. Tubular or funnel-shaped flowers of orange, red-orange or yellowish-pink hue, up to 60 pieces, are collected in a multi-flowered umbellate inflorescence. Indoor clivia usually blooms at the end of winter, sometimes it can bloom again in the summer. Like amaryllis, clivia contains alkaloids. In South Africa, where the clivia plant comes from, it is used for medicinal purposes in both traditional and folk medicine.
How to care for clivia
In terms of lighting, the clivia flower at home is not capricious: it can grow in partial shade, under artificial light and even in poorly lit places, but clivia requires protection from direct sunlight. It can be grown on any windowsill, including north-facing windows.
The optimal temperature for clivia in the warm season is 20-24 ºC; in winter, it is advisable to keep the plant in cooler conditions - at 12-14 ºC.
Watering clivia
Water the clivia with soft (settled, filtered, rain or melt) water at room temperature after the top layer of soil in the pot has dried. The plant tolerates a lack of moisture more easily than an excess: from waterlogging, the tips of the leaves turn brown, and subsequently the roots of the clivia may die from rotting.
As for air humidity, the flower is not picky in this regard: it will be enough to wipe the clivia leaves with a damp sponge from time to time, removing dust from them. During periods of extreme heat, you can spray the flower with water several times, but make sure that the sun's rays do not fall on the clivia during and after this procedure.
Feeding clivia
Clivia responds well to fertilizers. Feed the plant once every 2 weeks during the flowering period. As fertilizers, you can use Forward, Fantasia, Agricola for ornamental plants, Effecton DC or another mineral complex for ornamental flowering plants with a low nitrogen content. During the dormant period, clivia does not need feeding.
Clivia transplant
Clivia has a powerful root system, so it is difficult to transplant: even minor damage to the roots can lead to the fact that clivia will take a long time to recover and will not bloom. To avoid injury when transplanting a flower, simply transfer it from the old pot to the new one. Young clivias require this procedure annually, and mature plants - once every 2-3 years. The signal that it is time to replant the plant is the roots emerging from the drain holes. Sometimes, instead of replanting, you can replace the top layer of substrate 5 cm thick in the pot.
Transplantation is carried out immediately after flowering. The container for clivia should not be too spacious, otherwise the flower, instead of blooming on time, will colonize the substrate with its roots. The plant needs slightly acidic and loose soil, for example, consisting of two parts turf soil, one part humus and one part peat. A leavening agent – sand, vermiculite or perlite – should be added to the soil for young plants. At the bottom of the pot you need to lay a decent layer of drainage material - expanded clay or pieces of polystyrene foam. The root collar after transplantation should be at surface level.
Clivia after flowering
Caring for clivia after flowering
Every year, blooming clivia needs a period of rest, which usually occurs in October-November and can last two to three months. But in order for the plant to fully regain its strength, it needs to create certain conditions: watering the clivia is gradually reduced, fertilizing is stopped completely, the plant is kept at a temperature of 10-14 ºC. Watering a resting clivia is done when its leaves begin to dry out or fall off. As soon as you notice that the plant has produced a peduncle, the usual watering regime is gradually restored and fertilizers begin to be applied.
Clivia propagation
Clivia reproduces by seeds and vegetatively by root suckers. Vegetative propagation is carried out during transplantation: offspring with at least five leaves are separated from the mother plant and planted for rooting in separate pots filled with sand or perlite. After two months, when the offspring grow roots, they are transplanted into a mixture consisting of equal parts of sand, turf and leaf soil. Care for planted offspring is carried out in the same order as for adult clivia. The main condition is to observe moderation in watering. Young plants will bloom in two years, but they will need to be replanted only after five years. If the daughter rosettes are not separated during transplantation, then after a while your clivia will throw out several flower stalks at the same time. This technique adds decorativeness to the plant.
For seed propagation you will need seed material. You can get clivia seeds by cross-pollinating the flowers yourself. As a result of pollination, the plant produces dense green berries that become soft and red-orange when ripe. The berries ripen within 10 months. The seeds must be removed from the fruit, washed and dried. Sow clivia in early spring in a mixture of sand and peat. Shoots can appear within a month and a half, and as soon as the first real clivia leaf is formed, the seedlings are planted in separate cups with a nutritious soil mixture. When the seedlings grow up, they can be planted in pots. Some of them will bloom in the fourth year, and some even later.
Pests and diseases of clivia
Clivia pests
Clivia at home can suffer from scale insects and mealybugs - sucking insects that feed on the cell sap of the plant. Mealybugs or hairy lice, as they are sometimes called, are clearly visible: they are small white bugs, as if sprinkled with flour. They leave traces of their vital activity on the plant - honeydew and white lumps that look like pieces of cotton wool. A sooty fungus settles on honeydew, which can be recognized by a black coating - a kind of bonus to clivia leaves that wither and turn yellow from biting and gnawing. They destroy scale insects with insecticidal preparations, having previously removed the pests mechanically using a cotton pad or ear swab dipped in alcohol or a solution of potassium or laundry soap.
