Thread: Heliconias

Might be the season?
I've quite a few in our garden and have noticed that they are not looking so good these days.
Perhaps the volume of rain (in Chonburi) of recent is not so good for them?
September - November last year was when they were flowering and at their best.

That variety is a beauty, Nawty. I grew many different kinds of heliconia in Thailand. They like direct sun light (at least all morn or aft), lots of water -- before and after the sun is out, and rich soil (I used dried buffalo dung from my neighbour's corral) but with good water run off. The rhizomes (roots) don't like being soggy.
I don't know all the names but there are two distinct varieties: erect like you have shown where the brackets grow straight up to the sky, pendulous/hanging, where they point downwards and the horizontal shoots. So many colours -- orange, pink, white, variegated, with different bracket shapes, including bird of paradise, the most common.
You might try digging up some of the root network and replant in a new location. This plant is invasive as the roots just keep spreading. If you want to contain to one area, plant the rhizomes in a big bottomless pot buried in the ground. Kinda helps.
I got my different varieties by asking neighbours for a chunk of the root. There are seeds but they take forever to grow. Cut blooms never really lasted -- OK for a party but the plant likes the richness of the soil.
Oh, once the brackets have died, I cut that part of the plant right down to the base so the new shoots get all the nutrients.

Try follier feeding them. It works wonders.

How do you do that ?

What is in the mix...can yu make a natural one ?

Back again Nawty. Try Google Translate

You can make a natural follier spay by putting manure in water and leting it set a week or two and then straining it. If you make it to strong you can burn your plants. Should be about 600 to 800ppm. If you don't have a meter just start out with a little in water and work you way up, until you find a mixture that doesn't burn and makes the plants thrive. Cow or buffalow work well. Get a couple of nice sized patties and put them in 5 gal water. Let sit a week or two. strain and then spray.

Worried about a foliage spray burning all the plants.

Would'nt the same mix used as a liquid fertiliser hosed out around the plants be better ?

All I know is what I have read and they like pinapples like follier feeding. You asked for natural. the stuff you spray on the ground would work as a follier/ not sure how strong it is.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• <LI itxtvisited="1">coarse sandy soil <LI itxtvisited="1">limited water <LI itxtvisited="1">heat source
• strong sunlight

1. <LI id=jsArticleStep1 sizset="0" sizcache="9" itxtvisited="1">Step 1
   
   
   
   When choosing the soil for your Heliconia flower you must use well draining soil. Do not use potting soil or soil from the backyard unless it has been prepared correctly. If you add a mixture of 80% soil, and 20% coarse sand you will get what you need. Regular soil will hold too much water and rot out the root system.
   <LI id=jsArticleStep2 itxtvisited="1">Step 2
   Water your Heliconia flower sparingly. After the first time you water it, do not water your Heliconia flower again until the soil on top of the pot is completely dry to the touch. Your Heliconia flower will not survive if watered excessively.
   <LI id=jsArticleStep3 itxtvisited="1">Step 3
   Heliconia flowers will grow strongly in bright warm light. They are an exotic flower so they thrive from warmth. The temperature should not reach below 74 degrees F.Try to keep the humidity around 40%. Keep your Heliconia flower in bright sunlight all the way to 45% shade.
2. Step 4
   
   
   

Read more: How to care for a Heliconia flower | eHow.com How to care for a Heliconia flower | eHow.com

^ Interesting. I already noted all of that in my post, but I never tried the dung/water spray. Unnecessary in the tropics.

I too believe it's the season.

As I understand we just live the other side of Khao Yai, so the weather condition are pretty similar. We have a lot of flowers and flower trees, and now our garden is a pale copy of what it is during winter.

Try a dash/handful of bone meal....



Bone meal fertilizer is used to increase phosphorus in the garden. Most bone meal has a NPK of 3-15-0. Phosphorus is essential for plants in order for them to flower. Bone meal phosphorus is easy for plants to take up. Using bone meal will help your flowering plants, like roses or bulbs, grow bigger and more plentiful flowers.

Before adding bone meal for plants to your garden, have your soil tested. The effectiveness of bone meal phosphorus drops significantly if the pH of the soil is above 7. If you find that your soil has a pH higher than 7, correct your soil’s pH first before adding bone meal otherwise the bone meal will not work.
Once the soil has been tested, add bone meal fertilizer at the rate of 10 pounds for every 100 square feet of garden that you are amending. The bone meal will release phosphorus into the soil for up to 4 months.


Bone meal is also useful for balancing out other high nitrogen, organic soil amendments. For example, rotted manure is an excellent source of nitrogen but it tends to lack significant amounts of phosphorus. By mixing bone meal fertilizer in with rotted manure, you have a well balanced organic fertilizer.


Info Wikipedia ❘ Bone meal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Long time ago I bought a 25 kg. bag of bone meal at the flower market in Chiang mai, costs were 270 Thb if I remember well. Nowadays I keep my dogs poo (she's on a BARF diet) and chuck it at the plants when sun-dried for a couple of weeks....

PS: Bone meal is also very beneficial for the veggies, like the Adji umba....