| Life form | Bush |
| Family | Heliconiaceae |
| Origin | Antilles, South America |
| Ease of cultivation | Lung |
| The size | In a large pot up to 2 m in height. |
| Growth rate | Average |
| Lifespan | With proper care of up to 10 years (in the conservatory). |
| Temperature | In summer: up to 77-82,4, in winter not lower than 55,4 ° F. The plant is thermophilic. |
| Humidity | High. At temperatures above 68 ° F, sprinkle the leaves daily, place the pot in wet gravel. |
| Lighting | Most species prefer an illuminated place, bright light, needs at least 6 hours of directional light per day. This will stimulate continuous flowering. If the light is not enough, Heliconia will flourish, but will not bloom. Some types of helicon can grow in partial shade (Heliconia pendula and Heliconia stricta ‘Carli’s Sharonii). |
| The soil | Suitable ready-to-air permeable primer of general purpose, quite fertile, with the addition of a small amount of sand. Soil homemade take: 1 part garden soil, 1 part peat or leaf soil, 1 part coarse sand or perlite. Always use a pot with a hole. |
| Watering | Requires abundant watering and moist soil. Some types of helicon can grow even in the water. In summer, it should be watered every 4 days, in a special heat even twice a day. From September to April every 8-10 days. |
| Fertilizer | From April to September every 2 weeks with liquid fertilizer. The ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium should be approximately 13:05:13. Intensive fertilization ensures their active growth. However, some growers do not fertilize the plant at all |
| Reproduction | In the spring, the branch of the daughter processes or the division of the rhizome. Pieces of rhizome can be vertically planted in the soil, but they better germinate in a mixture of sand and perlite. The top part of the rhizome should be wrapped with polyethylene. Usually the plant sprouts for 2 months. You can propagate seeds that are sown in a mixture of wet peat and perlite and germinate, covered with film or glass. Seeds germinate very hard for a period of months to a year. The germination period is shortened if seeds with thick skin are sanded beforehand, with emery paper. This will allow faster penetration of water to the endosperm. |
| Bloom | Dropsy peduncles up to 1 m long. The flowers are very small, but surrounded by bright triangular bracts. Can bloom all year round in sufficient light. |
| Transfer | Every year in March-April. |
| Features of care | After flowering, cut the branches 10 cm from the base. This stimulates further flowering. Always remove dead leaves and overstretched stems. You can sometimes remove leaves if they cover flowers. |
| Difficulties | At low humidity, it suffers from a spider mite, in the winter a mealy worm may appear. Shocked by scutes and nematodes. Overall, however, Heliconia – fairly stable in relation to plant pests. |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | – |
