Clivia: cinnabar (miniature, orange), white, Nobilis and other types of plants with their photos, description and origin, care for them and reproduction, diseases

Quite often in public places such as clinics, schools, libraries, you can find lush indoor plants with spectacular dark green leaves. They look like swords with pointed tips and are beautifully fan-shaped.

This is an unpretentious long-liver of clivia, the owner of no less spectacular orange-red flowers, blooming in the second half of winter. How to care for this delicate flower you will learn in our article. Also watch useful video.

Description and Origin

Clivia (Clivia) belongs to the Amaryllis family and is named after Charlotte Clive, the famous Duchess of Northumberland. She was fond of floriculture and was the first to achieve the flowering of this southern plant in cold and cloudy England. The name of the plants was given by the English botanist John Lindley. The first type of clivia, Nobilis, was discovered in 1828 in the Cape of South Africa.

ATTENTION: Clivia has no stem, its leaves form a false stem, gathering at the root with a rosette and tightly encircling each other with its bases. Clivia leaves are shiny, plain, dark green in color. They have a linear xiphoid shape, with sharp tips. The leaves are fan-shaped in one plane, do not have a longitudinal vein, smooth.

Clivia flowers are white, yellow, bright orange or red. The shape is bell-shaped, tubular, funnel-shaped. Flowers on long pedicels are collected in umbrella-shaped spherical or drooping brush-shaped inflorescences located on a long bare peduncle-arrow.

Clivia is a long-lived plant, at home she has been living for at least 15 years, and under the most favorable conditions lasts up to 30-40 years. The older the plant, the more peduncles it has: old plants form up to 40-50 peduncles.

Poison and beneficial properties

If damaged, yellow-orange poisonous juice is secreted from clivia leaves. The leaves and rhizomes of clivia are poisonous due to the alkaloids contained in them. In small doses, these substances cause increased salivation, vomiting, and diarrhea. In large quantities, when ingested, they can cause paralysis and even death. That is why it is necessary to wash hands after working with the plant and to prevent small children and pets from coming to it.

It is unacceptable to use clivia for self-medication, it is too dangerous. But in pharmacology, clivia receive drugs that normalize the circulatory system.

Popular views

Natural types of clivia are characterized by long dark green leaves and orange-red tubular flowers. In modern hybrids, the leaves are not only monophonic, but also with bright colored stripes along the leaf.

Coloring of flowers varies from cream-white, salmon, coral to dark red, and, of course, is presented in the whole gamut of yellow and orange tones. The shape of the flowers is also diverse: there are hybrids with exquisite lily-shaped or tulip-shaped flowers.

Types of clivia

View	Description	Origin
Cinnabar (orange, miniature, meerkat)	The xiphoid leaves (45-60 cm), expand at the base (up to 6 cm). High peduncle (40-50 cm) with 10-20 flowers on long (3 cm) pedicels, collected in a spherical umbrella inflorescence. Large (petals 4-5 cm) dull red or orange flowers with a bright yellow eye, funnel-shaped.	Originally from Natal Province (South Africa)
Nobilis (beautiful, noble)	A short plant (30 cm), dark green leaves 40 cm long xiphoid with sharp tips 4-6 cm wide. Peduncle 30-50 cm tall, with 40-60 flowers on long (up to 3 cm) pedicels. Curved drooping perianth, medium-sized tubular flowers, funnel-shaped orange. Petals about 2 cm long, pointed with a green top.	Cape Province (South Africa)
Citrine (White)	Creamy yellow flowers in an umbrella inflorescence and yellow berries. Dark green long leaves.	Quasal Foothills in the province of Natal (South Africa)
Gardena	The leaves are bright bright green xiphoid, expand to the base (3-4 cm). Peduncle up to 45 cm in height with 10-16 flowers. Narrow tubular funnel-shaped flowers. Petals coral-salmon with green tips, lanceolate (3-3.5 cm in length).	In the foothills of the Transvaal and Natal (South Africa)
Stem	Large belt-shaped leaves (length up to 60 cm, width up to 7 cm). Peduncle about 100 cm with 10-20 flowers in a racemose. The flowers are tubular orange-red with pale green tops.	Northern and Eastern Provinces of South Africa
Amazing (mirabilis)	It easily tolerates drought and direct sunlight. The xiphoid leaves, the main background is dark green, at the base are dark purple. In the middle of the sheet is a white strip. Flowers on long pedicels collected in carpal inflorescences. Tubular petals in deep scarlet color with lemon tips.	From the arid regions of northwest South Africa
Powerful (swamp)	It grows up to 150-180 cm. Leaves up to 90 cm in length 6-10 cm in width. Pale coral tubular flowers on racemes.	Prefers damp places of the foothills of South Africa

