Flashy and bluff , the Bird of Paradise ( Strelitzia ) is a plant that mass have sex because of its wide , brilliant leave and giant flowers .

But can it be trained to be small-scale ? Is it potential to keep this mighty Bird in a cage ?

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Is It So Difficult To Keep Strelitzia Plants Small?

The Strelitzia is a monumental plant . The size of it of a flora is influenced by its genetics and the environment in which it is farm .

To help it survive in the natural state , it develop graceful sail - similar leaves . Tall and beautiful prime attract ambrosia - loving bird , and when they give way , the recollective stems of the peak propagate seeds far from the parent plant .

As a result of these cistron , the gene that allow it to arise so large are more likely to last .

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The surround is another factor that influence a plant ’s size . Its biota may say that the Strelitzia can grow to a specific size , but it ca n’t reach that size of it without the building blocks it ask to grow .

On the other handwriting , the Bird of paradise has everything it necessitate to grow to its full potential , include plenty of sun , water , fertile soil , and elbow room to disseminate out .

The transmitted legacy of Strelitzia is inescapable . It ’s always going to have expectant , enticing flowers and leaves . But you could charm its environment .

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How do you keep a Bird of Paradise small?

It is possible to slow the growth of a Bird of Paradise by concentrate the resources it requires to reach full size .

you may also take more direct action to prevent its graceful paste of leaves from taking over your home or office .

Let ’s look at the factor we can influence to keep a Bird of Paradise in halt .

How To Keep Strelitzia Leaves from Growing

Regularly Cut Back the Bird Of Paradise

Snipping away the turgid leaves is the simplest method for handle with a large bird . Generally utter , I prefer to start with Old leaves , especially those with floater , legal injury , or fade food coloring . In addition , older Bird leaves that have split are excellent candidates for the chopper .

Cut a few inches above the soil with clean shears nigh to the leafage ’s base . Leave about two - third of the leave of absence uncut , as it will not fuel the growth of unexampled foliage if there is insufficient foliage .

other spring is the skilful sentence of class toprune Strelitzia . Although the Bird is a audacious flora , it will be accentuate by having its leave of absence off .

Pruning with fear at the outset of the grow season give the Bird plenty of metre to recoup from that trauma and produce untried , more vigorous leaves in the leap and summer .

Use As Little Water As Possible

Bird of paradise prefers consistently moist dirt and will take advantage of any redundant water usable to fuel growth . Limiting the amount of water available to the works will stunt its growth .

Photosynthesis , the process by which flora use sunlight as a seed of get-up-and-go , requires urine as a critical constituent .

Because it can utilise the Sunday ’s energy to release water and carbon dioxide from the air into moolah , a paint called chlorophyl gives Bird of Paradise leaves their arresting appearance .

Those sugars are the building closure of all plant ontogeny . Limiting the amount of water your plant has will define its ability to bring forth sugars and the young ontogenesis that they support in go .

That being enjoin , the Bird of Paradise does expect some amount of piss to hold out , so there ’s an essential differentiation between limiting growth and toss off it !

Constantly water it when the top two column inch of the mature mass medium have dry out .

Restriction of Light Access

Strelitzias are true divas – they demand the spotlight ! At least six time of day of direct sunlight each day are required for a Bird ’s optimum growing . At the very least , they benefit from nearly constant hopeful indirect light .

If there is n’t enough illumination , the Strelizia wo n’t produce the monolithic amount of get-up-and-go required to have those magnificent leave-taking .

supervise the moisture degree in your develop medium if you settle to reduce the Bird ’s light photograph .

Because low - light plants require less H2O , it ’s essential to adjust your watering schedule to reflect this . This articlewill help you just realize the light-colored requirements for your Bird of paradise .

Use Small Size Container

Smaller Bird of Paradise works do considerably in a tightly - fitting container because their roots are more tightly destined .

allow your Strelitzia to lucubrate its root mean more way for unexampled leave , which in turn means more nutrients for the plant ’s bedazzle foliage .

For the Bird , easy - to - manage mint size is indispensable . The Bird can flourish in a stack about 7 - 8 inch ( 20 cm ) mysterious but not so profound that it has way to grow too magnanimous .

Apply Fertilizer in Small Amounts

The last critical factor in Bird of Paradise ontogeny is on-going fertilization . Bird of these plants is voracious feeder , call for consistent nutrition throughout the spring and summer to produce Modern foliage . Unfortunately , these beautiful leaf do n’t come cheap !

A exclusive thin out balanced plant food app is ordinarily sufficient during the growing time of year . This will help healthy growth without cause it to go into overdrive .

I like a liquid fertilizer that can be amalgamate into the water . In minuscule doses , it ’s an effective way to feed the Bird of Paradise and keep it from getting too liberal . ( retard out the prices on Amazonhere )

Select a Dwarf Variety

Of of course , the best fashion to keep your Strelitzia from maturate too bounteous is to choose a dwarf kind in the first position . What ’s the point of battling your plant ’s genetics if you may instead exercise with it ?

Compared to the orange - floweredStrelitzia reginae , the smallerStrelitzia junceagrows about a foot taller when to the full turn .

It has longer , narrow leaf and takes up less infinite than the Bird of Paradise , but it still has the same tawdriness .

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