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I love bird of paradise flowers. So when one day I noticed some seeds in the garden centre, I bought them. Then read how tricky the things are to get to grow. "Hard to germinate, easy to grow on". Hmm. Planted three seeds and gave the other half packet to Dad, who also loves the flowers. Most websites will tell you they take between 3 and 10 years to flower for the first time, so they are a patience plant! Hereīs my experience of mine, over some nine years now. |
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Sown: May 17th 2001 and left in a conservatory. Humid, reasonably bright. Warm! |
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I checked a lot in the first month then totally forgot about the pot, which was by then at the back of some staging. I had a clear out of stuff in July and realised there was a quarter-inch thick shoot sticking out! That was quick for germination! Poked about and fished out the non-germinated seeds (one had rotted, the other was still solid) and then replanted the ok one. It subsequently germinated in August 2002 (!) and got given to Dad, who left it on a windowledge and it got forgotten. :-( |
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I found out the hard way that Strelitzia suffer badly from Red Spider Mite. Grumble. I lost leaf after leaf to yellowing, crispy edges and the horrible little nasties. Tried organic methods, but they all failed. In desperation I sprayed it with a pesticide for vegetables (in the hope it was less bad for plants if it could be put on edibles) and that finally stopped the infestation, but by then it was looking very sad indeed. I watered it, fed it and put it at the back of the conservatory and left it to recuperate, wondering how much of a setback it had received.
Again forgetting about it was the key. On the day before my wedding in October 2004, I thought Iīd better clear up the conservatory in case it was needed for photos, and the Strelitzia surprised me again. There were two shoots sticking out of the crown, not one! So I gave my bridesmaids a heart attack as I bounced about grinning, thinking it had split.
It hadnīt. It was growing a leaf out of the centre, and the other was the long-awaited flower spike. What a wedding present! |
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February 2nd 2005
ITīS OUT! |
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February 23rd
And yet another set of petals! Now the crest is really looking spectacular. And I think thereīs a fourth set inside, too. |
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March 11th
The fourth set of petals has been up for a couple of days. The first set has gone over now, leaving the other three still bright. Itīs certainly put on a lovely display - I have no idea when it will flower again, but at least I have my photos! |
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February 12th
And hereīs the second lot of petals - and a second style/stigma too. I hand-pollinated the first one so Iīm hoping for seeds (though this may only work if pollinating another plant - but thereīs only one way to find out!). |
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March 15th
Oh help thereīs a fifth set just peeking through the beak... itīs not over yet! |
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April 2nd
Except it was over - it was just the last petal. Still, the seed pod is now swelling rather nicely... |
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May 15th Peeked in pots, risking finger blight. One juncea seed seems to have vanished totally, one Mandelaīs gold has germinated! Repotted in its own pot. Other two seeds were looking ok and not soggy (I really want to know where the other juncea is - probably hiding in the compost). |
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July 2005 There is something odd happening in the pot. Not one but two slightly crinkly leaves grew very quickly out of the centre last month, and now Iīve yet another mangled pair coming, at rather odd angles too. I have a suspicion that it means the plant really is trying to split this time... The seed pod is still reddening, and so far hasnīt shown any inclination to split open. The Mandelaīs Gold seed put up a tiny leaf and then stopped. Just sits there, so Iīm hoping this means itīs getting a decent root system set up now itīs got means of photosynthesis. Things are rather better than last year as Iīve got predators keeping the red spider mites under control and so the leaves are all nice and green. |
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The main plant mid-split, with seed pod near the roof!!
(The African violets, bougainvillea and Phalaenopsis orchid all rather like it in the conservatory, too.) |
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August 2005 Sadly the seedling shown above is no more - something had been eating away at the stem and it just came off. Probably sciarid larvae. Grr.
To compensate slightly, the splitting of the main plant continues, though the first leaves out are a bit crinkly! And the seed pod has ripened and split, giving me six incredibly shiny seeds with orange tufts :-)
Planted three immediately (and will cover with cling film to stop any sciarids getting in.) Three going to whoever yells first on Allotments 4 all or emails me using the addy on the front page of this site! |
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End August 2005 Peekaboo. New flower coming! Huzzah! This time I spotted it early on, and itīs on the other side of the plant to the last one, or rather on the other plant if this split ever sorts itself out. |
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December 5th 2005 Home after a weekend away and find Iīve got a bloom out already - so it will be at its best for Christmas. Wonderful! Almost unbelieveable that the last flower only died back in March. |
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July 2006 The main plant is now growing three leaves a time, and large ones at that. I didnīt expect a three-way split, as the third heart started as just one leaf! The first attack of red spider mite in late May seems to have been beaten back (mostly due to the predators again, which I ordered as soon as I saw the mites) and the seed pods from the flower above are ripening rapidly. I expect theyīll crack in the next month. I managed to pollinate three of the blue flowers this time and each then grows a cylindrical pod within the `beakī.
Meanwhile, one of the last batch to be sown has germinated, and thereīs no sign this year of sciarid so Iīm hoping it establishes and doesnīt get nibbled off! (Would also be nice if the other three seeds grow, but 1/4 seems to be about the right odds for strelitzia!)
August 2006 The seedling mentioned above fried in the incredible heat of July, only to have a second one pop up a week or two later and start to fight the sciarid, which has also appeared. This one is being coddled and the temperatures watched very carefully! It is growing very quickly, and is already unfurling a leaf. Bit different to the Mandelaīs Gold last year; it must have stopped because of the sciarid grubs. Pah. Have discovered theyīre immune to both Provado and bifenthrin so have no idea how to kill the things now! Oh for the EU to reinstate malathion! That killed them... Iīm only non-organic where the ornamental tropicals are concerned, and even then, thereīs not much available now to kill stuff. The better news is that Iīve got TWO flower spikes just appearing! So the split was successful. Happy. The home-grown seeds ripened and were extracted, and though Iīm not convinced that theyīll grow, Iīm going to sow a potful to see.
September 2006 Should have looked closer. Thereīs a THIRD flower bud still within one of the leaf stems. Oh, my. |
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The two easy to spot spikes and a hidden one ( I hope). The new one - shooting rapidly upwards |
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