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Notes on my Chinese Green Leaf Collection.
2. I am a hunter of broad leaf clivia. Whenever I visit China, I am always on the lookout for super broad leaf clivia. It really fascinates me to see how the Chinese can grow plants with leaves up to 18cm and wider. It is not easy to find them. Sometimes you have to travel long distances to meet a grower who claims to have a plant whose leaves are 18 or 19 cm wide. Such visits usually ends up in disappointments, because when it comes to measuring time, there is always one to three centimeters short. During my first visit to China in 2004, the broadest leaf civia I have seen is a 16cm broad leaf in Anshan. The leaves of this plant were longer than 40 cm and although I was unable to purchase the plant, I managed to buy all its seeds which I have planted. Most of the seedlings were overcome with fungal diseases, but some survived and is now part of my collection. The widest leaf plant I managed to take home after my visit in 2004 was a 14cm broad leaf from a lady grower in Anshan. 14cm broadleaves are relatively rare in China and they fetch approximately 10 000 RMB, which is equivalent to approx R11000 to R12000 to-day in Rand value. Although one hear of plants with leaves wider than 16cm it is almost impossible to see them in real life. In 2008 I visited a grower in Beijing who has won many prizes with his clivias. We know each other since 2004 and have swapped many plants over the years. After looking at his plants, we go to his computer to look at the CD which I have prepared for him. On the CD were photos of my clivia in flower. After looking at my photos he was eager to show photos of his clivias in flower. While looking at the photos I saw something that almost shocked me. A plant with very short leaves of whom two leaves are18cm wide and several wider than 16cm. At that time it must be the best broad leaf plant I have seen. Up to now the widest leaf I have measured was 18.3cm and the owner claimed it was 19cm. It is a top 5 broad leaf in China. It is believed that the broadest leaf in China is a full 19cm wide.
The photos showed the measurements of the leaves and I immediately enquire who the owner of the plant is. He said the plant belonged to his father, who was a second generation clivia grower, but that the plant belongs to him at the moment. I asked him to have a look at the plant and he went to fetch the hidden plant. The leaves were indeed as wide as the measurements show on the photos. When we were heading home I asked my wife to start negotiating to purchase the plant for me. After a year and many negotiations the plant finally belongs to me. Up to now it is the best broad leaf I have seen. The leaf width to length ratio is approximately 1:1.5. This plant has never flowered for me. Because it has “no value” in South Africa, I decided to keep the plant in China, because it is where it belongs. The width in leaves will anyway drop to at least 2cm or more in South Africa as I have found with broad leaf plants I brought back to SA.
3. The widest first leaf from seedlings I have seen is 4.5 from seed of a Chanchun broad leaf which I have planted. This year I measured a 4.5cm first leaf from my own variegated clivia, a Zhu Jifu variegated broad leaf. The best I have measured for LOB is 4cm from my own LOB plants. You can thus expect the very best from my seeds.
4. Growing broad leaf plants from seeds.
Plant them like all your other clivia seeds in the mixture that works for you. If you are a newcomer, then peat is your best bet. Place the seed on top of damp peat and keep it damp. To help them to stay healthy you can spray the leaves every week with a mixture of Hygrotech’s Calmaban and Kickstart and keep the growing mix damp. Most Chinese clivia plants are grown indoors in China in glasshouses. It is thus advisable to keep them warm throughout the year. The ideal temperature for growing seedlings is 25 degrees C.
