Bruce,

I think heliconia rhizomes are the hardest to get started. I'm sure other are going to disagree. I'm only batting about .150 getting heliconia rhizomes to sprout. Hence, I rarely order them anymore. But the advice I would give you, even though my batting average is low is to water once and then wait for growth before watering again. They won't start growing until the soil temps get above about 65 degrees.

I have this plant and it is blooming now, and the only thing dwarf about it is the bloom is shorter than the regular one. The height of the stalks are the same height to me as the standard Rostrata. If your rhizome doesn't make it, email me and maybe we can do a trade. I've got plenty and could probably hack off a growing section.

Steve

I agree with STeve. In the past, I have hrown 3 different plants that were supposed to be "dwarf" Rostrata. None of them were, all eventually got as tall as "regular" Rostrata, and the last "dwarf" I had, I planted in my greenhouse along with my others and they ALL got to be about 16 ft tall. They became so monstrous I had to remove them all. I saved some from the massive dig out and repotted them for posterity. I like Rostrata, just not to the exception of all else.

Bruce
Try putting a clear plastic bag over the pot or a grocery bag. That should do the trick. The inflorescence is smaller and shorter but the plant still gets large. I saw Andy from Aloha Tropicals this last weekend at the SoCal spring garden show maybe thats why he has not responded back too you.
Good luck let us know if you get it to go

Thanks everyone for your input! Disappointing that it's not really a "dwarf" -- seems like some misrepresentation is going on here... After I ordered I discovered that AT has some really bad feedback on Dave's Garden.

Doesn't sound like my planter idea is going to work out if these get 16 feet tall! Guess I'll have to settle for some psittacorums instead. Thanks for your offer, Steve. I'll see how it goes...

Bruce C.

Bruce,

Mine are in containers and they bloom at a much shorter height that those in the ground. I'm guessing that the stalks are 5 - 6 feet tall. In fact, all Rostrata will bloom at a shorter height in a pot. They are some of the easier heliconia to grow in a pot. You just need a 15 gallon or so pot.

Steve

Perfect! That's the size I was hoping for! Thanks Steve...now to get the durn thing to grow!

Bruce

hi,the rhizome that you were sent,is the way heliconias rhizomes are sent,no roots,and pieces of old canes attacted.
these old stubs will rot back to the rhizome in time,so dont be alarmed.
i dont suggest covering with a plastic bag,as this will cause too much humidity,and the rot will get too aggresive,and possibly rot the rhizome.
i,like steve lacy,had terrible results getting them to start,but have now got a method,which,for me works great.
i pot them up,and put them on top of my stove,above the pilot lights,which produces great bottom heat,and soil temps of 75-85.
keep them slightly moist,and check every few days for roots,or signs of new shoots,by scratching the soil GENTLY,around the rhizome.
it can take from 2 weeks,to 2 months ,in some cases!
but rememeber,the rhizome will not dry out in the soil,but does not need very much water,as there are NO roots to suck it up.
hope this helps
AT,has mixed reviews from people,some good,some bad,but as with all mail order,different people have different experiences.
i have always had good plants from him,as i have had from stokes tropicals,but i know many who have not!

How long ago exactly was it? Give it at least a couple of months, and don't give up unless the whole thing turns to mush.

You have to figure that dividing and cutting back the rhizome puts the plant into shock and it takes a while for it to sent out roots and start growing again. That doesn't mean they did anything wrong. What you describe is how it's done. We've been selling bare-root rhizomes for years and do it the same way. They don't burst into growth immediately for us either, and we have ideal conditions. That's just how it is. I have some issues with AT's names and pricing, but I wouldn't fault them on this one.

As others have mentioned, the "dwarf" in this case refers to the size of the flowers, not the plant. I've seen the regular rostrata stay just as short when grown somewhat stressed. We had a neighbor who had it in their parking strip and it never got more than 4-5' tall there, and bloomed heavily too.

The flowers on the dwarf one aren't nearly as nice. They have the bad habit of abscising and dropping their bracts as they open, so there's never more than a couple of open bracts at a time. For this reason, I really don't like it.

Inside my heated greenhouse I had a regular Rostrata growing right next to a dwarf Rostrata. The regular one grew very quickly and flowered profusely, but the dwarf grew very slowly. After more than two years, the dwarf flowered at about 6 feet. The flowers are smaller and not as full as the regular Rostrata's flowers, but if you don't have room for a regular size one, the dwarf is worth growing. I dug up my dwarf and potted up some of the rhizomes. I want to see if they will survive outside here in CA.

