ryan

Do any of your grow these banana relatives? just wanted to share with you guys pictures of my flowering Heliconia chartacea 'Suriname Gold'.

momoese

Very nice Ryan! I have 5 different types but none are in the ground yet. Next spring I'm going have lots of stuff ready to plant.

Steve L

Ryan,

I'm growing Rostrata, Pedro Ortiz, Schiedeana, Latispatha Orange Gryo, Subulata, Hirsuta Costa Flores, Red Angusta, Eden Pink in the ground. I am growing Latispatha Distans, Firebird, Golden Torch, Sexy Pink, Hot Rio Nights, Valentine, Las Cruces, Sharonii and Oriole Orange in containers. I have pictures in my gallery of most of these plants in bloom. The heliconia in the ground are protected by two portable greenhouses during Dec., Jan, and Feb. with ceramic electric heaters. The ones in containers go in the permanent greenhouse heated with natural gas. These plants are actually my most favorite tropicals but they are a pain in the arse in my Zone 9. Sexy Pink is bloom size and I am hoping for a bloom before it goes into the greenhouse.

Steve

STEELVIPER

How old or how long does it take for a dwarf rostrata to flower? mine is a year old and about 2-3 feet tall?

__________________

Steve L

Steelviper,

I used to have Dwarf Rostrata but gave it away this year after it bloomed for the first time after 2 years. The only thing dwarf about this Rostrata is the size of the blooms. In a pot, it will grow almost as tall as regular Rostrata. Once the rhizome mass gets large enough, Rostrata will generally bloom at about 5 feet although I've seen blooms on 2 foot stalks. The blooms on the shorter stalks won't have as many bracts as a bloom on a taller stalks. I had one bloom this summer that reached 25 bracts and was almost 2 feet long. Really impressive. I didn't notice where you live but I'm in Zone 9a, coastal Louisiana, and this plant needs protection during the winter. It will survive 28 for a few hours but the combination of cold weather and wetness can kill the stalks. It will almost always come back from the root ball in the late spring but since this heliconia only blooms on second year growth, you've generally lost the oppurtunity for blooms once this happens.

The prevelant thought on heliconia is that since the inflos are modified leaves, a high Phosphorus fertilizer like Super Bloom won't stimulate blooms. A commercial heliconia grower in South Florida told me he stokes his heliconia(all grown in 7 gallon pots) with Super Bloom and the following year, he always gets blooms. I started doing this two years ago and have seen a significant difference in the number of blooms and in the size of the blooms. Once winter is over, you might try this in the spring. This plant will begin to show blooms in the spring, but I recently had a small stalk send out a bloom only a month ago. Cut down on water during the winter and stop fertilizing altogether.

Steve

MediaHound

I grow Heliconias as well. I need to get more photos uploaded in my gallery. (would be nice to get more blooms, though, too )

Beautiful pictures!

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

Steve L

Jarred,

Heliconia are really my favorite plants; then gingers, then bananas. If you see a heliconia from my list you want, email me. If I have enough, we'll do a trade.

Steve

MediaHound

Excellent, thank you!
In going through them, I realize that I need a good heliconia book.
So I just searched this one up on Amazon, it has good reviews, too.
Heliconia - An Identification Guide


Would you recommend any other good encyclopedia-style books on heliconias?

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

Steve L

Jarred,

I've got the Berry and Kress Identification book and I refer to it frequently but it is just what it says it is, an identification book. Lots of great pictures but not any growing tips. My knowledge of heliconia has developed over the last 8 years and the fact that I have killed every heliconia I grow now at least once. I have also developed friendships with several people who were trying to grow heliconia out of zone and we shared experiences. Where you live, you should have great luck growing many heliconia in the ground.

Steve

MediaHound

Thats pretty much what I needed to know.

ok let me go though your list and we will talk, I'll send you a PM.

Thanks again!

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

STEELVIPER

Thank you for your great info and knowledge steve L.

steelviper

__________________

Steve L

Steelviper,

Happy to share the info. I looked at your location. You will have an extremely difficult time growing Rostrata in Riverside in the ground. Are you container growing it or growing it in the ground. I know of only 3 people in CA that have successfully grown Rostrata in the ground; one is in San Diego, one in Culver City and the third I don't remember. The combination of the wet and cold of your winter and the low humidity of your summer seems to doom the plant according to my friends who have tried along with the dry Santa Anna winds. Is this your first year growing it?

Steve

STEELVIPER

Hello steve L. this is my first year growing any heliconias. I have my plant growng in a container. i have a pic of it in my gallery. I bought a rhizome last spring and it exploded in growth. i have it growing in 60% shade and 40% sun. when its in the shade it still gets high light. i keep the soil moist but far from soggy,and i have taken the bottom off the container for better water drainage. I used a real good soil mixture and added lots of humas.So far so good. ive had no probs with it,and i have it on the side of my house were it is wind protected. I plan to bring it indoors at night when it gets in the 40's. it was a very hot summer here but had no probs with the heat. The ground here is way to nasty to plant any heliconias. to much clay.

Steelviper

__________________

Steve L

Steelviper,

If you are growing it in a container, it should do just fine. Just remember to cut down on your watering to maybe once a week. Since the plant will slow down its growth, it doesn't need as much water and will not require any fertilizer. Just give it as much outdoor time as your weather permits. I move my container heliconia in and out of my greenhouse all during the winter when the night time temps get above 50 for a few days. One other tip, watch out for spider mites. They love Rostrata and an indoor environment is the perfect place for mites. Mites will kill a stalk in a short period of time. They won't kill the plant but you could find yourself in the position of cutting off all of the old stalks that would have produced your second year growth blooms. I don't know if you have mite problems in CA like we do in Louisiana but they can get out of hand in a hurry. I'm not much into trying non toxic remedies for insects so when the mites arrive (and they will), I don't mess around; I go straight for the kill: Orthonex. If they are not that bad in CA, try a Neem or Dormant oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. You can repeat this procedure more often than with Orthonex. Feel free to email me with any questions. I enjoy talking about heliconia.

Steve

grammie

mealy bugs love them too unfortunately! I love Orthonex too, when you have a full greenhouse, you just can't play around.
at least I can't.

STEELVIPER

Thanx all for the info.



Steelviper

__________________

STEELVIPER

Steve L sorry to bug but i have one more question. With heliconias, when it comes to flowering, does it matter how much sun that they get, have anything to do with them flowering? or amount they may flower? sorry for the dumb question.

thanks

Steelviper

__________________

Steve L

Steelviper,

Most definitely sun has an impact both on flowering and the size of the inflorescence on those heliconia that are sun lovers. With that being said, I try to give my heliconia that are reported to grow best in full sun at least 6 hours of direct sun, about the same amount as I give my plumeria. There are some shade loving heliconia such as Sharonii and Red Angusta that will burn to a crisp in 6 hours of sun but for the most part, heliconia like lots of sun. The more sun they get, the more hungrier they are; the more you feed them, the taller they get; the taller they get, the closer they are to blooming. But forget all of that during the winter except the sun.

As far as Rostrata, give them as much sun as you can. The leaves will let you know when the plant is thirsty; they will fold up during the day.

Steve

STEELVIPER

Thanks again Steve. you are a gold mine of knowledge. Ill be sure to ask you any questions i have in the future.

thanks again!!

Steelviper

__________________

Steve L

Steelviper,

Happy to pass on information to you obtained through my years of frustration occasionally interrupted by a few successes.

Steve