Bird of paradise plant: care, transplant and reproduction

There are many who dare to include one of these spectacular plants in their garden or interior, and although the bird of paradise plant is not particularly delicate, there are some things that must be taken into account to keep it in good condition. These are the basic bird of paradise plant care:

lighting and temperature

The first is that, as tropical plant what is it, the Strelitzia It requires good lighting to develop properly, so you should avoid planting it in areas with long shadow exposures or where the sun does not reach.

Also due to its natural environment, it is a plant that does not tolerate frost or harsh winters, so if you live in an area where the temperature drops below 5ºC in winter, you should keep the plant indoors, protected from the cold. In fact, your ideal temperature to be strong and healthy is between 12ºC and 25ºC.

Bird of Paradise Plant Watering

Regarding watering, the plant needs a slight but constant amount of humidity, without ever flooding but without letting its substrate dry out completely. It is recommended to maintain irrigation every 24 or 48 hours in summer, and every 72 hours in winter.

Pass

We also advise the use of fertilizers just before the flowering season of the plant, applied every 15 days. On the one hand, a fertilizer rich in nitrogen and potassium will be especially beneficial and, on the other hand, a supply of magnesium will help keep its leaves bright and intense green. In this other post you can learn what organic fertilizer is, its types and how to do it at home.

This plant requires a annual transplant which must be done at the beginning of spring, until it reaches an age of 5 years. It will be enough to prepare a pot slightly larger than the previous one, without big jumps in the dimensions of the container, until a pot of about 30 cm in diameter is reached in its final container. when you go to transplant bird of paradise plant follow these steps:

1. Extract the root ball very carefully so as not to damage the roots.
2. Use your fingers to remove any bits of soil stuck to the roots.
3. Prepare the new pot with a suitable potting mix. For this, it is a very good option to use manure mulch and some coarse sand that provides good drainage to the mixture, which is necessary to avoid puddles that can do a lot of damage to the plant. Strelitzia.
4. Plant it in the new pot and voila!

Once the first five years have passed, the bird of paradise should not be transplanted any more. Instead, what you should do when the warmer months roll around is remove the top 2-3 cm of the substrate layer and replace it with fresh mix. Of course, carry out this operation very carefully so as not to damage the upper part of the plant or its roots.

If you want to know more details and tips on How to transplant a plant successfully, you can consult this other article.

The bird of paradise can be reproduced in a traditional way, that is to say through seeds, but the growth process of these is slow and it will take at least five years to be able to enjoy the first flowers of your Strelitzia. For this reason, the most common and used method is reproduction of the bird of paradise plant by division. To do this, keep these tips and steps in mind.

• The best time to carry out the division by bushes is in early spring.
• As in the transplant process, it is important to prepare a pot or container with a suitable size and a substrate rich in organic matter, mixed with compost or organic fertilizer and some sand that provides better drainage.
• It is essential that the pot has drainage holes and that it is kept a few centimeters above ground level so as not to be in contact with excess moisture.

The process of multiplication or division to reproduce the bird of paradise plant It is very simple:

1. Separate a clump or section of the plant to carry it to the new container. We recommend that you do it with a shovel, nailing it vertically and as deeply as possible where you want to separate, to be able to lift it later, damaging the root system of the plant as little as possible.
2. After the separation of the bush and its subsequent planting in the new pot, water both abundantly but without causing waterlogging.
3. Be especially attentive to the health of separated plants.

If you like rare and beautiful plants, we recommend reading this other post on Names of the most exotic flowers and plants in the world.

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