A simple guide on how to grow Heliconia in your tropical garden.
By Fred Saleet
HELICONIA GROWING INSTRUCTIONS
DESCRIPTION
Before you learn how to grow heliconia it's important to understand that it's
not that complicated but you have to get every element right. If you look at
the pictures of the different Species of Heliconia that we offer you see plants
that are very tropical in appearance. Heliconia is actually relative to the
banana and many of them exhibit banana-like leaves with some being narrow and
others being wide The flowering bracts for some heliconia are pendulous –
( hanging ) while others are upright. There is also a wide range of color in
the flowering bracts with some types of Heliconia, some being quite colorful
while others may be more subdued: some have the shape of a lobsters claw, or
a birds beak, or the shape of a pleated fan.
THE RHIZOMES VARIETIES THAT WE OFFER
A rhizome is a root section. Those that we send to you may be very well rooted
or it may have only a hint of roots but the section will grow and it will develop
many roots and eventually the heliconia plant.
The rhizome sizes that we ship are not consistent in their size and weight. Generally they are 4 to 12 ounces and 9 inches in length with a thickness at the base that nay be 1 ½ inches to 4”. We remove any leaves at the time of shipping since they generally do not hold up very well in a dark container . Once the rhizome is planted and begins growing the new leaves will emerge.
THE SOIL / PLANTING
Plant your Heliconia as soon as you recieve it use a well draining soil mixture. DO NOT USE POTTING SOIL unless it has a considerable amount of aggregate added to it, such as coarse sand. Also do not use soil from your back yard – heavy, dense soils will hold too much water and cause the rhizome to rot. It is very important that your soil is well draining. If you are purchasing soil always look for the word MIXTURE. If the soil that you purchase is a SOIL MIXTURE that is a good first step but to use it with heliconia we would also add 20% COARSE SAND (wash the sand before adding it ) . When you are ready to plant you can often look at the rhizome and see where the soil line had been while it was growing. If you are not sure you may grow it upright with the lower base in the soil for 2”.
WATERING / LIGHT / WARMTH/ HUMIDITY FOR PROPER HELICONIA GROWTH
After your first time watering we would not water in the future until we find
that the surface soil is dry to the touch. It is very important that you do
not keep the soil wet. Heliconia happen to like warm temperatures and bright
light to grow strong. An ideal temperature would be 74 F with humidity over
40 %. The amount of light to provide is: Full sun all the way to 40% shade.
THE HELICONIA IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
We offer the best book available for Heliconia. It is a beautiful pictorial
book and makes an excellent gift. Please see our BOOK SECTION for this and other
books, which relate to the tropics.
