Hi Mike,
I'm fortunate to have a room in the basement. During the winter, when the door is closed, the temps range from about 50* down to the high 30s. They stay there for 8 weeks with very little fert/water even when in the gritty mix. Just brought mine out last night. Hopefully, I'll see some spiking in a couple of weeks.
Gail

Hi Mike, I have always kept mine in a part of the house that is rather cool because it is not near the furnace and not an area where I spend much time. I water them very little during the winter, maybe once a month, if that. I get blooms pretty much every year although now I know they are not at the usual time of year. Doing it this way mine bloom in the summer when they are outside. Now that I am on the Clivia Forum I find that everyone does the type of cold treatments that Gail(hi gail) describes and get their blooms in late winter /early spring so in future years I may do that too. The only one I didn't get a bloom on was one that I had in the greenhouse one year.... too warm in there I think.
Btw Mike, thanks again for the tip on one of the other forums about covering your greenhouse with a pool cover. I did it about a month ago and it is unbelievably easier to maintain the temperature in there. My coldest night so far it had gotten down to 3F one night and yet in the greenhouse it had maintained 50F.... it's been great! John

John, no kidding! I am so happy you tried the Solar Pool Cover thing. It is so hard to contain the excitement or to share when something works as well as that, right?
I even use it to cover my live pond and it does not freeze at all. I do find that the temps do stay more stable and don't warm up too rapidily and cools down very slowly.

It's incredible that we can keep our temps in there that warm on such a frigid night. That time we got our freak snow storm in October, it only got down to the twenties before I used one and the temps in there fell into the thirties, way too cold for my tropicals and orchids.

Yes, I do the same thing many do. I place mine in the cellar since they can be stuck anywhere I want out of the way. I too only water once every other week or so and they seem to LOVE this treatment.
I do have to mist the exposed root though quite often so they won't dry and shrivel up while the roots covered are drying out.
They get very little if at all any light.
Mine too flower in summer and not spring, although one or two do start in April. What's great about these plants is you can stick them in places no other plants will or can go. lol

I once knew a co-worker that use to set her huge plant by a north facing window in a cool entrance to our company, and that thing would flower profusely twice a year.

I wonder if there is many here that actually actively grow them in their home and how they do? I wonder if these people still get blooms on theirs in a house environment?

For some, these may be all they own and this is what they like to put in their windows.

Hi Gail! You know, those are the prefect conditions to store 'FIG' trees until the spring. But I won't get you addicted to another species..lol

Mike

Hi John,
Hey, if you have blooming luck and like the timing - stick with it. Or, do both. Cold treat some and leave others to what you're doing now. You'll have plants in bloom for months.

Hi Mike!

Listen, guys, I have a question. How old are your plants? Some of mine are reluctant to bloom. Even with good care.

Thanks,
Gail

Mike, yeah it's great to find solutions like that and sharing them. I also used the leftover portion of my pool cover to cover my pond and help keep it heated a little.
My clivias are actually in the house. I only had two and they are in a south facing window during the winter but they are shaded by other plants between them and the window. That room stays around 60F. btw... I have a fig that goes in the garage for the winter.

Gail, yes I guess I don't need to change much if they are doing well. My two older ones are probably 6 to 8 years old or more. They were blooming size already when I got them. Now that I joined the Clivia Forum I am hooked and bought many more... one blooming size San Marcos Yellow and then quite a few tiny seedlings and I am trying seeds for the first time also. It surprised me to see how active that forum is because this one on Gardenweb seems to have so little activity. So many knowledgeable and helpful people. John

I live in zone 6 in Ohio. I have about 15 mature clivias, most of which bloom in June. I don't have anywhere to grow them that I can keep lower than 60 degrees. So I have less control over when they bloom. But they do bloom.

What I do is leave them outdoors as long as I can in the fall, only bringing them in on the nights when frost threatens. This often means that I am taking them in and then putting them back out a couple times a week until the end of November. I don't water them
from Oct. 1 until Jan. 1.

Inside I have them in a south window that gets a few hours of sun (when there is any). They do grow in the winter, adding a couple leaves. I think keeping them growing is a good idea.

I also have a couple dozen clivia seedlings from 1 to 2 years old that I grow under lights and fertilize with every watering. Under this treatment, most will bloom in their third or fourth year.

Ohiofem, and others....

I haven't looked at this forum for a while but I'm particularly interested in this thread because I need to give my Clivias, starting next year, the "big chill" to induce the flowering cycle.

