Cold Climate Gardening » houseplants

Clivia, Re-Potted

Kathy Purdy — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:49:31 +0000

The clivia is repotted, hopefully in a pot that is not too big, not too small, but just right.

Repotting a houseplant reputed to be slow-growing and expensive is almost as daunting as dividing a perennial for the first time. You are just sure you are going to kill it, so it helps to have someone more experienced to coach you through the process. Many thanks to L. T. Tran of Idlewild Farm, Andrew Beckman, Brian MacDonald, and Mark, who all took the time to offer their advice and reassure me as I was faced with my mom’s incredibly rootbound clivia.

Some of the commenters thought the black plastic pot was too big, and clay pots are generally recommended for clivia. I went with a clay pot that was as tall as the big plastic one, but doesn’t hold as much soil because of its sloped sides. I just couldn’t see cramming the clivia into anything smaller. More importantly, I knew my mom was more likely to under-water than over-water, so I thought the clivia would be safe from the waterlogged soil that would encourage rot.

It’s a lot heavier than it used to be, so I think they are going to need my dad’s hand dolly to get it back into their apartment!

Should I Root Prune My Mom’s Clivia?

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:43:40 +0000

The clivia after I removed it from its pot

My mom asked me to repot her clivia for her. Clivia miniata is a slow-growing and slow-to-bloom houseplant in cold climates, blooming in late winter and highly tolerant of neglect. I don’t own one myself (though I hope, in time, to inherit an offset of hers), so I made some attempt to familiarize myself with its growing conditions and needs. As is often the case with plants, I found some conflicting information, and so I am asking for your advice.

This is how the clivia looked after I unwound and untangled the roots.

Most people offering clivia advice on the internet say these houseplants bloom best when potbound. However, L.T. Tran, a commenter on A Way to Garden who grows clivias to show, says they do not like to be potbound, they merely tolerate it. Ooohh-kaay. I think we’d all agree, then, that it is definitely time for my mom’s houseplant to be repotted. But, into what?

Many of the clivia's roots are quite long, up to 30 inches (76cm)

Despite being crammed into a 6-inch wide, 5-inch deep pot, many of this clivia’s roots are very long. I held one to its full length to get an idea, and it measured thirty inches (76cm)! Of course, none of the roots are naturally extended to their full length; they’re not normally held in tension. Still, the bulk of the roots, resting comfortably, extends a good 16 inches (41cm).

Should I root prune this clivia?

The former clivia pot next to the proposed new clivia pot

The deepest pot I have on hand is 12 inches (30cm) deep. I think it is what is referred to as a 5-gallon can. On the bottom it says Polycan #6 Deep, volume 1,396 cubic inches. So what I want to know is, should I just cram these long roots into this pot, or should I trim the roots so they fit more comfortably, keeping in mind that the reputed clivia fondness for being rootbound is a myth?

Should I divide it?

Would you cut into this clivia to make two plants?

Everyone, even L.T. Tran, says a clivia won’t bloom until it has at least eight adult leaves. So my mom’s clivia is just getting going. Many websites that I consulted said you shouldn’t divide the plant until the offsets, the “babies,” are almost that big themselves. Tovah Martin, in Well-Clad Windowsills: Houseplants for Four Exposures, goes so far as to advise, “Attempt the deed only for very dear friends or to acquire something quite rare in exchange.” But . . . there’s so many roots. Would the mama clivia be happier in a pot of her own? Or is it best for everyone involved that the family should stay together?

Your thoughts, please.

Three gardening books for children

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:03:28 +0000

Even young children take gardening seriously and want to succeed. (Photo by Cadence Purdy)

Many gardening books for children take what I think of as the art project approach: here’s what you need, this is what you do, isn’t that cute?, now show it to Grandma. Very few books out there take children–or a child’s interest in gardening–seriously.

I prefer to regard children as apprentice gardeners, gradually acquiring more skills as the years go by, working their way up (at their own pace and interest level) to journeyman and eventually master gardener. As much as possible, I like to let them choose their own projects, plan the execution of them, and solve their own problems. Here are three books, supposedly for adults, that do just that.

The Veggie Gardener’s Answer Book by Barbara J. Ellis serves apprentice gardeners well in several ways. It is small enough to be manageable in young hands, with a wipe-clean cover that can take visits to the garden without falling apart. The question-and-answer format makes it easy to zero in on a topic of burning interest or flip open to a random page and still grasp what’s being discussed. And it asks–and answers–lots of questions, everything from what are the easiest crops to grow to how can I make weeding go faster to how do I cope with a garden that got out of control? The first part of the book covers general gardening techniques and the second part gives advice on specific crops. There’s also a glossary, a bibliography, and a handy chart to help you determine how much to plant out of that generous seed packet. It truly is a “knowledegable gardening friend,” as the introduction suggests, a friend who doesn’t talk down to you, because the book was written for adults.

Wherever there’s plants, you know there’s going to be bugs, and Good Bug, Bad Bug by Jessica Walliser helps the novice garden determine friend from foe. The spiral-bound format of this book makes it easy to flip through, but it’s the index that makes it really useful. Look up the plant that has the bug on it, and it will give you all the pages that have bugs that frequent that plant. (By doing so I learned that sawflies were gobbling up my rose’s leaves.)

The bugs are easily identified by the photographs. Each bug gets a two-page spread that describes the damage it does and suggests preventive actions, live biological controls, organic product controls, and additional information when available. For example, adult cutworm moths are a favorite food of bats, so a good way to reduce cutworms in your garden is to encourage bats. Similar information is provided for the good bugs: who they control, and how to attract and keep them. All remedies are organic, but I especially like that the emphasis is placed on providing natural enemies of the pest and controlling environmental factors, before resorting to sprays and powders. If the bug in question isn’t in this book, it’s time to call in the grownups.

Don’t Throw It, Grow It!: 68 windowsill plants from kitchen scrapsby Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsam is a good remedy for boredom all year round, but especially in the northern winters when outdoor gardening is impossible. This book goes way beyond avocado pits and carrot tops, teaching you how to grow not only familiar vegetables, fruits, and nuts, but also branching into herbs and spices, and produce from Latin American and Asian cuisines. You could get an education just finding some of these. Oops. Did I say education? Fortunately, since this is a book for grownups, there is none of that didactic, it’s good-for-you tone that ruins many a juvenile trade book.

Grow enough of these groceries, and you’ll learn many seed germination and plant propagation techniques–and have fun doing it. Did you know fenugreek was a legume? Did you ever consider growing beets for a holiday centerpiece? Peterson tells some funny stories on herself as well; her spirit of experimentation is contagious. I can’t think of a better way to relieve the winter doldrums than to go shopping in the supermarket for a plant to grow. As the author advises: “Always buy two of each–one to grow and one to eat.”