Worth knowing:
The seeds of the Yellow Strelitzia Mandela’s Gold could only be one through cross-breeding of two yellow-blossoming Strelitzia species. The plant is dedicated to Nelson Mandela and carries a part of his name. Its three petals show in contrast to its rather orange-coloured relative, the Strelitzia reginae, a golden-yellow colour. The leaves are also more narrow, and the Strelitzia Mandela’s Gold becomes in a tub not more than 100 to 150 cm tall. The shiny yellow flowers grow out of the long leaf sheaths. The Strelizia is easy to cultivate and starts blossoming with its third year.
Natural Location:
The natural habitat of the Yellow Strelitzia is South Africa.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. Unfortunately, you have to wash off the nice orange-coloured fluffs and the coating of the seeds with soapy water and scald it with hot water afterwards, to stimulate and prepare the sprout. Keep it for another 48 hours in the water, which will slowly cool down to room temperature, so that the swelling further increases the germinability of the seed. Now you can plant the seeds about 1 cm deep and 8 to 10 cm apart from each other into moist potting compost, where even the seedlings will develop rather strong roots. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it, every second or third day, for about 2 hours completely off. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25°C and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The germination usually takes four to eight weeks, in rare cases it can even take up to half a year - but you get rewarded with a very rare Strelitzia species.
Place:
Matured plants prefer bright and full sunny places, whereas younger plants should be kept half-shaded, so the leaves don’t get burned by the hot sun. During summer you can keep your Strelitzia outdoors in a wind-protected spot and preferably near a heat-preserving wall.
Care:
Even though the propagation seems to be somewhat difficult and tedious, the Strelitzia is rather carefree afterwards. Since its roots are growing strongly, it should be kept in a bigger pot with quality standard soil right from the beginning. Water the plant abundantly during summer, but avoid waterlogging. From spring until autumn, you can also give fluid fertilizer for tub plant every two weeks. Young plants are best repotted annual for the first couple of years.
During the winter:
The plant hibernates ideally in a bright spot and away from a heater at a temperature between 8° and 20° Celsius. Water the plant only modest and spray the leaves from time to time with lime-deficient water. Usually, the Strelitzia develops the flower stalks during winter, on which the flowers come up in March.
Picture credits:
- © © Meganbeckett27 - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Scott Bauer - Public domain - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
- © Hippocampus - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Lip Kee - CC-BY-SA-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
- © Meganbeckett27 - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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