My growing "area" is on the kitchen floor. Come the warmer weather the plants will go out onto the shady, but bright, front porch, until the onset of cold weather...in Zone-7, that could be at the beginning of December. Starting Oct. thru mid-Nov. I will have to control the water entering the quick-draining, gritty mix in which the plants are growing. I'll have to put some kind of plastic bag around the pots to prevent rain from wetting the growing medium. This will be the cool, dry period that the plants need to induce flowers. Then, the plants will come back into the house for the winter months. That's about the best I can do to "control" the temp's. The house is always no lower than 60 degrees, and I have no other areas where I can store the plants for the chill period other than a unheated storage shed, that's quite dark.

Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, would be greatly appreciated, especially if what I have just outlined above will cause me or my plants problems.

Thanks,
Frank/BronxFigs

Frank, your plan sounds exactly what I do with mine--except I don't withhold water. And they bloom every year. I never did get the point of not watering to induce blooming.

Mine do get whatever sun is available year 'round, though--via windows in the cold season and strong indirect sun on a sheltered deck for the warm season.

Hey Mike Long time
Not the biggest Cliva fan but the one I have is still on the third floor landing This was an odd mild winter as you know, if the temp in AM was right ( 40 F or above) I set it outside in a wind protected corner of the porch and in by night near the door. If to cold in AM then I set to the side of the 3 flr. porch entry door cloudy or bright with no direct sun. Yet as of lately a small amount of brighter sun does hit it for about two hours if outside. Soon it'll sit in the same dull dark corner of an AC'd room during the higher temps.

The container 1/4 in red pumice and same sized sifted granite stones 50/50 mix a small amount of bark fines of maybe 5%

Winter watering if it rained at 40 - 55 degrees outside (it would now be on a table top at rail level) in word if it sounds easy is only cause it was that easy for me.

Warmer season: Same 3rd floor inside room with AC (as needed for my comfort: Watering As Clivia go they have no real tell time to water so I'll probably water it like it's a Mam type cactus (only with alot less sun lol)

History: Someone set it on a raffle table about 18 months ago with 5 of 7 blackened browned and/or sun burnt leaves I cut them away slowly during the first year.

Now has 7 looking much much better but still need to darker color green up to be real Civia looking. I'm predicting flowering next blooming season ( when ever that is lol) They're Okay as a plant goes but no there wont be a second one of them grown here.

One of my clivias blooms this time of year no matter how I treat it. It is a variegated daruma from Chinese seed. Because of its beautiful variegation, which means its leaves can be easily damaged, I don't leave it outside when the weather gets cold and I don't withhold water like I do with all my other clivias. I have another variegated daruma from the same seller that is the same age (7 years), but it has never bloomed. They look the same but I think the first one has better genes. My point is that sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. Here it is

{{gwi:571337}}

Very nice, Ohio. Would love to see the whole plant.

I have a few spiking, but that's after the cold treatment. ;-)

Gail

It may be a little difficult to see because of the backlighting, but the plant has lovely form. It had more flowers in previous years, but these are larger.
{{gwi:571338}}

It does have lovely form - really nice.
Thanks,

Mine are kept in an unheated room. No water or nothing. It blooms most every spring, or early winter. :) Arum

Thanks to the great advise I got on this Forum, my plants that hadn't bloomed in 20 years, have bloomed for the past 2!! They are outside all summer, into the unheated garage in a N facing windowfor the winter. Garage never goes below 40 F. Minimal watering. Once I see the blooms starting to come up I take them inside and start to water. Just pulled them out a week go and both have big clusters of blooms ready to go.

Steve

Mike I'm an old bird (86) and my clivias sit on a tray beside a plant stand about 1 1/2 Ft from the light and gets watered regularly.Last year the mother plant bloomed in Oct,Dec,March then threw up four pups which are all repotted. Here's the last set of blooms
Bill

Bill: Very nice. I have a couple that bloom by the calendar no matter how I treat them, while most of the others seem to demand special treatment. Trying to create a cross between the reliable bloomers and the picky beauties has obsessed me.

Mine faithfully bloom every summer Late June/July. I do not move mine to a cold area, nor do the many friends whom I have given babies of my original plant. My house is in the low 60's at night and 67-70 during the day. They are in a north window, BUT I do withhold water for January and February. After that they get a good shower in the tub and begin fertilizing again. I also agree that they prefer to be pot bound, and look great that way, though it does make watering more of a challenge.

Wow Mariava! Your Clivias are incredible. If you ever give away seeds I would certainly be interested, especially the yellow one in front and the white/green one. Beautiful.

