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Tropical Plants - Australia

Need info on Heliconias

21 years ago

Yesterday while in Sydney, I bought a heliconia from Palmland Nursery.

Only after buying it did I realise that I basically know nothing about Heliconias.

On the tag it says to cut the stem at ground level when flowering has finished. Are they deciduous? Ithought they were evergreen. I have CApe York Lilies in my garden, are heliconias like these in terms of requirements and habit?

Thanks,

Scott

Comments (11)

MeltheGardener
21 years ago
Dear Scott,
We grow heleconia's up here in the north of Qld. They thrive up here with the wet and warmth. They really are a carefree plant, just plop them in the ground, full sun, water well, you don't really have to cut the spent flowers, but they are pretty in vases anyway.
Good luck,
Cheers, Mel....
deafblossom
20 years ago
Hi.. Last few months ago.. I found intersted about Heliconia (Sharonii, Oriole Orange and Purpurea). I thought those plants/blooms are soo beautiful! I am wondering if.. I can grow them outside in the ground until before frost, I will dig them and put them in pots to bring them indoor and sitting underlight for winter time.. Have you guys tried it before?? Thank you, Kat
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Hello everybody, In Zone 9B--the uppermost portion I have had good luk with Rostrata & Rauliniana. However, I found the Raulinia more cold tolerant thatn the rostrata. My rostrata is blooming after looking miserable for a few months after that one light freeze we had. The stalks didn't freeze like the leaves did, so I got flowers. The Rauliniana had a little leaf damage and is growing so tall now--about 7 feet--that I predict blooms before September. One heliconia you shoudl try is Lingulata yellow fan, or, red-tip fan--they are compact,blooming at 4 feet tall, and don't seem to care much about light freezes as long as they are mulched well.Mine also bloom on the first years stalks and are blooming right now like crazy. Also, Heliconia sharonii--i have one type of this (I heard there are two and one is larger)is a small one growing to two feet tall and never fails to bloom on the same year's growth. It freezes down to the ground but alsways pops right back up it seems. Very dependable. Many helis can also be grown in large pots, just don;t overpot too soon and let them outgro each pot, repotting to the next size up, other wise they tend to rot--probably because of too mcch water in the container being held below the roots. Pedro Ortiz is also good--if you can wrap the stalks and keep them insulated during the weather below 35, you can get blooms the next year. The plant is pretty cold hardy. Another trick is to keep the cold sensitive ones potted the first year,protect over winter-- then, the second year plant them in the ground so you can get flowers out of these second year bloomers. Hope this helps. Brad
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Hi Sandy. I have not had experience trying to overwinter Bananas, Hedychiums, Ti Leaves (Cordyline), ALocasia, Colocasia or Xanthosoma. The only time I grew Ti's indoors they suffered greatly from dry air. I found they did better out in the cold than in the warm house, and eventually planted them out. They do get knocked back a bit sometimes in a freeze, but regrow normally in the warm season. These plants are hardy here where I live and are all planted out in the ground. But your system sounds like it should be more than enough to keep all those happy. Before we moved to this house and I had my greenhouse built, I managed to overwinter over 40 pots and tubs of Heliconia of many different species, and 400 orchids, in my house and in my garage, using artificial light when needed and of course heating the garage. Orchids are not particularly hard to keep going in the winter. Many people grow indoors as a matter of course. Some orchids are easier to grow indoors that others. Vandas and other large monopodials would be mure difficult to care for than, say, Phals, but if you are willing to put forth the effort you can do it. I grow mainly Vandas and different vandaceous plants like Mokaras, Renantheras, Arachnis, Aerides, etc. This class of plants generally needs the most light to set blooms and that can be a challenge for indoor growers. So can watering, as they tend to make huge trails of long hanging roots. Lots of indoor growers water their plants in the shower. I grow almost 100% of my orchids either mounted or in media that is almost completely open (ie I don't use bark, I use wine corks, open slat baskets, aliflor, crushed treefern, etc) so its possible for me to water with a simple spray bottle if I need to and hang plants in windows etc. For heliconias, you can amend the potting media by using a combo of bagged orchid bark, or bagged nutshells or peanut hulls, or bagged small shred mulch plus sharp sand plus perlite plus peat. But these plants do need some organic matter in the soil as well as ultra good drainage. If you feel like you have to fertilize your plants, use a slow release granular fertilizer, one application for the entire winter season, rather than trying to use a water soluble. And try to use a LOW NITROGEN fertilizer, like maybe a "bloom special" type, for 2 reasons: If you try to fertilize with a water soluble, you risk a salt buildup in the pots, that you would have to leach out eventually. The amount of water needed to leach the pots would probably not go well with your indoor environment. The fertilizer may burn the plants if there isn't enough light for the plants to effectively utilize it. Plus, you don't want to promote a huge amount of leafy green growth that you will have to tax yourself to move out later on. Your goal over winter is just to keep your plants alive and healthy enough to go back out in Spring and resume their "normal lives". I fertilize my plants over the course of the winter in the greenhouse with water soluble 10-50-10, maybe every month instead of every week, but mine are planted in the ground and getting huge amounts of natural light...also, many heliconias are winter or late spring bloomers and need the food to look good. Daylength is altered here of course, days are getting shorter so that has an impact on greenhouse grown plants where as you can control the light you give. I would not automatically assume that the heliconia you are having problems with has shrivelled up because it was too dry. You might want to unpot it and check its roots to make certain that you have notlost them to predation my insects, that the rhizomes are firm and intact and not being eaten by something or infected with fungus, etc. If everything looks okay, repot, trim and carry on. If you see pests and/or fungus, make a slurry of Captan powdered fungicide (enough to really cloud the water) mixed with a tablespoon of a systemic pesticide like Cygon 2E or Orthene and a Tablespoon of water soluble fertilizer like Miracle Grow in a gallon of water soak the roots and rhizomes for about 30 minutes, repot in fresh soil, then use the soaking water as a soil drench to water the plant in its new soil. WHen I get a pest infestation on my indoor plants, we have enough really warm (over 60F) winter days for me to be able to haul the plants outside and really spray them down with either an oil apray or Orthene. Since you don;t have that luxury, it would be a good idea to keep a spray bottle of something like Neem Oil on hand and spray any infestations as soon as you see them and every 7 days after that while the plants are indoors. Neem is non-toxic and also has fungicidal properties, AND the added bonus of smelling somewhat like citrus.
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Louis_VIC
20 years ago
Hi Scott. Cut down the stems that have already flowered. Not the ones that have yet to flower. No, Heliconias are not deciduous like Cape York Lilies are. Cape York Lilies die down in winter (dry season) because they experience drier conditions during that time. Heliconias prefer some moisture all year round. Though if you live in cold winter region dont keep it to moist during winter or the Heliconia could rot. Good Luck.
Louis
CoralCoast_Tropicals
20 years ago
Scott,
I have grown around 120 varieties of Heliconias both in the tropics and subtropics. I won't lie to you, your climate is very marginal for most species of Heliconia but you should be able to grow at the least H. subulata, H. spissa and H. schiedeana. These are very tough and cold tolerant. H. subulata in nature grows well into Argentina and I have known it to be grown in Auckland in NZ!
Best of luck to you. My advise is if you want to grow good Heliconias...Move to Queensland.
Andrew.
Louis_VIC
20 years ago
Scot, you could also add H. angusta to the 3 varieties Andrew has suggested.
Or you could move to Victoria and have the freedom to grow lots of different exotic flowering Ornamental Banana's; but maybe that's a topic for another day.
Louis
caerulea
19 years ago
Hi Guys, I am another unfortunate person with a Heliconia craving in a bloody cold area. I have the same climate as coastal Sydney. I'm at the coast of Taree NSW and have below 2C-3C throughout the winter with the odd -1C. Also we have to watch our summers heatwaves with peaks of 47C (last Tuesday). Heliconias are possible, but only with a lot of effort. Protect your plant from cold wind as this can chill the stem causing the plant to die back to the ground. They may handle the air temperature, but wind chill will get them every time. Also Heliconias in our area must have excellent drainage. We are a winter rain area and this is dangerous for Heliconias. I've gone through 40 varieties to find the best ones for me. CoralCoast_Tropicals is right; H. subulata, H. spissa and H. schiedeana are the easiest. They are smaller and easier to protect from strong winds. H. subulata can take the most exposure, but H. schiedeana is supposed to be the most cold tolerant even taking light frost???(IÂve not tested this). Another excellent Heliconia and my favourite is Heliconia bourgaeana cv Hot Pink. I've had mine in the ground for 4 year. It has flowered as far south as Gosford that I know off. Also Heliconia latispatha cv. Orange gyro is pretty tough and very easy to flower. If you can handle spotty leaves then Heliconia rostrata is working out. I've talked to someone who flowered it in Ulladulla south coast NSW. It works because for us southerner it grows to only 1.5m high and so is easy to put in the right microclimate. The leaves will be spotty through the winter, but the plants flowers fairly reliably in SydneyÂs Northern Beaches. In flower it is stunning and worth the effort.

