Help! I think I was a bad plant parent. I have a beautiful clivia plant that was my mother's, and it has been doing well under my care for a few years. Recently it flowered for the first time. After the blooms died, I researched what to do and saw a video that recommended to clip the stalk at the top where the flower were, which I did. Last night I noticed the stalk was shrinking and looking like an old piece of celery. I thought it was bad for the plant and rotting away, so I tried to tug at it (I thought it would tear away easily like old leaves do), but it didn't give easily, so I let it be and instead clipped it a little further toward its base. Today the clivia leaves are all drooping - they are no longer standing up straight. I fear I've stressed the plant out and am worried now I killed it. My husband and I recently repotted the plant, but it seemed to be doing fine until last night. Please advise! :(

It might be when you tugged at the blossom stalk, you tore some of the fine roots. The plant had been repotted, you say, and new roots are still growing, recovering from the transplant damage. But when you pulled, some roots broke and the plant can not pull enough water now.

I suggest you finish cutting the old stalk, low as possible without damaging the leaves. Then you could clip off some of the older (outside) lower leaves, the ones drooping the most. Then leave the plant alone.

I bet it will recover from the minor damage just fine. Clivias are tough plants.

This is so helpful! I will do this and report back!

@greenriverfs Thank you so much for your suggestions! I think the clivia is on the mend. I removed some of the lower-hanging leaves and aerated the soil a bit then left the plant alone. So far, so good!

That's a beautiful plant in a lovely setting.