Clivia Miniata Varigata

[edric]

I'm raising these from seed, does anyone have experience with broad leaf Clivia? Ed

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

That cultivar has striking coloration! How do they bloom for you? I had a couple here in SoFla that I culd not get to bloom for the life of me.

Jerry

[edric]

I have a four year old non variegated one, but I haven't had it that long, I've got about forty seedlings two different variety, both variegated, we'll see, Ed

[cycadjungle]

Jerry, thats because you have to have a certain amount of days in the mid 50s in the fall to induce flowers in the early spring. If you don't have cold, you don't get flowers. Florida really isn't the greatest place to be trying clivias in general, but I am holding my own now with about 40 flowering sized plants. Even when I do get some decent early cold, I don't always get lots of flowering plants. Someone who would want to specialize with these in Florida would probably need to get a small metal shed (or an industrial refrigerator) and put a wall unit air conditioner in the shed and cool it to some mid 50s for about 6 to 8 weeks and then put the plants back out into a regular growing area. There is a certain number of days after a cooling period, that the flowers will start to appear, so if you put a certain amount of plants in the cooling area at 2 week intervals, you would have new crops of plants producing flowers evry 2 weeks for about a 3 month period. On top of that, some clivias produce 2 sets of flowers, which extends the flowering time even longer. There are a few hard to find types that flower 3 and sometimes 4 times a year as well.

Good luck on growing up those variegated plants, just don't get them too wet, use a really good draining mix, keep them from getting too hot, and keep them in the shade.

[edric]

Thanks for your help, Ed

[DoomsDave]

That's GORGEOUS!

Who cares about the flowers?

Both overdone and shibui at the same time.

Cliveas thrive here in Cali. I've got several, and my near neighbor has a huge bank of them, in full sun, a little gnarly but they blook like crazy.

See if I can get a picture . . .. .

[LJG]

I did not think they breed true for variegated if raised from seed?? This is what I was told. That if you want true plants, you must take it from the mother plant. Anyone know if this is true?

[daxin]

  LJG said:

I did not think they breed true for variegated if raised from seed?? This is what I was told. That if you want true plants, you must take it from the mother plant. Anyone know if this is true?

Well the seedlings will be variegated if the mother plant is variegated, but the pattern is most likely going to be different. It is also critical to keep the plant in tip-top condition for the highest level of color contrast. Here is a block of variegated clivias in fat 15g containers at Solomone Nursery in Watsonville, California. The price tag is probably in four figures for serious collectors with deep pockets. I hope tissue culture can be worked out for clivias.

Here is a photo of my little variegated clivia blooming. I got some seeds and all germinated seedlings are variegated.

[edric]

The gentleman that sold me the seeds said, that some of the plants will be albino, the ones in the last post are not broad leaf Clivia, Ed

[LJG]

I posted these last year. But here are two of mine. They were about $150/plant as small cuttings.

[daxin]

China is the place to visit if you are interested in wide-leaf clivias. It is a popular high-end house plant that is available all over the country. Here are two photos of a small plant stall in Tianjin from last year

Some breeders in China have already produced clivias with 1:1 leaf length to width ratio, but those plants are not considered top-notch since most have deformed flower stalks and are lacking in other criteria such as leaf texture, thickness, sheen, vein pattern, etc. By Chinese clivia judging standards, the ideal ratio is about 3:1 to 4:1. Most clivias here in the U.S. have much larger length to width ratio. But they are grown as landscape plants that are more robust and visually powerful with maybe less refinement when compared to those Chinese plants. I saw some plants from one friend on this board with a leaf ratio of about 6:1. He said that he hand picked those from Rancho Soledad Nursery's block of several hundred plants many many years ago. I am sure Solomone nursery could select and breed ultra-wide leaf clivias, but there is probably not enough of a market here to motivate them.

The most critical time for these wide-leaf clivia is summer time, when warm temperature can push and stretch some leaves, destroying the overall balance. Since clivias are semi-dormant in summer, it is important to reduce fertilizing and watering, and if possible, keep it cool at night (<70F).

[edric]

Thanks for the info., Ed

[DoomsDave]

LEN!

And they call it Mellow Yellow (quite rightly) . . . .