What Lisa advised is correct. When I sell heliconia rhizomes, I remove ****all**** the root material and force the rhizome to fully resprout and reroot with its new owner. This is how I received all of my rhizomes over the last 15 years. Its really best for the plants. This method makes the plants start from scratch, manufacturing a tolally new support system for themselves. As long the bulk of your rhizome is firm hard plant tissue, you will get new rooting and growth quickly if you treat it right.

As to the potential "mislabelling", that happens to all of us. Different plants are called different things in diffrent locales, different marketers use different names for plants, etc. I actually do NOT believe that a "dwarf" Rostrata exists. I grew many heliconia in containers for many years before I got my greenhouse that allowed me to plant them all in the ground under protection. You know what I found out? The Berry and Kress book, then considered the "bible" of heliconia, was WRONG.

Parameters they gave for plant characteristics, light tolerance, height, etc were NOT uniformly TRUE!!!!

I had several cultivars grow to proportions hugely above their parameters when grown in a greenhouse under optimal conditions. So much so, I have had to remove them.

No heliconia I know will survive here outside in the ground in zone 8B. ALL are greenhouse dependent here.

Bihai, your post reminded me that the "dwarf rostrata" is not actually a true rostrata. According to the HSPR site, it's H. juruana. Check the photo on the link. It shows the bract abscision I was talking about. True H. rostrata doesn't do that.

I have another suggestion. Get yourself a H. marginata. There are 2 color forms, pure yellow and 2-tone red and yellow. It's a hanging inflorescence but the plant is fairly short (4-5 ft.) and it will bloom in a pot. Not quite as nice as rostrata but a lot better than juruana.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have 2 rostratas, one is quite tall, the other, which I got in a trade from somone who had no idea what the identity was I would call a dwarf. It has been much slower to grow, and bloomed in the ground outdoors at 3 feet. The plant has bloomed for three years now and has yet to reach 4' in height.

Bill

They sell Juruana in the Keys a lot. I have seen it blooming in a 3 gal container at about 3-4 ft

Wow -- thank you all very much for your thoughts and expertise. Unfortunately, I'm liking my choice of this "dwarf" rostrata less and less if what you say about the quality of the inflorescence is true...

I didn't record the exact date I received the rhizome, but it must be in the neighborhood of about six weeks ago. I was keeping it above 55F which I thought was the lower limit for heliconias, but perhaps it needs to be warmer as mentioned above in order for the rhizome to kick into gear. Our nights have been staying in the 60s now, so hopefully it will do something soon.

Thank you again for all your posts!

Bruce C.

Yeah, a bit warmer would help. We find that rhizomes started in the winter here get off to a slower start than in the spring or summer, and our nights rarely go below 60 F, even in winter.

Seriously, get a marginata. Apart from the psittacorums, Dwarf Jamaican and some other small species, they do the best in pots. We've got one coming into bloom now in a 2 gallon, at @4'tall, and I've seen them bloom on the first stalk in 1 gal. too. Super easy. AT has the red & yellow form, and Montoso has the pure yellow.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have recently had some good luck with some psittacorum x rhizomes. I planted 10 about a month ago and have 7 sprouting so far. I think I will get 2 more. I think the helpful factors were: I planted them in dark green plastic window boxes that were well draining. I put them on some concrete steps that were able to hold heat and radiate it from below. I put clear plastic cups over the stalks creating extra humidity and probably the most important factors, the weather has been warm and I have not overwatered. All the planets aligned. I don't know which factor was the most helpful but I would guess it was the warm weather we have been having.

We bought 2 Heliconia She Kongs at a plant sale here in Tampa. The rhizome was still attached to the stem. The guy who sold it to us told us to put it in water, just enough to cover the rhizome and once we saw roots to plant them. We got roots within 2 weeks and have since planted them. The stems are now dying back and we are waiting for them to sprout. So this system seems to work in case anyone buys a rhizome stil attached to the stem.

Aroidgardener,

I bought a peachy pink heliconia from that same guy at USF. I had never heard of soaking them in water first to get roots but followed his advice hoping it would speed things along. He said to soak for up to 3 weeks but that sounded kind of long and I was worried it would rot, so I soaked for 2 weeks. I had the roots as he said but I put it in the ground and am still waiting. I have yet to see any growth. I hope I didn't spend $30 for nothing. I really, really wanted that She Kong but he said it would never bloom here without a greenhouse so I opted for something I would be able to see bloom. But I still think it was the COOLEST heliconia I've ever seen with all that blonde hair. Good luck on yours.

Junglegina -
The next day after I wrote my posting, one of the She Kongs showed a sprout. Today, the other one did as well. I was thinking the same thing as you...we negotiated the the 2 for $30 and I was afraid it went down the drain, but his advice worked.
Good luck with yours!