Heliconia

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Heliconia (lat. Heliconia) - indoor plant; herbaceous plant of the Heliconium family. In nature, heliconia is found in tropical forests, on the sea coasts and river banks, on the mountain slopes in Southeast Asia, Central and South America. The plant got its name in honor of Mount Helikon.

Characteristics of culture

Heliconia is a perennial rhizomatous plant up to 2.5-3 m high, with a pronounced pseudostem formed by wide oblong-oval leaves and leafy sheaths. Heliconia is a fast-growing culture, after planting it blooms in the second year. Almost every segment of the root that bears the pseudostem and leaves produces inflorescences. Inflorescences can be of two types - hanging and vertical.

The flowers are presented in the form of bright coverts of red, orange, yellow or pink with a waxy coating. The bracts have a green or yellow border, which gives the inflorescences a special decorative effect. Real flowers are enclosed inside the covering leaves, they do not differ in expressiveness, they open in the morning and bloom for only one day. For the unusual structure of inflorescences, heliconia is often called a lobster claw, a parrot's beak, a false bird of paradise or a wild banana.

Conditions of detention

Heliconia is a light-loving plant, it prefers rooms with bright diffused light. For a short time, they can easily tolerate direct sunlight. The optimum temperature for normal development is 22-26C in summer, 18-20C in winter. Culture has a negative attitude towards drafts and stagnant air, ventilation should be very careful.

In nature, heliconia is an inhabitant of tropical forests, therefore, for its growth, the maximum air humidity (80-90%) is simply necessary. With low humidity, the plant needs regular spraying with warm and settled water. You can also put a pot of heliconia on a wide tray filled with wet expanded clay.

Reproduction and planting

Heliconias are propagated by seeds, layering and division of the rhizome. Sowing seeds is carried out in containers filled with an earthen mixture of peat and sand. Before sowing, seeds are germinated by soaking in hot water (60-70C) for at least 3-4 days. The seeding depth is not more than 2 cm. Before the emergence of seedlings, the containers are kept in a room with a temperature of 25-27C. The crops are periodically sprayed and aired. As a rule, seeds germinate unevenly, this can take 3-5 months.

With vegetative propagation, the separation of root suckers is carried out only from a plant with a well-developed root system. The offspring are planted in pots filled with a moist substrate and placed in a warm, slightly darkened place with high humidity. With the appearance of young growths, the plants are transferred to window sills or other illuminated places.

Transfer

Heliconia is transplanted every spring. The pots are used wide, 5-6 cm larger than the previous ones. Provide good drainage at the bottom of a pot or any other container. The soil substrate is made up of humus, leaf and sod land and river sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1.

Care

Heliconia is hygrophilous, it needs abundant watering in the spring and summer. In winter, watering is reduced, but they carefully monitor that the earthen lump does not completely dry out. Top dressing with complex mineral fertilizers is carried out from March to September once a month. During the dormant period, heliconia is not fertilized.

Often, heliconia is affected by diseases and pests. The scale insects are especially dangerous for the plant, which suck out the cell sap from the leaves. Plants become faded and unattractive, leaves dry and fall off. To combat the pest, the leaves are treated with a soapy solution, after which they are sprayed with a 0.15% solution of the drug "Actellik". In the same way, they fight spider mites.