Photo

Next, you can see photos of different varieties of clivia, including cinnabar:

Care

Clivia is usually found in eastern and western windows with soft lighting.. Choose a bright place with diffused light for it, without direct sunlight. In summer, you can take the plant outside at partial shade. Clivia loves long-lasting, but soft lighting. With a lack of sun, especially during the period of growth and flowering, the plant grows slowly and does not release the arrow of the peduncle.

TIP: It is advisable to grow clivia at a moderate temperature during growth (from spring to early fall) and flowering (in winter) at 20-25 ° C. In the winter dormant period, starting in October, the temperature is reduced to 12-14 ° C, then clivia releases a flower stalk and prepares for flowering.

After the appearance of the peduncle, clivia is rearranged in a warm place at a temperature of 20 ° C, watered and fertilized. Clivia prefers moderate watering in the spring and before the start of autumn with warm, settled water, once every 10-14 days. Try not to leave water in the pan so that the roots of clivia do not rot. From late autumn, watering is severely limited, giving the plant peace until it releases a peduncle up to 10-15 cm.

If the plant begins to drop leaves, it can be watered a little, but more often it is enough to sprinkle the surface of the soil from the spray gun. Clivia leaves are occasionally wiped with a damp sponge and sprayed to get rid of dust.

Clivia blooms in the second half of winter, in February. Flowers bloom gradually over a period of 3-4 weeks. For regular flowering of clivia, rest is necessary, the older the plant, the longer the rest period. For abundant and long flowering, clivia is planted in tight pots. After flowering, the arrow is not cut: when it dries, it easily stretches itself. If the peduncle is small and the buds are lost in the leaves, make forcing. They plant the plant a little further from the window so that the arrow stretches out.

During the period of active growth from spring to late summer, the plant is fed twice a month with liquid organic and mineral fertilizers in turn. During dormancy, top dressing is completely ruled out.

Period	Lighting	Temperature	Watering	Top dressing
Growth (spring-summer)	Penumbra, avoid direct sunlight	20-25 ° C	Moderate, 1 time in 10-14 days	Mineral and organic fertilizers alternately 2 times a month
Rest period (fall-winter)	Limited coverage	12-15 ° C	None, you can spray the surface of the soil	Absent
Flowering (winter)	Bright but diffused light	20-25 ° C	Moderate, 2 times a month	Mineral fertilizers 2 times a month

Learn more about the features of care, as well as other nuances of growing clivia at home here.

Transfer

Clivia roots are fleshy, juicy, they do not tolerate transplantation and break easily.. Broken roots with heavy watering can easily rot. Treat damaged areas with ash or powdered charcoal. Young plants are transplanted annually, adult plants every 2-3 years. Old specimens (from 10 years old) that have reached the largest size and who live in tubs do not transplant. They simply fill up fresh soil (5 cm) and feed them with fertilizers.

If the plant is still growing and its roots come out of the pot, it's time to transplant. Mandatory after flowering. The plant is transplanted with an earthen lump. Prepare the soil: 2 parts of turf, 1 part of leaf, 1 part of humus, 1 part of peat and 1 part of sand. The soil is desirable loose and slightly acidic. Drainage (expanded clay, fine gravel) must be laid at the bottom of the pot.

