Often referred to as banana plant, since the leaves do have a very similar shape to those of a banana tree, Strelitzia is a much hardier choice to be kept as an indoor houseplant. The White Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia alba, is a tree-like plant that can reach up to 33 feet (10 m) tall and is not suitable for a small garden. This leaves no dead stems to mar the beauty of the plant. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Its broad, arching leaves make a dramatic, graceful statement in your home. It is a crucial part of rejuvenating a neglected plant. Pruning an anthurium is best done after the plant has stopped blooming for the year. Q. Bird-of-Paradise Houseplant - My bird-of-paradise is 4 years old and has never bloomed. Growing bird of paradise plants from seed can take three to 10 years, but propagating them by division produces new plants much more quickly. It has a nice symmetrical shape and large oval-shaped canopy-type leaves. Houseplant If you hit a particularly dense area, use your pruning shears to pre-cut some of the stems to make the area a little easier to cut through. Propagation. This works slower but the effects last longer. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Read more articles about Bird Of Paradise. If your plant is in a pot, bring it indoors during very cold temperatures to prevent freezing of the leaves and flowers. Bird Of Paradise don’t require much pruning at all. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Lauren Kurtz is a Naturalist and Horticultural Specialist. It’s okay to begin pruning before all of the blooms on the plant have died. Prune the entire plant in the early spring before it produces new flowers or leaf growth to avoid damaging that season's flowers. This plant produces multiple large, leathery leaves sometimes 3ft or more in length. The plant is grown under sunlight, and therefore does not have to get used to a sunny spot at your home. References. This is done for the same reasons as trimming, but the goals are more intensive and combined. It’s not just their sheer size and impressive foliage but the plant’s namesake blooms. For more tips from our Horticulturalist co-author, including how to keep Bird of Paradise plants safe during frosts, keep reading! Here’s how to care for birds of paradise to keep them at their best. Begin pruning Yellow and Mexican varieties in late winter and early spring. Bird of paradise pruning is a more serious affair. Help answer a question about white bird of paradise houseplant - Gardening Know How Questions & Answers. Bird of Paradise is a great indoor houseplant choice for filling a wide, tall, well-lit space. It can be grown outdoors, as a landscape specimen in frost-free areas. You may wish to reduce the size of an older plant or remove leaves and stems that bar a pathway or window. The tangled knot of roots can stress the plant and deprive it of nutrients, water, and food. Getting Started. Last Updated: April 23, 2020 Sign up for our newsletter. In colder climates, this plant will thrive in … Pruning Strelitzia. Removing Sago Palm Pups - I have read articles describing the removal of the pups from sago palms. Feeding. It will grow quite large outside, 20 to 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and will become ragged looking if not pruned often. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. ... –> In terms of feeding, you can give your Bird Of Paradise a drink with a balanced organic liquid houseplant fertilizer in the spring. If the plant isn’t growing well throughout the year, prune at least half of the stems to the ground to allow the plant to grow healthy. You can prune your Bird of Paradise easily when they’ve finished blooming! Strelitzia Nicolai (Giant white bird of paradise) is an ornamental house plant. Try to maintain the shape of the flower in a circle to ensure easy access to all sides of the flower. Take all leaves and stems back to just above the ground. The Bird of Paradise flower is brightly colored with spiky-looking blooms that are eye catching and exciting in any garden. A south-facing or west-facing window is best. If your plant is simply growing too large, remove the outer edges of the plant by cutting the stem and leaf to the base. Also, help answer other questions about General Gardening and Container Bird of Paradise Plants, and plants at GardeningKnowHow.com These plants can easily grow to be up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, so refrain from planting other flowers in the surrounding area. Bird of Paradise is a stylishly sophisticated choice to be kept as an indoor houseplant. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Trimming is when you remove just a bit of the plant where it is damaged, dead, or diseased. She earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Western Michigan University in 2014. Always wear thick safety gloves when pruning because you will be working with sharp shears. Always wear thick gardening gloves when pruning. You may trim it here and there if it gets too crowded. These plants also have large green leaves that can die and brown once blooming is over, so cut or pull any excess brown foliage. The Bird of Paradise plant has South African roots, and therefore naturally prefers a light spot. Larger species like S. nicolai or S. alba grow up to 30 feet tall, which makes them difficult to grow in your home unless you live in a mansion with an enormous, well-lit foyer.. Bird-of-paradise and white bird-of-paradise both belong to the plant family Strelitziaceae. Bird of paradise is a tropical plant, thriving with high humidity. If the center of the plant is still too crowded, use long handled pruners and remove selected stems and leaves. This helps your plant to look clean and colorful year round! In the landscape it forms a thick shrub. Bird of Paradise Houseplant Care. Removing just damaged material to where it connects to the main body of the plant is how to trim a bird of paradise cleanly. They are fairly easy to take care of. They have described removing the pups and… Bird of paradise pruning is a more serious affair. This can form a compacted, hard ball that comes out of the pot with effort, retaining the shape of the pot. This is the first opportunity for pruning birds of paradise, but not the last. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 52,292 times. The slow-growing Strelitzia juncea grows up to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and has leaves that disappear over time, giving the plant appearance of a waterside reed or rush. There are five species of bird of paradise, in Strelizia genus, and not all of them are suitable for growing indoors.. Tropical Bird Of Paradise: White Vs. Orange. Any time you cut into a plant you should have sharp implements, safety garb, and sanitized equipment to prevent introducing and spreading disease. Look for brown, dead flowers, and cut the stem of these growths as close as possible to the base of the plant. The white bird of paradise, or Strelitzia nicolai, is an ornamental plant related to the banana tree and can be potted and grown in sunny locations indoors or in your garden. There’s nothing more exotic than an indoor bird of paradise, but growing a bird of paradise as a houseplant requires sun, quite a lot of it, in order to thrive and bloom. Use loppers, hand pruners or a pruning saw, but never hedge trimmers which will make rough cuts and leave ragged, damaged edges. You can trim a bird of paradise at any point since you are only removing a small amount of plant matter, so damage potential is minimal. If you have even 2 or 3 dead blooms, removing them can help the remaining flowers live longer. Both Yellow and Mexican Bird of Paradise flowers should be pruned sparingly when flowers and stems begin to die. Pot not included. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/5\/5f\/Prune-a-Bird-of-Paradise-Plant-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Prune-a-Bird-of-Paradise-Plant-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/5\/5f\/Prune-a-Bird-of-Paradise-Plant-Step-1.jpg\/aid9830044-v4-728px-Prune-a-Bird-of-Paradise-Plant-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"