I can't seem to get mine to bloom. Granted I don't have a cool place to put them but I do withhold water. I've had a Clivia (purchased at Home Depot) for about 12 years and it has only bloomed once. It is root bound in a large pot with about 3 or 4 pups (some of which are adults themselves), I have lost count. I like the crowded/full look. I put it outside in the summer and leave it there until the last possible moment then I put it in a northwest facing room. The one year it bloomed we had gone away for March Break and when I came back it was blooming. I had closed all the blinds while we were away so I having been trying to keep it in darker cooler locations but so far nothing. We are going away for March Break again this year so I'm hoping I come home to a pleasant surprise.

Garnet

My single clivia pot stays in the garage with a heater (no colder than 50 degrees) until I see the flower spikes developing. The garage has a south window and flourescent lights, but really it's not all that bright.

I think I'll need to divide up this one this summer.

Wonderful, Dave. I'd be tempted not to divide. I love a pot full of umbels, the more the better.
Gail

I have a huge clivia in a big pot with 5-6 separate plants. They bloom every year with 6-8 blooms on each. Do I have to separate them? I don't want to do it if it will stop blooming.

I have not found that repotting clivias causes them to fail to bloom. If you repot in late spring/early summer after they bloom and make sure each clump has healthy roots, you should be OK. You don't have to separate them, though. You could just move them all to a larger pot with fresh mix and you might find they do very well. If you don't repot or refresh the mix for several years, they will eventually decline.

since mine are not mature enough to bloom, they come indoors and get set under the skylight and get watered per normal

Love all the comments. I'm having trouble with short stems. I have moved from Texas to Maine. So next year I'll put them in a cold spot for 8 weeks. My questions are 1. Do they need light in the 8 weeks or will a closet do? 2. Do you take them out after 8 weeks or wait til you see a bus? Thanks, Mary

Give them light. Withhold water for up to 10 weeks. I wouldn't wait for a sign they're going to bloom. I have about three dozen, and they are several different kinds. Some bloom reliably in February and March. Many don't bloom until I put them outside. Since I don't really have a cold place, most of mine actually bloom in June after about two months living outdoors. I think the cold nights they get at that time help. Once they are about five years old, almost all of them have bloomed every year regardless of how I care for them in winter. One thing I think does help is to feed them regularly in spring and summer. I use a 3-1-2 NPK formula with all minors.

I live in Bakersfield cal and I keep mine outside year round. I do cover it when the temp is freezing ( about twice a year)

My plant is kept in a cool dark room until I see a flower spike then I bring it into an area with lights. Just brought it out this past week.

I live in Alaska, zone 4, and have only grown my clivia indoors. I started about 40-50 from seeds about 4 years ago. This summer was their first outdoors, they got severely sunburnt so I had to cut them back. I had one plant that bloomed. I will be wintering them over in the garage. I am excited for them to be outdoors next summer, hoping for more blooms. After awhile they were just taking up too much space in my home and work. The third pic was before I put them outside.

Your flowers are lovely. It's interesting that your clivias got sunburned even in Alaska where the sun is weaker. I keep my clivias in bright shade when they are outside in the summer. The few times they've gotten direct sun between 10 am and 3 pm they've shown signs of sunburn. Variegated clivias are especially vulnerable to sunburn. Yellow and peach ones also seem more sensitive.

Because we are way up north we are closer to the suns rays. My son got burnt in 70 degree Alaska sun but not in 80 degree Las Vegas sun. We have less of an ozone layer too I think. I will be more careful with them next spring and slowly introduce them to the sun. We also have 20+ hours of daylight in our summers, our high of the day is around 5pm.

Makes sense. My brother who lives in Montana at a high altitude has a lot more problems with sun burn on his Clivia than I do in southern Ohio. In South Africa they grow them under heavy shade cloth.

I have about 16 potted clivias (mostly grown from seed) that summer outdoors. Before frost I bring them indoors (after a good hosing and spray to lessen the odds of hitchhiking mealybugs), and they overwinter on the basement floor at the edges of the fluorescent light garden.

Now, if the plants that haven't yet flowered would produce red blooms as promised by the supplier (the few that have flowered 3-4 years after sowing have all been orange with cream centers).

I don't have a choice since I live in a one bedroom in NYC. I thought red blooms needed higher light then other colors to bring out the red

As they are handsome large plants I bring them into the house a few weeks after weather gets chilly but before freezes. I don’t water them all winter snd bring them back out to the covered porch where they will spend Spring snd Summer and start watering and feeding them with Rapid Grow. One is huge and I’m lucky to get one bloom, usually none on the two medium sized ones which is why I was asking for advise. A friend uses ”lots” of fertilizer and has 8 or ten blooms. what do experts say?