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Hedychium didnt flower & developed brown leaves

9 years ago

Hi, I'm new to growing gingers and thought it would be easy. I am in subtropical Australia and bought 6 hedychium pink v ginger bulbs several months ago (in spring) and potted them up into cactus mix (50% potting mix + 50% sharp sand). I read they don't like to be waterlogged even in summer, so put them under shelter so they didnt get rain but actually only got the hosing down I gave them (every second day). They grew quite quickly and well - nice and green for a while...

THen they started developing brown on the end of their tips. So I figured "hungry". Googled, found they prefer 'liquid fertilizer" so fed them Miracle-gro. Brown tips became yellow...

So I figured "leave them alone" and did for a while.

Brown/yellow tip burn became worse after a few weeks, so I figured "no they're actually really hungry"...

So fed them with something more solid than liquid Miracle-gro: vermicast.

Leaf tips now really burnt and yellow.

Okay. Figured they hated that, leave them alone. maybe they are drying out too much and its not hunger at all.

Started watering more. No difference - no improvement nor worsening.

Noticed they were all bent over leaning out to get more sun (they just get a few hours of arvo sun), so I moved them out to where they will get a few extra hours of sun.

And this has been the path of the last 5 or so months.

Just wanted some expert advice as to what I'm doing wrong. I've got burnt leaf tips, no idea whether they want food or not, or what fertiliser they might ACTUALLY LIKE... and they havent even begun to look like flowering - which is the whole reason I bought them...

Can anyone help?

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Comments (3)

User
9 years ago
Mine is in a pot too going on 20 years old. Only bloomed twice.

Of course I live in the desert I water 2-3 times a week and attribute the

Brown edges on leaves to lack of water. It winters in my 40 degree garage.

Don't give up for it will bloom. I'm in the U.S. at 5000 ft so we do have cold weather. Where is the plants native habitat? That should tell you what

Time of year it will bloom. Clivias from Africa bloom here in late winter and

Early spring.
foreverlad
9 years ago
A little late to the party, but I thought I could offer some general advice.

1. Gingers prefer dappled sunlight. They can handle full sun till about noon, but after that, shade is prefered. Most gingers I've grown will handle heavy shade without issue, they just won't grow quite as vigorously.

2. Don't water more than once a week. Gingers are rhizomatous- their rhizome (bulb) is a storage unit. When stressed, they can draw strength from that rhizome when their roots are suffering, but when water is too plentiful, the rhizome rots. If your pot soil can't hold some moisture for at least 4 days, rethink your mix.

3. When dealing with potted plants, time-release fertilizer is your best bet. Most potted plants (of any variety) should be fertilized at half-strength.

Mike
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hmm my hedychiums are in full sun and get watered every day. I have some in the ground and some in pots.

My globbas and curcuma are in part sun part shade but usually reach for more sun. I also water them every day. The globbas are in pots but my soil is very well draining. I do much better with well draining potting mixes here in NE FL especially when we get a lot of rain, like we have the last few years.. I guess it depends on how often you are able to water, how dense you want your potting soil.

As far as fertilizer, there is osmocote in the potting soil but I fertilize my plants heavily- full strength in the yard and do it all at once I don't have time to dicker around who is getting what. Plus, I add composted manure and vermicompost to my potted plants so they are getting lots of fertilizer. The gingers love it and I get lots of blooms and they all turn into monsters.

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