How to care for Clivia Miniata at home
About the experience of Clivia Miniata care at home, its cultivation methods, and precautions in the aspect of green plant maintenance, I will introduce to everyone next.
In a home garden, some plants are ornamental foliage, some are ornamental flowering plants, and a few are both foliage and flowering plants, such as Clivia Miniata. Clivia Miniata has bright green leaves that are stiff like swords, and its flowers are as red as fireballs. Not only is it difficult to bloom, but it is also not easy for plant enthusiasts to grow healthy leaves. Today, I will focus on how to care for the leaves of Clivia Miniata!
1. Learn to water correctly
Watering is crucial for the healthy growth of Clivia Miniata. Gardeners often don't know when it's suitable to water. I suggest the most direct method to determine if it's time to water is to insert your finger into the soil about 1/3 of the way down and feel the moisture. If it's moist, no need to water; if it's damp, prepare to water; if it's slightly damp, it's time to water.
Once the watering timing is determined, it's important to master the degree, which is the extent of watering. The best watering method for Clivia Miniata seedlings is to "water thoroughly but not leak." This means watering Clivia Miniata until water flows out of the bottom of the pot, as if giving it a bath, bringing enough oxygen into the soil. But at the same time, you should pour out the excess water from the pot surface to give Clivia Miniata a chance to "breathe."
If your Clivia Miniata is growing vigorously, the pot and soil are well-ventilated, and the weather is sunny with fast evaporation, then you can water more frequently to keep the soil moist. Conversely, water less. Some people think that Clivia Miniata is prone to root rot, so they water and fertilize less, resulting in chronic water and nutrient deficiencies, slow growth, and few flowers. Experience has shown that Clivia Miniata should be watered when the potting soil is half-dry to ensure green leaves and abundant flowers, not when the soil is completely dry.
2. Apply a thin nitrogen fertilizer every month
Nitrogen fertilizer is essential for bright green and lustrous leaves. If your Clivia Miniata leaves are thin and soft, yellow, and lack luster, it means it is deficient in nutrients. What kind of fertilizer should you use for Clivia Miniata? There are two types: inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer.
Let's start with inorganic fertilizer. I recommend using urea or Huaduo No.10 fertilizer. Urea should be used sparingly as it is too strong. Use a few granules, sprinkle them on the surface of the pot, and use them once every two months; Huaduo No.10 fertilizer is a water-soluble fertilizer. Dilute it with water according to the instructions and use it with watering every 10-15 days during the growing season. Do not fertilize during the high-temperature dormancy period.
Organic fertilizer is used when repotting, by burying deeply fermented and decomposed manure in the pot. The roots should not come into direct contact with the fertilizer, allowing the nutrients to be released slowly.
If you don't want to fertilize, the soil must be fertile. Using more decomposed leaf soil is better, as it is rich in nitrogen, which can keep the leaves healthy and vigorous!
3. Wipe the leaves with beer
Clivia Miniata leaves easily get dusty, so if you want to keep the leaves healthy, you need to wipe them. You can use water to wipe, but the leaves may become gray again after a couple of days. So, you can use other substances to maintain the luster of the leaves—beer.
Dilute beer with water 20 times, mix well, and use a clean cloth to dampen it, then wipe both sides of the leaves. Beer is also an organic nitrogen fertilizer that is good for the leaves. It can enhance the luster of the leaves and maintain it for about a week.
The above methods of caring for Clivia Miniata at home and its cultivation methods and precautions introduced by the Green Plant Enthusiast website are for reference only.