Heliconia, the wonderful tropical plant with beautiful flowers, for the pot garden and decoration of your home

Heliconia is a special tropical plant whose roots historically belong to Central and South America. Its characteristics include thin, elongated leaves resembling those of a banana tree, as well as dazzling flowers in striking shades of yellow, pink, orange, red, and green, resembling lobster claws or a parrot’s beak.

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A frequent misunderstanding is the confusion of heliconia with strelitzia, due to their similarity. However, it is worth noting that these two plants are not related, as the strelitzia comes from Madagascar.

Heliconia can be planted equally successfully either in our garden, offering an air of exotic beauty, or in a pot on our balcony. Its height varies depending on the variety, ranging from 70 to 80 centimeters, while in some cases it can even reach 4-5 meters.

To grow and produce impressive flowers, heliconia prefers sunny and semi-shaded locations. It is also important to protect it from strong winds that can damage its leaves.

Another important point is that heliconia is sensitive to cold and low temperatures. For plants grown in pots, it is good to choose balconies that have a south or west direction, and during cold periods, to move them inside.

In order to constantly maintain soil moisture, regular and sufficient watering is required. During spring and autumn, it is watered every three days, while in summer, during hot periods, daily watering may be required. It is important to water it with a drip irrigation system, avoiding getting its leaves wet to avoid the occurrence of fungal diseases.

To ensure abundant flowering, it must be fertilized regularly from spring to autumn. As we plant it in the garden, we use a complete granular fertilizer every month. If we grow it in a pot, we apply liquid flowering fertilizer every two weeks. However, during the hot month of August, we avoid fertilizing to avoid stressing the plant.

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During the maintenance period, we remove the dry and yellowed leaves remove the leaves that are dense, and hide the flowers, to allow the growth of new flowers. When the flower dries up, we remove the whole stem from its base, in order to promote the creation of new flowers.