How to Divide Clivia

Question from Roger:

My clivia is huge. It been in it’s current pot since 2005. It is getting to big to move and manage. How do I split it. I’ve had this clivia since 1998, so kind of found of it. It blossoms every year in late spring, sometimes 4 or 5 blossoms, I think the most I’ve ever had was 6. Any help you can give me would be great

Answer from Pat:

Clivia will survive for years in a pot and bloom well even when crowded. Eventually, however, all the soil will be used up and the pot will be filled with nothing but roots. That’s when you must divide the plants. You can divide clivia any time after bloom through the month of October. If you do not divide later than October and if you care for the plant properly thereafter, it will bloom the following year in late February or early March as usual.

Sometimes roots crowd a pot so tightly that it is impossible to remove the plant. If this is the case, there are two solutions. One is to break the pot and replant in new containers. If the pot is a good one that you want to keep, there is another solution. First take a long, sharp garden knife and cut or saw around the roots inside the pot to loosen them from the container, at least at the top. Next roll the container onto it’s side, and then take the hose and squirt water up inside the drainage hole to loosen them there. Then get down on the ground your self, put your feet onto the sides of the pot and grab the clivia foliage in your hands and pull with all your might. The plant should pop out of the pot.

After getting the monster out your next task is to cut or pull it into individual plants or bulbs. Remove about half of the roots of each bulb and replant three to an 18 inch pot. If your pots are larger, you can plant four or five divisions in them.