Farewell Clivia
On 5/15/12 2:34 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 09/05/2012 17:10, Higgs Boson wrote:
My Clivia is wrapping up its beautiful, beautiful blooms. Is there any
reason NOT to remove the stalks after flowers end? IOW, my q. is:
The nourishment for next bloom is acquired and stored by the
**leaves** I assume. So would removing the stalks hurt or help the
plant. Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to remove them, but in the case
of this Clivia, I want to be sure.
(Incidentally, these are all from few plants given to me by a former
neighbor decades ago. I realize they like to be crowded, but over the
years I have thinned the groups numerous times and started other,
successful, groups).
TIA
As the flower stalks are green, I would expect them to photosynthesise
and add to the general food store. I would leave them until
they start to shrivel or go off-colour, then cut them off. It's what I
do with my Hippeastrum papilio.
I would remove the faded flowers and forming seed pods from the ends of
the stalks but leave the stalks themselves until they are no longer green.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary
|