Scot what was the variety that you bought?
Scott_D
Original Author
19 years ago
I got the claw 2 I think. I think its dead now. It grew well last summer but the winter killed it. And I only ever got temps down to 8C.
caerulea
19 years ago
Hi Scott

I've got hold of Claw 2 for the first time this summer to try. I had hopes for it, but after what you said I'm not sure now. I've never had a winter that was only 8C. Claw 1 may work for you. A friend of mine has had a clump growing at Forster for the last decade or more. I canÂt keep the foliage on mine and IÂm 45 mins north at the coast too. DonÂt give up try the ones above and also Hot Rio Night should do well for you too as it is very cold hardy down to 2C protectecd from wind and is fantastic, but be warn itÂs tall 3m easy.

Rob H
prfolse_bellsouth_net
13 years ago
I HAVE ABOUT 25-30 LOBSTER CLAW PLANTED INSIDE A LARGE ATIRUM. THEY ARE DETERIORATING AT A RAPID RATE. THE TEMP IS AT 72 DEGREES.THE LEAVES ARE TURNING YELLOW AND BROWN
AND THE STEMS ARE PULLING RIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND.THE CORE OF THE STEM IS BROWN. NEW GROWTH APPEARS TO BE BROWNING AS WELL.THIS SHIPMENT WAS PERHAPS STALLED AT SOME POINT IN AN OVER HEATED TRAILER. CAN YOU SHED ANY LIGHT ON THE FATE OF THE PLANTS. THANK YOU/ AT A LOSS/ RENAY
geckojeep
6 years ago
I live in SW Florida so climate is good for rostrata but everytime a new leaf appears, a few days later, it starts turning brown as in the picture. I completely cut them back and the same thing happens everytime.
tropicbreezent
6 years ago
What's your soil like, and do you fertilise? Heliconias like a very rich soil with pH a bit lower on the scale. If you have poor soil with higher pH then that could be the problem. Rostrata grow like weeds when the conditions are good. It's often recommended to keep them in pots so they're under control.

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