A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Birds of Paradise

Hi everybody, I did an intro in the new members section, so here goes by first question on the site.
My wife and I bought a birds of paradise plant about a month and a half ago from Home Depot. It was a beautiful plant and seemed to do well for the first month. Then within the last two weeks on one of the main stalks it started turning brown. Then the brown worked its way up the stalk and killed the leaves. There was another stalk and in the last week the same thing happened to it. Now our once beautiful plant is reduced to some dead stalks as we have cut off all the dead. What would have caused it, the brown color on the plant makes us think it might be disease. One more thing, near one of the dead stalks are about four little yellowish green things poking out of the soil. We are not sure if it's new growth or what. We aren't knowledgeable at all when it comes to houseplants, any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Michael

I am not at all sure of the needs of BOP as houseplants. I tend to kill all houseplants unless they can be grown outdoors here in my Ca desert. So I do not know what may have tried to kill your plant. The little yellowish green things may well be new growth. BOP can also have heavy roots that will rise above the soil. Cutting off all dead, brown growth was the right thing to do.
I would put this plant outdoors for the summer though, in a mostly shaded, protected position. It will enjoy a couple hours of sunshine a day. So morning or late day sun. Or all day dappled sun/shade out of the wind. Here, they tend to bloom in late winter or very early spring and the flowers last a very long time. Pretty much all spring.

We just put it outside today, so we'll see what happens. We aren't going to water it for a few days. Hopefully we'll see some new growth soon.

Thanks,

Michael

You probably over-watered the plant. It turned brown due to high soil moisture. Most plants need a dry out period. I would water a BOP every other day in an outdoor environment. Once per week indoor.

Bird of Paradise, indoors, can be one of the most spectacular and easy of plants. The one thing it HATES is wet roots. It may not have been real strong coming from the grower - they often lose at least one of their stalks - but I can almost guarantee you kept it too wet. Or it was too wet when you got it, and you didnt let it dry out. The little yellow-green things in the soil are fungi, another sign of excess soil moisture. By all means, put it outside - no direct sun please - and only water it when the soil is almost dry, i.e. dig some up with a spoon and feel it, it should have just the barest trace of moisture. Dig way down toward the bottom of the pot. They often regenerate amazingly outside. And please, don't be afraid to try again. Most important, always feel the soil before watering. You can get a wooden dowel from a craft store, and stick it in along the outside edge of the pot, don't worry about damaging roots. It's just like testing a cake - if no soil sticks and the dowel feels dry, you can water; if soil sticks and dowel feels damp, don't water yet. Or you can use a spoon, but you need to get all way to the bottom of the pot. Also spray the leaves with mild soap and water (1 tsp soap to 2 c water) every couple of weeks, and wipe down, especially the underside of the leaves, with towels. This is to keep the spider mites under control. And sorry to say, they don't flower in the house.