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Notes on my variegated collection.
2. The widest variegated broadleaf I have seen is a Zhu Jifu variegated broadleaf whose widest leaf is 14cm wide. He has by far the best collection of variegated plants in China and some of the offspring of his plants produce a low % of miniatures. I have such a plant which he has given to me as a gift whose leaves are 9 wide and 9 long. It produces circular leaves. Such plants are very rare and highly priced and can easily fetch 100 000 RMB or more in China. Mr. Zhu is the first person who has done line breeding. Most of my variegated collection is grown from plants and seeds obtained from Mr. Zhu and another famous grower in Chanchun who was listed many times as a top 5 clivia grower in China. Other plants I obtained at flower markets and flower exhibitions in China
3. I collect and buy variegated plants with rare colors on their leaves, like white and grey shades on their leaves
4. It is very rare to find five or more different colors on variegated clivia. Five colored orchid is a name Mr. Zhu has given to some of his plants with 5 different colors on their leaves. Painted face is a name given to plants where you can see the veins on the leaves. It is usually found on green leaf clivias. Where it is found on variegated clivia it is called Love Bird.
4. Fukurin is a type of variegation with variegated lines only on the center of all the leaves. It is very rare to find true fukurin plants.
5. Mandarin Duck again is variegation only on one half of the leaf of all the leaves of the plant. It is only by chance that Mandarin Duck and Fukurin plants are born.
6. I am growing clivia since 1993 and Chinese clivia since 2000. My collection is approximately 250 000 flowering plants strong and include all the different type of clivia with many types of hybrids. It is grown in 3 shade houses on a farm in George and a shade house in Beijing.
7. Growing variegated plants from seeds. Plant them like all your other clivia seeds in the same mixture. 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.
