Giant Bird Of Paradise Watering

[Breaktheory]

Hey Birds and Kings!

I put in a 20 gallon and it’s doing well with 4 times a week deep watering - are these possible to overwater? I’ve been dealing w kings and royals so I always figure the more the better but I’m thinking not the case w GBOP!

sincerly,

Jon

[D Palm]

The white birds of paradise needs a lot of water, especially if it’s full sun. In Florida if it goes more than 3 days without rain I begin to water them. I have 1 that’s in shade plus mulched and water after 5/6 days.

There is a section “tropical look plants” you can browse. It has loads of BoP content.

[PalmsandLiszt]

It rather depends how big it is. You can safely let the top layer of soil dry out completely before watering, but when they get big, they take up and transpire a lot of water. They're extremely tolerant of being pot-bound, though, but then they need even more frequent watering. Mine is 8-9' tall in a tiny pot (maybe 9" diameter) and I water it every day, but you could potentially overwater a small one in too big a pot and/or a medium that doesn't drain well. I'd aim to keep it damp but not sodden.

Water it if the surface is dry, basically. When it's cold, tune it down a bit.

[Breaktheory]

1 hour ago, PalmsandLiszt said:

It rather depends how big it is. You can safely let the top layer of soil dry out completely before watering, but when they get big, they take up and transpire a lot of water. They're extremely tolerant of being pot-bound, though, but then they need even more frequent watering. Mine is 8-9' tall in a tiny pot (maybe 9" diameter) and I water it every day, but you could potentially overwater a small one in too big a pot and/or a medium that doesn't drain well. I'd aim to keep it damp but not sodden.

Water it if the surface is dry, basically. When it's cold, tune it down a bit.

Mine is in the ground - it was a 20 gallon when I planted it last month - it’s about 5 feet or so but 3 headed and fairly wide.

 

[PalmsandLiszt]

16 hours ago, Breaktheory said:

Mine is in the ground - it was a 20 gallon when I planted it last month - it’s about 5 feet or so but 3 headed and fairly wide.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood you; I thought it was still in a pot. If it's in well-draining soil, water the hell out of it. Water less if it gets very cold. These plants are tough as nails and yours looks great.

[richnorm]

The trick with these is to stop them growing too fast! I would never water or feed one unless in a very arid climate.

[Billeb]

……..and never plant one in the ground. 
 

-dale

[D Palm]

If it was growing under a shade cloth, it may burn initially in the California sun. Mine have responded really with some citrus or palm nutritional spray this year. 

[Breaktheory]

47 minutes ago, D Palm said:

If it was growing under a shade cloth, it may burn initially in the California sun. Mine have responded really with some citrus or palm nutritional spray this year. 

Yah it came from Home Depot and the leaves started to burn when I got it to my full sun area - I’ve been blasting w water and the damage seems not to be progressing too badly.