How to Make Your Clivia a Blooming Winner

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How to Make Your Clivia a Blooming Winner

December 14, 2010 by Alan P

One of the most frequently asked questions on growing clivia is “how do I get my clivia to bloom?” This fall, I visited with the Director of the North American Clivia Society and Executive Director of the Delaware Nature Society, Mike Riska, to get his expert advice on clivias. Mike has grown clivia for many years, and has won numerous awards for his plants—both from the Philadelphia Flower Show and from Longwood Gardens. In this video, he shares some pointers on how to get a clivia to bloom, and gave advice on growing and grooming your plants for competitions.

Mike Riska with one of his clivias.

The North American Clivia Society is holding the International Clivia Show and Symposium at Longwood Gardens on March 17–20, 2011. The symposium will feature speakers from South Africa, Australia, the US, plenty of tours, and hopefully, the show will include your plant. We encourage you to bring your clivia and show it off, and attend the lectures and tours. Don’t be frightened of entering your plant in the show! You have nothing to lose, and hopefully you will get to have some fun and meet some fellow clivia enthusiasts.

A Longwood clivia

Here are some key conditions that are necessary to get your plant to bloom on time for the show next year, or just getting your plant to bloom in general:

Provide optimal light conditions for the production of flower buds. Mike grows his plants outside for the summer in protected areas.
While growing outside, Mike fertilizes every two weeks with half strength Miracle Gro 20-20-20.
Before the first freeze, move your plants indoors.
Plants should get no water between October 1 and January 22. It is critical that during this time the plants are chilled at temperatures between 35 and 55 degrees F for a minimum of 5 weeks to initiate bloom. If this cold treatment is not provided, the plants may not bloom until late summer.
Hold the plants dormant until 8 weeks before show time.
To bring the plants out of dormancy, begin watering and gradually raise the temperature to 60 degrees F.
Flower buds should begin to show about two weeks after the temperature is raised. The appearance of the flower buds signals that you are on track, and need to think about bringing your plant to the North American Clivia Society International Show and Symposium at Longwood Gardens!

For more information and to register for the symposium please visit the Longwood Gardens Website.

The Clivia Show at Longwood Gardens 2010

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Posted in Education Programs, Horticulture Research | Tagged Clivia, clivia bloom, clivia dormancy, Clivia miniata, clivia over-wintering, clivia show and lectures, clivia society symposium, clivia storage, Clivia video, display design, forcing clivia bloom, getting clivia to bloom, growing clivia, how to grow clivia, learn about clivia, Longwood, Longwood blog, Longwood Garden, Longwood Garden’s, Longwood Garden’s blog, Longwood Gardens, Longwood Gardens blog, North American clivia society, preparing clivia for show, video | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on April 25, 2011 at 8:03 pm Radojka

Can a clivia plant be stored in the refrigerator during the winter months? Then taken out of the refrigerator after January to make it bloom. I did that once with one of the gladiola bulbs and the plant did grow and start to bud, then I took the plant out of the refrigerator and had beautiful flowers
on April 27, 2011 at 1:47 pm Alan P

Hi Radojka,

Clivias need to be chilled for 40 days at temperatures under 50 degrees F to stimulate flowering. A refrigerator can work for this, but you may want to cosider installing a light source for the plant. Also, don’t let the plant freeze. During the cold period, allow the soil to go fairly dry. Avoid having soggy soil and cool temperatures. Some people don’t water their plants for the entire cold period. I chill the Longwood plants in a greenhouse, and give them some water if they get extreemly dry. After the chilling period, move the plant to a warmer location and water. If grown at 60 degrees F, flower buds should appear two weeks after watering. I think there is a good chance that your refrigerator will do the trick. For more information on Clivia culture, you can visit the Lonwood website:

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/docs/PreparingCliviafor2011LongwoodShow.pdf

Good Luck!
Alan P.
on September 7, 2011 at 9:25 pm Sylvia

I just read the articles about getting clivias to bloom. I have a rather large clivia – actually 2 plants in one pot – that resides in my sunroom all year. It has not bloomed in several years. A friend of mine put her clivia under the house for the winter and it bloomed for the first time in years. My question concerns light. Should I put mine under the house where it is about 50 degrees in the winter but gets no light, or should I put in the garage which is cooler but gets light? I live in Zone 7 in Raleigh, NC. Also, should I divide the two plants and put one in another pot? Thanks for your advice.
on September 9, 2011 at 3:15 pm Alan P

Hi Sylvia,

Unless the Clivia is breaking through the pot, you probably don’t have to transplant it.

I would choose to put the Clivia in the cooler garage with light, unless the temperature in the garage drops to freezing. You don’t want your plant to freeze. If the garage is too cold, you may consider putting a growth light or florescent light under your house during the cold treatment.

Good luck and I hope you get blooms in the spring. Keep me posted!

