CLIVIA: GROWING CLIVIAS FROM SEED:
A: Introduction to Clivia seeds:
Soon after the plant finished its flowering phase, the berries on the plant will start to develop if they have been properly pollinated.
The berries will reach its maximum size but will remain dark green in color for about six months. You can harvest the berries once it starts colouring up and is soft to pressure. This can take from 6 months up to a year after flowering.
When harvesting the berries you can just pick then from the stems. Some people cut the stem with berries. Dust the cut with a fungicide or ordinary Flowers of Sulphur powder.
Ripe berries can vary in colour from yellow to dark red.
After harvesting the seeds you can put them out to dry in a well ventilated shade area for up to 7 days.This should make cleaning of the berries less messy.
Always label the berries and keep them seperate. This will make sorting out and planting out in colours easier.
B: Harvesting, cleaning and planting of clivia seeds:
1. Harvesting and cleaning of seeds:
Seed from the previous spring's blossoms will ripen from April to July. As soon as the berry becomes soft to gentle pressure it is ready for picking. This may be while the berry is still completely green.They are ripe from 6 months onwards. It is not essential to postpone harvesting until the berries turn colour. Remove the skin, the gelatinous pulp and the enveloping membrane from the seed. Wash in sunlight liquid. Dry with a papertowel. Dust lightly with a suitable contact fungicide and store in a ventilated container.
2. Planting seed:
I generally commence germinating my seed some two weeks after harvesting. Some growers will do so immediately after harvesting, while others will wait for several months until ambient temperatures rise in spring. The seed is placed between moist sheets of paper towel placed in any suitable container. You may also use coarse sterilized sand or peat moss in the plastic containers. Place seeds on top of the mixtures. Place the container in a warm spot to stimulate germination. If you are really hasty for results then invest in a heated germinator specially designed for this purpose. After the leaves have reached a length of 5-10 cm, I transfer them to seed trays outside in the shade. Keep the seed trays in a shady place. Keep moist but not wet or soggy.
3. Planting out seedlings:
When the seedlings are about one year old, I transfer the seedlings to individual 10 or 12 cm plant pots. My mix consists primarily of milled pine bark to which filter sand and ecoT , (a beneficial fungus) has been added.
A year after planting out the seedlings they are ready to be transferred to 17,5 cm (7 inch) pots. At this stage I provide some drainage at the bottom of the pots. Crushed stone or brick is suitable. Broken pieces of polystyrene make for less weight. In the potting-on procedure, disturb the plants as little as possible. If plants are watered prior to transfer they will slip out of the pot easier. A further year on, the plants are potted-on to 20 cm (8 inch) pots.