Scale insects also need to be removed from the flower: the plant is washed with soapy water, protecting the soil in the pot with a plastic bag. The fact is that adult individuals are protected from the effects of poison by a waxy shell, under which they hide the laid eggs. Adult scale insects are removed from the flower by washing, and then the plant can be treated against larvae not protected by the shell with an insecticide solution. The drugs Aktara, Actellik, Karbofos and others have proven themselves well in the fight against mealybugs and scale insects.
Clivia diseases
The most common disease that affects clivia is gray rot, which occurs mainly due to regular waterlogging of the soil in the pot. To prevent the development of the disease, you need to grow clivia not in a plastic container, but in a ceramic container, and before planting, put a drainage layer in it, one-third the volume of the container, thick. At the first signs of disease, clivia should be transplanted into a fresh, disinfected substrate, treating the plant with a fungicide solution.
Clivia turns yellow
Clivia responds to any problem by changing the appearance of the leaves. For example, when exposed to direct sunlight or from a lack of moisture in the soil, the leaves of the plant turn yellow and then die. If only the tips of the leaves turn yellow, it means the air in the room is unacceptably dry or the soil in the pot is too wet. What to do in the first case is clear, but if the problem is in the roots, you need to carefully remove the plant from the pot and make sure that the root system has not yet rotted: diseased roots have a brown tint. All roots affected by rot are removed, the plant is transplanted into a smaller container with disinfected soil, and watering is reduced.
Why doesn't clivia bloom?
Sometimes there are complaints from readers that clivia does not want to bloom. There may be several reasons for such a refusal. Clivia does not bloom at home if you plant it in a pot that is too large: until the roots fill the entire container, flower stalks will not appear. Clivia does not bloom if there are few nutrients in the soil, so regular feeding of the plant is required. Flowering will not occur in a room where the air temperature is too high or too low for clivia. A plant may not bloom even if it has not had a full dormant period.
Types and varieties of clivia
At home, mainly two types of clivia are grown - cinnabar and noble, but occasionally other types can be found.
- a plant up to half a meter high, native to the shady forests of South Africa. Belt-shaped leaves, widened at the base, 45-60 cm long and 3.5-6 cm wide, form a basal rosette. On a powerful peduncle, up to 20 red funnel-shaped flowers with an orange throat are formed, located on pedicels up to 3 cm long. There are varieties with different petal colors: yellow, cream or orange. In good conditions, Clivia cinnabar can bloom twice a year.
Reaches a height of 30 cm, but can be higher. The plant is native to the Cape region of South Africa. Clivia beautiful has sword-shaped leaves with sharp edges 4-5 cm wide and a peduncle up to half a meter long, on which pale red funnel-shaped flowers with a curved perianth are formed on pedicels up to 3 cm long. The petals of Clivia nobilis have greenish, pointed tips.
It is found at home much less frequently than the two species already described. It is usually grown as a greenhouse crop. This is a large plant with a false stem formed by the bases of tightly seated strap-shaped leaves up to 1 m long. Some specimens of this species can reach 1 m in height. Clivia stem produces several peduncles with drooping funnel-shaped flowers of salmon color with green tips of the petals. Each arrow can have up to 20 flowers.
Clivia gardeni i ) reaches a height of 50 cm. It has sword-shaped leaves with a width of 2.5 to 4 cm. In winter, the plant produces a flower arrow up to 45 cm high, which is crowned with an inflorescence of 10-16 narrow and long bell-shaped flowers, painted in different shades of yellow. orange tones.
Clivia - signs
Astrologers say that home clivia is a Sagittarius plant. What does it mean? The Sagittarius sign rules philosophical, religious and other teachings, and if there is a student in your home who is irritated by any social discipline, clivia is capable of absorbing the negative energy released and reducing this irritation to a minimum. Esotericists believe that the sword-shaped leaves of the plant reflect the emotional arrows of ill-wishers and protect their owners from the envy of others.
The plant has a positive effect on the functioning of the heart muscle and the overall tone of a person. There is such a belief: if you put a yellow metal coin in a pot of blooming clivia, it will attract money to the house. However, if clivia suddenly begins to lose flowers, then this is a warning to household members: serious and unpleasant changes are coming, associated with large material losses. The sudden death of a recently fresh and healthy clivia is also a bad sign, warning of serious troubles.
It is best to place clivia in the living room or office, but not in the bedroom, since the plant can affect the relationship between spouses in a negative way and cause disturbing dreams. In addition, it is worth remembering that clivia is poisonous, and it is better to keep it where children and pets cannot reach it.
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