Alan
on September 13, 2011 at 1:33 am caroline tissear

I live in south eastern coastal australia and our winters are usually quite mild My clivias grow in sheltered garden places and this year have bloomed well after an unusually wet and cold winter I have lots of the regular apricot coloured ones which are particularly tough and deal with high summer temperatures without too much trouble
But my fancy ones are the yellows and whites which live in the garden under a shade cloth pergola and this year the yellows have decided to bloom magnificently It’s 3 or 4 years since I planted them and maybe the cold winter has made them produce flowers at last In this climate clivias are practically unkillable and mine all thrive on neglect and are virtually exposed to the weather all year round Some organic fertiliser, a dose of snail control and a bit of weeding around them from time to time seems to be about all they need I do have a small problem with mildew between the new leaves of the white ones but I just give them a shot of black spot remedy for roses and they respond well But so far no sign of white flowers I do not regard my clivias as especially precious and treat them accordingly
In fact the last time I planted some I thought they were agapanthus I had rescued a bunch of mature plants from a neighbour’s garden rubbish, chopped them up with a paint scraper and a hammer and stuck the divisions in trenches with quite a lot of fertiliser (chicken poo pellets) Six months later I have 80% blooming clivias which I think is a lovely surprise
Happy gardening
Caroline
on October 14, 2011 at 11:12 pm Jennifer Bumpas

I will attempt to get my clivias to bloom next spring (they have never bloomed in the 4-5 years I have had them). I plan to put them in a basement area & provide a source of light for them. Please advise me of the type of light that will work (flourescent, incandescent, or other source.) I live in central Virginia.
on October 19, 2011 at 1:52 pm Alan P

Hi Jennifer,

I consulted Mike Riska on the light issue. Here is what he has to say:

Mike Riska: “Clivias don’t need much light in storage. If in doubt, a $9 4′ shop light with one bulb with a regular florescent light bulb and one grow light bulb will do on a timer. When I bring my clivias in from outdoors the leaves turn greener from lower light conditions. When I gave the lecture at Longwood two years ago, a woman that has all the chinese clivias, and exhibited at Longwood came up to me afterwards and said she gives hers a cold period in the basement with no light. I wouldn’t go that far but I believe it can be done. I brought back a clivia from near death that someone gave to me which came from a basement after 1.3 years with very minimal light and one watering from a 1″ heavy rain flooding in the basement. The answer is they need very little light which is why they were so popular in Victorian Times because they can tolerate cold houses and low light. “

I hope that helps.
Alan
on October 21, 2011 at 6:05 pm Clivia in the Classroom « Longwood Gardens: Behind-the-Plants

[...] students are being taught how to provide the proper cultural conditions to force their plants into bloom—just in time for the for the North American Clivia Society show, [...]
on October 21, 2011 at 10:21 pm Sylvia

Thanks for all your advice about getting clivias to bloom. Here in Zone 7 mine is heading for the garage during the winter. My friend will still put hers under her house with no light – it worked for her last year. In a few months we’ll see if there’s a difference in the two approaches.
on February 3, 2012 at 1:01 pm Wendy Dreyer

I have another Clivia question. My Clivia is many years old, at least 40. It has always bloomed. But, for the last two years instead of having a tall stem for the blossoms, it has bloomed deep at the base of the basal leaves. I live in Connecticut, bring it in for the winter, and have it in a western window with a florescent shoplight above, on a timer extending light from 4 PM to 9 PM. I have several tender plants under this light. Why is this happening?
Thanks, Wendy
on February 11, 2012 at 5:51 pm Alan P

Hi Wendy,

Your Clivia needs a cold period for the flower stalks to elongate correctly. When your Clivia is dormant in the winter, it needs to receive around 40 days of temeratures under 50 degrees F. If a Clivia does not get this cold treatment, the flowers may bloom low on the plant as you described. Have you changed your routine and now have it in a warmer location during the winter?

I hope that helps.
Alan
on February 12, 2012 at 6:56 pm Joel

Hi Alan- Thanks for all the helpful info! I have a Clivia that has bloomed fabulously for the last few years but this year it did not. I live in Maine and decided to spend a few extra $ and keep my house warmer this winter. Until now I did not realize that my Clivia would need a cool period; which it has received the last few years… almost- the house was kept around 58.

So, can I give this Clivia a cool period now and hope for blooms following that or will it have to wait until next year?

Thanks, Joel
on February 14, 2012 at 11:23 am Alan P

Hi Joel,

Since you live in Maine, I bet you could still give your Clivia a cold period. When the cold period is over, and you water and warm up the plants, you should see flower buds in about 2 weeks. Even if your plants don’t get the cold period, they may bloom sometime in the summer. Unfortunatly, sometimes the flower stalks don’t elongate without a proper cold dry period, and the blooms may buried in the leaves. So, see if you can give them a nice chill.

Good luck!
Alan