Clivia out to chill

[CliviaAndCompany]

Wrestled all the Clivia out in the garage for their annual chill. This is my second consistent year getting them chilled so I'm hoping to see a lot of new blooms. I had four bloom this year, only one of them "first bloom". But I spread them more liberally throughout the house so they weren't all crammed together and also increased their watering schedule (which saw a very noticable increase in root growth), so it will be interesting to see how spring looks. I have plans to supplement Cal/Mag when they come back in. If my orchids are missing it it's likely my Clivia are too, at least to some degree.

My grandmother's orchids look so lonely on the windowsill not surrounded by other plant friends... Guess I just need more orchids 😍.

[estación seca]

Where do you live? Do you grow them in the house during the summer? They do fine outside for spring-summer-fall in most of the US if you have the space.

[CliviaAndCompany]

I live in Washington state, US, and grow them indoors, despite the fact they would probably love being outside most of the year. I'm not a big fan of bug pests in my plants (or worse, slugs), so rather than deal with that, they stay inside with their faces pressed up against the glass. The worst I have to deal with is fungus gnats and they're managed with mosquito dunks in the watering can. Much easier than spider mites and cucumber beetles (and slugs).

[Ray]

What constitutes an adequate chill for them?

[CliviaAndCompany]

Between 40f and 50f, from my understanding. It's always colder near the doors in my garage, so I put the plants closer to the doors than the house. It's about 55f out there now, outside temperature is around 40f, so it probably hits the sweet spot at night, though I haven't measured it. And we don't open the doors often, so there aren't a lot of bursts of cold. And in a pinch I could turn on the heater that's out there to bring it up a few degrees. I probably risk a lot by things not being more controlled, but I've had too many stuck peduncles to keep overwintering them in the house. And they're probably the toughest and most forgiving plant I've ever grown.

Edit: I forgot to include how long. I've done two months and three months and found that two months in the garage, no water, with a thorough soaking of the media when they come in has resulted in happier plants. So they'll come in mid February with blooms arriving anywhere from immediately to April. I even had one bloom in August...

[Ray]

Thanks for the reply.

I have one typical orange one that is quite large and mature, but it has been very hit-and-miss about blooming since I moved from a greenhouse in PA to the deck and indoors in NC.

I have three yellow-flowered ones growing like weeds, but they are immature at this point.

[CliviaAndCompany]

A gentleman contacted me through my page on a social media site to ask how successful he might be growing them in his garden. He had already planted it outside and mulched it up for the winter (I believe he was in zone 4). I didn't believe it would survive, but the following spring he went to check on it, the leaves had all died back but a peduncle was shooting up from the spot he planted it. I doubt that it will flourish enough in the other seasons to continue for very long like that but I wish him the best in his experiment. So I guess my point is, I'd start cycling them now and just see what happens (maybe not out in the elements, but to each his own). To me, the extended watering hiatus followed by a good soaking has caused more blooms than the cold, but the two together have provided more consistent results for me. I've got a NoID Clivia miniata that has about 5 offsets that could be a good candidate for experimenting with cool/no water and just no water, just need to get them divided...

[CliviaAndCompany]

Okay, I know you've all been waiting with bated breath!

The first to bloom (spiked even before I brought them in) was (C. miniata x C. gardenii) x Hirao. This is the first time this has bloomed for me and I find it absolutely stunning. The tubular shape of the flower and green tips of the buds are traits of gardenii, while the flaring tepals are the miniata/Hirao influence. It had an astounding 15 flowers in it's first umbel! I really love the shape of these blooms. It selfed three flowers, so it will be fun to germinate those next year and see what comes of it.



Second to bloom was (C. miniata x C. caulescens) x Chubb's Splash. This plant has bloomed every year since it's first, extremely reliable, but this was the first bloom for her offset. This photo is both of their umbels in bloom at the same time. The tubular shape is the caulescens influence, while the flaring tepals are miniata/Chubb's Splash. I suspect the darker outside color of the tepals is coming from Chubb's Splash. She has another offset that didn't bloom yet, but next year may see three spikes, unless I finally get around to dividing them. She loves to self, and this year is no different. She and her daughter share 9 berries between them.



This C. miniata is a result of my first ever pollination. When my first Clivia that I purchased, a NoID from some catalog company (like Springfield or something), bloomed, I managed to pollinate it and raised up one plant. I figured it would be a cheap way to grow my collection, it didn't really matter what the flowers looked like. This is it's first flowering, it certainly glows in the windowsill! No selfing happened for this one, probably because the flowers are so open.



Next to flower, another first timer. (Charl's Green x Vico Peach) x self. This flower is about twice the size of any of the others that have flowered for me. The tepals have a lot of reflex, which I'm definitely a fan of. Even the leaves are remarkable with a wavy edge to one side. I could see a lot of crossing into this one. I was hoping for more of a green, or maybe the light coloring of that first plant, but that didn't pan out. I was actually surprised this one selfed a couple flowers, considering how open they are.



Unfortunately for me, this one's tag fell off. It's parents are one of three or four crosses that I bought seeds from, but it's still a NoID. This is it's first bloom, so I'm not sure whether this is a stuck peduncle or whether it just has a really short stature. Perhaps it needs some changes to it's culture, otherwise, if I'm going to use it as a parent, I'm probably going to need to cross it with something that creates a tall spike. It did have about 15 flowers for it's first time, which is fantastic! I find it to be very delicately lovely, I just would have been happier if the peduncle was longer. Hopefully it doesn't cause any rot. This one selfed a flower, which I guess the only surprise is that it didn't do more than one, the way it was all smashed together.



That's all for this year. We'll be moving soon, so different water quality and changes to light might see some changes to everything for next year's blooms. We'll see.

[Diane56Victor]

Lovely collection with some well known names.
Ive got a few plants in bloom too, similar cross to your first plant but with no Hirao input.

[Ray]

Since we’re updating, my large Clivia miniata (growing in S/H, getting my normal “orchid regimen” of K-Lite, Kelpak, and Quantum-Total) was allowed to stay out last fall until the temperature threatened to drop below 45F.

It has bloomed twice this spring!