Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

Hello Forum,

My Strelitzia regina must be about 10 yrs old now. I have been having the same problem now for about 4 yrs. In the winter flower shoots appear, this year there were 9 (!). The shoots grow very slowly for about a month or two and then stop growing. After a further couple of months new leaves start to appear, some of the leaves appear normal with the red vein, others are misshapen, too small and have no red vein. At this point the flower shoots, which still looked healthy, start withering from within until they have rotted away. This has happened for the last 4 years. The plant is in front of a big window facing the west. Does anybody have an idea why this is happening?

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

On 9/4/08 10:44, in article , "Mister B"
wrote:


Hello Forum,

My Strelitzia regina must be about 10 yrs old now. I have been having
the same problem now for about 4 yrs. In the winter flower shoots
appear, this year there were 9 (!). The shoots grow very slowly for
about a month or two and then stop growing. After a further couple of
months new leaves start to appear, some of the leaves appear normal
with the red vein, others are misshapen, too small and have no red
vein. At this point the flower shoots, which still looked healthy,
start withering from within until they have rotted away. This has
happened for the last 4 years. The plant is in front of a big window
facing the west. Does anybody have an idea why this is happening?


I'm going to forward this to someone who pops in here occasionally and is
very knowledgeable about exotic plants. But I'm wondering what your
watering regime is and if you feed the plant, pot it on each year - that
sort of thing?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

The plant is quite large now and is in a large container. I have read so many conflicting articles regarding watering Strelitzias in the winter. I water about once a fortnight and feed once a month. In the summer months the plant is on the patio and I water it thoroughly when the soil is dry. I repot the plant last summer - the roots looked ok white and fleshy. I have tried out many winter watering habits over the past few years. Much water, little water, no feeding, feeding but the results are still the same. At the moment I water thoroughly when the soil is dry which is about every 3 weeks.

Btw I also have a Strelitzia Nicolai which I grew from seed about 6 years ago but it hasn't flowered yet.

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

On 9/4/08 22:00, in article , "Mister B"
wrote:


'Sacha[_3_ Wrote:
;783531']On 9/4/08 10:44, in article
, "Mister B"
wrote:
-

Hello Forum,

My Strelitzia regina must be about 10 yrs old now. I have been
having
the same problem now for about 4 yrs. In the winter flower shoots
appear, this year there were 9 (!). The shoots grow very slowly for
about a month or two and then stop growing. After a further couple
of
months new leaves start to appear, some of the leaves appear normal
with the red vein, others are misshapen, too small and have no red
vein. At this point the flower shoots, which still looked healthy,
start withering from within until they have rotted away. This has
happened for the last 4 years. The plant is in front of a big window
facing the west. Does anybody have an idea why this is happening?

-
I'm going to forward this to someone who pops in here occasionally and
is
very knowledgeable about exotic plants. But I'm wondering what your
watering regime is and if you feed the plant, pot it on each year -
that
sort of thing?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'


The plant is quite large now and is in a large container. I have read
so many conflicting articles regarding watering Strelitzias in the
winter. I water about once a fortnight and feed once a month. In the
summer months the plant is on the patio and I water it thoroughly when
the soil is dry. I repot the plant last summer - the roots looked ok
white and fleshy. I have tried out many winter watering habits over
the past few years. Much water, little water, no feeding, feeding but
the results are still the same. At the moment I water thoroughly when
the soil is dry which is about every 3 weeks.

Btw I also have a Strelitzia Nicolai which I grew from seed about 6
years ago but it hasn't flowered yet.


I received this from David Poole this morning:
"Ah well, there are several possible reasons for this although I*bet the
plant is being treated too well.* Strelitzias can be induced to flower when
treated as a house plant, but all too frequently they remain as lush foliage
plants due to insufficient light (even when kept in a large window),
relatively higher than necessary winter temperatures and overwatering.* It
needs to be kept cooler and drier in winter to enforce semi-dormancy during
the period when light levels are too low for healthy growth.* This plant
would be more productive in a frost free greenhouse and kept almost dry.*
Failing that a porch or sun lounge etc.* Currently it has just one light
source which is not enough.* The fact that it produces leaves indicates it
is trying to grow at the wrong time of year and with light levels being as
they are, abnormalities occur and flower buds aborted.*
*
Once past the seedling stage, Strelitzias benefit from being placed out of
doors in light/dappled shade (they burn in direct sun) from early summer to
late autumn before the arrival of the first frosts.* They can be fed every
2-3 weeks using a general fertiliser such as Miracle Grow (Baby Bio is less
than useless for these), switching to a tomato fertiliser from August
onwards.* Once they are returned to their winter quarters, they should be
allowed to become quite dry between waterings and all*feeding stopped. The
ideal night temperature is between 5C - 10C.* I grow and flower*Strelitzia
reginae*outside in the border here so you get an idea of its tolerance
levels.* Problem is that snails love the petals and wreck the flowers as
they open.* *
*
HTH.*"


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Once past the seedling stage, Strelitzias benefit from being placed out of
| doors in light/dappled shade (they burn in direct sun) from early summer to
| late autumn before the arrival of the first frosts.*

Well, I am sorry to contradict such an expert as David Poole, but
the parenthesised statement is wrong - as it stands.

