STRELITZIA

[Trudytropics]

Just bringing this thread back up as I have a couple of questions.

Would a strelitzia prefer hot sunny sight, or shady sight but with good amount of light?

I am sure I read that they perform better crammed in a pot, or do they need plenty of room to expand in a pot?

Its Strelitzia reginae I'm curious about, as mine has now arrived Its staying indoors until its nice outside.

[Nathan]

They need full sun to flower, though if moving outside from being indoors you will need to acclimatise it as they can scorch. Keeping them quite potbound encourages more flowers, though you will need to keep up on the water & feed...

[kata]

I had mine inside till I got some flies indoors over Christmas,

Everything that was inside went outside. The Bird of Paradise seems to be surviving ok........

[Trudytropics]

They need full sun to flower, though if moving outside from being indoors you will need to acclimatise it as they can scorch. Keeping them quite potbound encourages more flowers, though you will need to keep up on the water & feed...

Thanks Nathan I'll remember that, they are going to be in a sunny south facing spot, but I will now acclimatise them, I'd hate to scorch the leaves. The pot the strelitzia is in seems quite big, so was thinking of putting into a smaller pot. I will wait till spring and investigate the roots and decide then

I had mine inside till I got some flies indoors over Christmas,

Everything that was inside went outside. The Bird of Paradise seems to be surviving ok........

Gosh I remember the fly infestation Kata, did you get it sorted?

The weather is taking a cold turn, so I think your plant will need some protection , I'm hoping this cold snap will not last too long

[The Codfather]

I bet mine has grown no more than 2" since last summer

[The Codfather]

I bet mine has grown no more than 2" since last summer

[Trudytropics]

I bet mine has grown no more than 2" since last summer

I get the impression they are quite rampant growers, seems not in your case , did you feed it regularly coddy? Maybe this summer will be better for it

[The Codfather]

Yeh a bit....but I did not over do it as its only 6".

[khaskings]

Apparently they don't like fertiliser either. Found that out the hard way when re-potting our biggest one last year. All the new leaves grow at least with a wavy edge or at worst all gnarled up like bad crinkle cut crisps. That came about with a couple of handfuls of Growmore slow release fertiliser thrown into the potting mix. I guess we have to wait until it's all out of the system before normal grow resumes

[medjool]

Hello
I see these big strelitzia in Vigo on the coast of Galicia and in other coastal towns.Vigo drops to -1c to -2c on occasions.The smaller orange flowered variety grows in my Spanish garden for the last four years 2000ft up min of-6C although the cold always cuts back the top growth and each year it comes back from the base.At lower alltitude in Orense they are fully hardy with temperatures down to -5C ,here top growth remains intact!

[Trudytropics]

Yeh a bit....but I did not over do it as its only 6".

We are still talking about your strelitzia Coddy?

Apparently they don't like fertiliser either. Found that out the hard way when re-potting our biggest one last year. All the new leaves grow at least with a wavy edge or at worst all gnarled up like bad crinkle cut crisps. That came about with a couple of handfuls of Growmore slow release fertiliser thrown into the potting mix. I guess we have to wait until it's all out of the system before normal grow resumes

I always use liquid feed on my plants, not sure what to do now, if this plant grows wild perhaps its quite happy with crappy soil but plenty of water

[Kristen]

I have 3 in 19" pots, they are a decent size and "stuff" the pots, but they barely flower (one or two stems per pot, and usually one of them doesn't flower). I feed them with "hundreds-and-thousands", which is supposed to last 6 months or so, once a year, and they get watered regularly (but not excessively as I assume they prefer "drier" rather than "monsoon").

I'd like to know how to get them to flower profusely.

[kata]

Gosh I remember the fly infestation Kata, did you get it sorted?

Got the all clear from the pest control that the attic is now clear, thanks Trud! He thinks they were cluster flies come in for a warm.

Hopefully I get the move out I want this year.

I guess I better look how the Bird of Paradise is doing at the bottom of the garden.

[Trudytropics]

Good to hear Kata, 1 fly can be irritating enough, but loads of them is horrible, glad its all sorted now though

Really hope you get that move you are waiting for, a nice garden with no leylandii

[pdid]

They need full sun to flower, though if moving outside from being indoors you will need to acclimatise it as they can scorch. Keeping them quite potbound encourages more flowers, though you will need to keep up on the water & feed...

Hmmm, My Bird of Paradise is probably 9 years old now and has always flowered around December/January time. It has been kept as a conservatory plant but as the con is North facing the Bird of Paradise was in shade when it flowered. It gets plenty of sun in the Summer months but not very much in Winter. The con has underfloor heating so maybe this is the reason for winter flowering?

The roots are massive and vigorous, the plant has destroyed a cast stone pot it was in for a few years. I have recently split the plant as it had outgrown it`s spot and rootpruned (butchered) a colossal amount of roots. They have all resumed growth and are doing well.