Best fertilizer for Clivia Plants | Winter, Spring and Summer

The best fertilizer for clivia plants is a an all purpose, organic fertilizer like pelleted chicken manure. If your plants have lots of leaves and no flowers, give them a potassium rich fertilizer in spring. Compost can be added in the soil before planting or used as a top dressing in Fall.

These fertilizers used together contain nitrogen for good leaf growth, phosphorus for good root development and calcium for stem and flower growth.

Best fertilizer for Clivias

Here are the bet fertilizers to apply to clivias in each season.

Early Spring

The best fertilizer for clivias in Spring is pelleted chicken manure. This is a great all purpose fertilizer that will replace nutrients lost throughout the previous season. If the plant is growing lots of leaves and no flower buds by summer, add some flower and fruit promoting fertilizer.

Fall

The best fertilizer for clivias in Fall is a nitrogen rich fertilizer which will support leaf and stem growth and feed the plant over winter. Adding handful of pelleted chicken manure is the easiest way to apply nitrogen or a small sprinkle of aged cow manure is also good.

This will be enough nitrogen fertilizer to support the clivia plant over the winter months.

Winter

Stop fertilizing over winter as the plant will slow its growth and will be able to use up the nitrogen fertilizer added in Fall.  

How to apply fertilizer to clivia plants

Here is the best way to apply fertilizer to clivia plants and to get good, healthy bright flowering plants.

Before planting new plants

Divided clivias can be fertilized before planting out by digging aged cow manure, compost and worm castings through the soil. If you have purchased a clivia plant from a garden nursery, this can also be planted out into improved soil in the same way.

Early growth

As the clivias are growing in Fall add a handful of pelleted chicken manure around the root zone. This will give the plant a boost of nitrogen for deep green leaf growth. Setting up your plant for healthy growth over winter will mean that it will be ready to bloom by late winter or early Spring.

Flowering

Once your clivia plant has flowered in late Winter or early spring you can add a high phosphorus fertilizer. This will help the plant to recover from flowering and help to strengthen the stems.

In preparing the soil and topping up in Spring here are the best natural fertilizers for clivias:

• Aged cow manure
• Pelleted chicken manure
• Worm Castings
• Compost
• Organic liquid fertilizer

Aged cow manure

Dig aged cow manure through the soil before planting new clivia plants. This will add carbon rich organic material to the soil to improve soil structure and drainage. This will also help to grow good bacteria and worms which will aerate the soil to encourage good root growth.

Pelleted chicken manure

Mix 1 handful of pelleted chicken manure into the soil for each clivia plant before planting new stems. Add 1 handful of pelleted chicken manure around the root zone every 4 weeks as the plant is growing from Spring to Fall and water in well.

This will give your plant long lasting nutrients.

Worm Castings

Worm castings are considered a mild fertilizer and soil conditioner they add many good bacteria and organic matter to the soil. Mix worm castings through soil before planting clivias to add extra structure to the soil.

They can also be sprinkled around as a top dressing around clivias in Spring.

Compost

Homemade or bought compost can be mixed through soil before planting clivias at a rate of around 1 shovel full per plant. This will improve the water holding capacity of the soil, add nutrients and add extra nitrogen to your soil for good leaf growth.

Compost can also be used as mulch as it will hold water well.

Organic liquid fertilizer

To boost clivia leaf growth add diluted liquid nitrogen fertilizer in Spring and Fall. Use a mild mix of liquid fertilizer like fish emulsion to provide extra nitrogen to encourage fast growth and improve the soil at the same time.

How to grow bigger clivias with more flowers

Here is the best way to grow great big clivias with lots of flowers.

Choose good quality plants

Choosing good quality clivia plants that have been split from a clump or bought new from a nursery is the best way to grow large clivias with more flowers. When splitting clivias from a clump, make sure they have lots of roots and a good piece of rhizome.

For smaller stems, leave a few stems together to keep the plant stronger and quicker to recover from being transplanted.

Dig fertilizer in the soil before planting

Adding soil improvers like compost, worm castings and pelleted chicken manure before planting will give clivia plants the best start.

Add extra fertilizer like pelleted chicken manure over the warmer months to top up nitrogen and help them to last through the winter. By late winter the nitrogen levels would have reduced and the plant will be stimulated to produce and grow flowers.

Mulch clivia plants with bark chips

Surround clivia plants with bark mulch which will be gradually broken down by soil bacteria and worms. This will slowly release nutrients into the soil to feed the plant.

Mulch will also keep the soil moisture level consistent which clivias love. Mulch will reduce water evaporation and keep weeds away. This will reduce competition to the clivias and

Water clivias well

Clivia plants love regular water so make sure you keep the soil moist. Mulch will help the soil to hold water for longer and reduce evaporation. Check the soil regularly over the warmer months to see if your clivias need another drink.

Best fertilizer for Clivias | Summary

The trick to growing clivias successfully is to add aged cow manure, compost and pelleted chicken manure before planting. Adding a potassium fertilizer after flowering and a liquid nitrogen boost in late spring will keep them happy.

Natural fertilizers are great for your garden and going organic will grow great clivias as well as supporting soil microbes and worms for better soil.

Happy growing.