I keep mine in direct sun, Cambridge gets more summer sun than most
of the country, and I have never had trouble. More importantly, in
their native habitat, they are grown in the open, and I can assure
everyone that the savanna sun at 20 degrees south and 5,000' (i.e.
where I used to look at them out of my schoolroom window) is a LOT
stronger than anything this country ever sees!

What may be the case is that they burn if suddenly exposed to strong
sun, or that they burn if sun falls on them when they still have
droplets of dew on. The latter is, of course, why many plants are
recommended to be planted on west walls rather than east ones.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

On 10/4/08 10:07, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Once past the seedling stage, Strelitzias benefit from being placed out of
| doors in light/dappled shade (they burn in direct sun) from early summer to
| late autumn before the arrival of the first frosts.*

Well, I am sorry to contradict such an expert as David Poole, but
the parenthesised statement is wrong - as it stands.

I keep mine in direct sun, Cambridge gets more summer sun than most
of the country, and I have never had trouble. More importantly, in
their native habitat, they are grown in the open, and I can assure
everyone that the savanna sun at 20 degrees south and 5,000' (i.e.
where I used to look at them out of my schoolroom window) is a LOT
stronger than anything this country ever sees!

What may be the case is that they burn if suddenly exposed to strong
sun, or that they burn if sun falls on them when they still have
droplets of dew on. The latter is, of course, why many plants are
recommended to be planted on west walls rather than east ones.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Perhaps David is referring to sun through glass. We grow ours here in a
large greenhouse, in a central bed and while they have a lot of light, it's
slightly dappled because of climbers and other plants growing over and
around them. They flower pretty well.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Perhaps David is referring to sun through glass. We grow ours here in a
| large greenhouse, in a central bed and while they have a lot of light, it's
| slightly dappled because of climbers and other plants growing over and
| around them. They flower pretty well.

I keep mine in direct sun through glass until it is warm enough to
put out!

Older leaves do go brown and shrivel, but that's how Strelitzias
grow. If you regard that as damage, then half-shade is probably
desirable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

On 10/4/08 12:24, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Perhaps David is referring to sun through glass. We grow ours here in a
| large greenhouse, in a central bed and while they have a lot of light, it's
| slightly dappled because of climbers and other plants growing over and
| around them. They flower pretty well.

I keep mine in direct sun through glass until it is warm enough to
put out!

Older leaves do go brown and shrivel, but that's how Strelitzias
grow. If you regard that as damage, then half-shade is probably
desirable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I've noticed that I mis-read David's post and he wasn't talking about them
under glass. I've forwarded your reply to him, so we'll see if he can
clarify.


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

I've noticed that I mis-read David's post and he wasn't talking about them
under glass. I've forwarded your reply to him, so we'll see if he can
clarify.

No need to Sacha, I have a spare moment and was surprised not to have
to wade through a load of dross from maniacal x-posters for once.
Nuff of that.

Quite often, Strelitzia will burn in direct sun - it does here almost
every spring and I have to throw a thin shade cloth over mine on sunny
days for several weeks. Moving a plant outside after it has been
softened by indoor growing (house rather than greenhouse) requires a
period of inuring before the leaves are tough enough to cope with full
sun.

Reading through Mister B's response, I suggest that this plant be
allowed to become somewhat drier and kept cooler if at all possible -
it will flower if given much tougher treatment. There is no need for
feeding during winter - our light levels are so low that Strelitzia
cannot benefit from feeding and will only make soft growth as a
result. Conversely, during summer provided drainage is perfect, it
can be watered quite heavily especially during warm weather. Mine is
often drenched every day, but there again it grows in what is best
described as crumbled rock (weathered mudstone). Water disappears
immediately, which is probably why it seems perfectly at ease here.

DaveP.

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

Mister B wrote:
(snip)
Btw I also have a Strelitzia Nicolai which I grew from seed about 6
years ago but it hasn't flowered yet.

Good luck! Have you sorted out a builder to raise the roof of your house
yet? I've only seen flowers on plants which are 3 - 4 metres or taller.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

Strelitzia - Flowers dying
 

Jeff Layman wrote:
Mister B wrote:

Btw I also have a Strelitzia Nicolai which I grew from seed about 6
years ago but it hasn't flowered yet.

Good luck! Have you sorted out a builder to raise the roof of your house
yet? I've only seen flowers on plants which are 3 - 4 metres or taller.

Erm yes, it's a large growing species, although by no means the
biggest, A few months ago, I stayed in a hotel in Kato Pafos where it
was planted close to the wall. Apparently the planting on that side
of the building was carried out some 18 months before and it stood
resplendent in flower - a good 4m. high and with lots of secondary
shoots almost as tall. Nicolai is not exactly a modest plant!

DaveP.

There's a great specimen in the parrot-house at the Zoo in Hannover. The plant must be about 6 metres high. The roof is about 8 metres high but that's still not high enough for the new leaves. Unfortunately they bend and shred when they reach the roof. No flowers on it though.