A wonderful plant bloomed on my windowsill. Large red flowers in the shape of bells with a diameter of up to 4 cm are collected in an umbrella, and dark green leaves beautifully shade them. This is clivia, an evergreen herb, grown in our country only at home. At home, in the humid climate of southern Africa, it is also found in the wild. This flower, according to eastern horoscopes, endows people with reasonable caution, prudence. And one who does not have this quality of character can start growing it on his windowsill.
The genus Clivia (Clivia) belongs to the Amaryllis family and has only three species: clivia, red-orange or cinnabar, noble clivia and Gardena clivia. Amazing flowers are red or orange in color, and the leaves are collected in a rosette and form a false stem. A straight flower arrow with 20-30 flowers in one inflorescence emerges from the sinus of a leathery leaf. The flowering of clivia begins in February and lasts almost a month.
Beautiful and unpretentious clivia. Care and reproduction of this flower according to strength and beginner growers. It is simple to grow it, but some conditions must be observed. Firstly, the plant does not like direct, bright rays of the sun, which sometimes cause a burn of leaves. When growing at home, it is better to avoid southern windows or at least shade clivia. If the plant settled on the northern windows, then it will be much better. Although there may be problems during flowering. Due to the lack of sunlight, clivia does not bloom or form an ovary.
An adult plant can bloom twice a year. To do this, place it in a dark room and reduce watering and top dressing. If clivia has not formed a peduncle, then it is necessary to water it with water at a temperature of 40 ° C. The optimum temperature for this plant is 20-25 ˚C, and after flowering it must be reduced to 12-14 ˚C. During the formation of the peduncle, the temperature in the room should not be lower than 18 - 20 ˚C. In summer, Clivia loves to soak up the fresh air.
Watering should be moderate, with room settled water, which is better not to leave in the pan. And you need to water clivia then, then the top crust of the soil will be slightly dried. Although this beauty in nature is a native of a humid climate, she does not require high humidity content. But she loves it in the summer when she is rubbed daily with a wet swab.
Care for clivia is in additional dressings. Two grams of liquid organic or mineral fertilizer is diluted per liter of water and applied alternately every two weeks.
Like all amaryllids, clivia has a period of rest, which means a lot to this beautiful flower. It is enough for young plants to rest for two months, but large, adult clivia need a long rest. In September, the flower can be stopped watering and moved to a fairly cool place. When the flower arrow reaches a length of 12-15 cm, it is transferred to a warm room, watered and fertilized.
Clivia does not like to be disturbed, especially when setting buds. It should stand in one place throughout the flowering period, otherwise it may just drop all its buds. Its fleshy, brittle roots serve as a storehouse of water and nutrients, so they rot at the slightest damage. Transplantation and transshipment does not like clivia. At the same time, flower care is as follows: replant no more than once every 2-3 years, and do this very carefully. After all, this plant contains a lot of alkaloids, it is very poisonous and can cause poisoning or even paralysis in a person.
Clivia prefers an earthen mixture consisting of turf land, peat and humus in a 2: 1: 1 ratio, with the addition of superphosphate.
Florists propagate the southerner by root offspring, separating them from an adult plant during transplantation. Usually use offspring with 4-5 leaves, rooting in wet sand.
Clivia, the care of which requires attention, sometimes behaves like a real capricious beauty, and almost something is wrong, problems immediately arise. For example, the tips of the leaves have turned brown, which means that the plant is waterlogged, and the decay of the stem may begin. If white spots appear on the leaves, the sun may have burned them. If there is not enough moisture or there was a low temperature in the room during flowering, there will be a short peduncle. From a lack of nutrients, the leaves look faded, and the peduncle may not appear at all.
Pests can defeat any plant. If clivia is affected by the pests, care is to treat with insecticides.