After transplantation, you can spray with immunostimulants (Epin, Zikron, Kornevin) to help the plant tolerate stress and strengthen. Do not water for several days, it is better to simply spray and nail the ground after transplanting. Plant in a cramped pot (2-3 cm more than the previous one), do not deepen (the root neck should be above the surface).

IMPORTANT: If the pot is too spacious, clivia will not begin to bloom until the roots fill the entire volume of the pot.

Watch the clivia transplant video:

Find out more about the clivia transplant at home in a separate article.

Breeding

Clivia can be propagated by division or seed.. Seeds appear on the 3rd month (10 weeks) after flowering, they are immediately sown in the ground at a distance of 2 cm from each other. Shoots appear in a month (4-6 weeks). After the formation of the first leaf, clivia seedlings are transplanted into individual pots with a diameter of 7 cm, and then transplanted annually, increasing the diameter of the pot by 2-3 cm.

In the third year, young plants are accustomed to a dormant period, keeping them without watering and at a temperature of 15 ° C for two months October-November. After the first dormant period, 30% of young plants bloom. With seed propagation, clivia is guaranteed to bloom only after 4-5 years.

At home, it is more convenient to transplant clivia with offspring. With an annual transplant of clivia, pay attention to offspring having at least 4 leaves. They are able to take root with high probability. Siblings are transplanted into loose soil mixed with perlite or sand, and waiting for rooting in pots at a temperature of 16-18 ° C. The roots of clivia are very fragile and easily rot with excessive watering, so after a transplant, pause watering for several days. In old plants, offspring are simply removed so as not to deplete the plant.

Learn more about clivia propagation methods at home and planting recommendations in this article.

Diseases and Pests

Of the pests, the most dangerous are scale insects (shield aphids) and mealybugs. Before transplanting, it is recommended to cultivate the soil by calcining it in the oven for 10 minutes or by spilling it with a weak, slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Scaffolds (shield aphids) the most common pests of clivia. They suck out the cell sap, in the form of brown growths and red sticky spots located on the leaves and stems,. The leaves turn pale, dry and die. To combat the shield aphid, the leaves of clivia are wiped with a soap solution with the addition of kerosene with a sponge. Then the plant is sprayed with a solution of insecticide (actellica).
Mealybugs look like white cotton wool and affect all parts of the plant. Leaves warp, dry and fall off.
It is necessary to wipe the leaves with a soap solution and remove pests with a cotton swab. In case of severe damage, the plant is treated with an insecticide every week until recovery.
Root rot. The leaves begin to turn yellow, rot at the root, the plant dies.
It is necessary to get the plant out of the pot, remove the damaged roots. Process slices with powdered charcoal and transplant clivia into a new disinfected soil.

Other issues:

Browning of the tips of the leaves. With waterlogging, rotting of the roots and base of the stems.
Short flower stalk. Shortage of water and low temperatures in the spring-summer period of growth.
White or light yellow spots on the leaves from sunburn.
Faded leaves and lack of peduncle with insufficient nutrition.
Lack of flowers with too short a period of rest, high temperature and insufficient light.
The leaves turn yellow. With natural aging and dying of leaves, with the ripening of fruits, when all the nutrients rush to the fruits.

For more nuances about clivia diseases, including why leaves do not bloom or the leaves dry and yellow, find out in a separate material.

Clivia is a very spectacular and beautiful plant even without flowers, thanks to the long xiphoid leaveslocated beautiful fan. What can we say about the flowering period, when in February fiery orange-red flowers bloom on a long peduncle.

This is simple to achieve, it is enough to remember that clivia needs peace in the autumn-winter period and a permanent place. Clivia does not tolerate anxiety, do not rearrange it during the period of setting buds and flowering, and it will delight you with the long-awaited winter flowers.