I recently purchased a 7 1/2 foot Bird of Paradise. The gardening expert advised me to repot the plant as it was in a small plastic contain. This service was offered at the store, so I had it repotted there by the professionals.
The pot is about 4" larger all the way around. To repot the plant, he put in about 5" of soil, the plant and then the rest of the soil.
After I took the plant home I received some advice from some friends: that you need to have gravel in the pot for drainage purposes and that the pot should have been only about 1" bigger then the previous pot.
Also, I have noticed that nearly all the leaves have split and some are curling inward. No leaves have turned either brown or yellow since I brought the plant home about one month ago.
Further, I was told to only water this type of plant every 3 1/2 weeks, but not how much.
Therefore, here are my questions:
1) Will I have to repot the plant? If so, can I still keep the same pot as it is gorgeous. I am not concerned about flowers.
2) How often do I have to water the plant and how much?
3) Is it normal for the leafs on this type of plant to split. What about the fact that the leaves curl inwards? Is this a bad sign?
4) Are there any other special measures that I should be taking to keep me plant happy.
Thanks to everyone - I appreciate your help.
Barb
* * * * Barb M. Plants: 5 | From: Ottawa, Ontario Canada | Registered: Feb 2004
| Seeded: 66.185.84.71
posted
Hi Barb M and welcome to the Garden Helper Forum! We have had lots of questions about bird of paradise plants in the past so if you do a forum search (tiny words at the top of your screen under the new topic button) and just type in bird of paradise you will get lots of info. Or you can go the Gardening section at the top of this screen and do a search through the helper, it does pull up some forum entries as well. This is what Bill has in the Garden Helper itself: bird of paradise
I personally do not have one of these lovely plants but some of our other gardeners do. They will probably pop in and give you some more info.
Good luck and happy gardening! Come back often and chat. We have many gardeners from Canada as well, so they can probably provide you with lots of good info. We are quite the friendly bunch so come back and let us know how your plants are doing!
* * * * Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. Plants: 766 | From: The real OC in sunny So. Cal. | Registered: Aug 2003
| Seeded: 216.114.206.2
* * * * Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. Plants: 766 | From: The real OC in sunny So. Cal. | Registered: Aug 2003
| Seeded: 216.114.206.2
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![[wayey]](graemlins/wavey.gif)
We have had lots of questions about bird of paradise plants in the past so if you do a forum search (tiny words at the top of your screen under the new topic button) and just type in bird of paradise you will get lots of info. Or you can go the Gardening section at the top of this screen and do a search through the helper, it does pull up some forum entries as well. This is what Bill has in the Garden Helper itself:![[gabby]](graemlins/gabby.gif)
We have many gardeners from Canada as well, so they can probably provide you with lots of good info. We are quite the friendly bunch so come back and let us know how your plants are doing!
Printer-friendly view of this garden