To elongate the flower stem, for me, it was a must for them to recieve little light until the aquired length you want to attain. I think in nature, outdoors in warmer climates, these plants can sense light changes, water changes in the weather pattern, and even temp changes in which all of these trigger bud formation in these plants all over the world.
P.S.
This I have been told by clivia experts,
You have to give a little water during winter to keep roots hydrated and healthy, or the roots will dehydrate beyond the point of being able to take up water, which will start the root rot process when water is finally introduced.. That is of course if you are living in an area where the winters are long and not short as like the south. In fact these plants are rained upon in natural habitat in dormancy cycle.
Therefore yellowing leaf and root problems from no water at all, all winter for such a LONG period of time ='s death.

I need help, I'm getting close to getting rid of all my Clivia plants. For several years I half heartedly tried to get my Clivias to bloom. Then last fall I followed the directions too the letter. Not a single bloom.

In summer I keep my Clivias on the front porch, facing east, partially shaded. The Rubber Plant thrives there, and the Clivias look very healthy. I stopped watering the clivia in August, kept them on the porch till the end of October. Had to cover them once or twice when the temp. dipped too low. They couldn't have been getting too much sunlight on the porch in Oct. I brought them inside, watered and waited. Some by a west facing window under the Rubber Plant. Some in the basement, gathered around the small south facing window. Still no blooms.

What am I doing wrong?

toofew

Wonderful. Awsome. Wish you could post a pic so we can all share in its beauty!;-)

toomanyanimals, I like your name. What kind of animals do you have? Are you trying to tell us something? lol

I would make a specific plea to craig. He does AWSOME with his. I would ask him what his secret is. He definately has a magic finger. Have you seen his flowers? Coulb ne fertilizer related too.
Are you giving them a consistant dark period? Over lets say, 3 months? Or a consistant cool period? And you are not overwatering right? They are to be watered very lttle. Sometimes I wonder if it's dormancy that causes them to bloom, or stressing them out.
Which ever one it is, you need to do it, and maybe someone here can help. For me, as I explained above, it works. I also live in a cold region as you.
In fact, I have a friend who puts them in her cellar too under florescent lights. She has them in her cool dark basement. Put aonly 3 hours of light on them starting in Oct. Then has the lights up to 6-8 by March. EVERYONE of them flower profusely! She is the one I learned from. Hers never fail to bloom. Some are 50 years old, along with young ones. Amazing! Long stocks and lots of flowers by March.
Please don't rid them, just try different techniques for each one, and see what works. You have alot of support, help,and ideas here. Don't give up!:-)

You've touched on it all. Maturity is the best indicator for repeat flowering. Seed set can delay flowering for a year or two. They do go dormant during their dry winter period in nature. Mine are put into a forced dormancy (or just plain survival) for a couple hot weeks in summer. They still seem to grow a bit in winter, especially if I have them in some light. The truth is we don't really know how to get them to flwoer regulariy. They either do or don't. Lighting and moisture do seem to play a part. So do temps. It is way too complex for a mere human to figure out.

Right now I am using a peat/perlite mix. I add some fish emulsion a couple times a year and occassional use some dissolvable flower fertilizer. I water the mature plants about once a month, even when it is hot. If I water too much, fungus develops. You are better to keep them a bit dry instead of wet. You are obviously doing something right with your coco peat. I tried coir, and it was too wet.

Hopefully this helps

Craig

elvis.