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Bird of paradise help

Lorna95Lorna95 Posts: 436
in Plants
Hi, someone bought me a bird of paradise plant, I've had it for about a week and one of the leaves seem to have something wrong with it and now another leaf has two dots on it, I've uploaded photos so you can see, any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's possibly been scorched, or it may be suffering from overwatering, but it's impossible to tell from those photos.
    Where do you have it, and how are  you growing it?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lorna95Lorna95 Posts: 436
    Hi fairygirl, it's still in the pot that it was bought in, the roots are just starting to show through the bottom of the pot, I have it on a window ledge which is west facing, it only gets sun in the evening for a few hours. 
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Bird of Paradise need room to grow, so you should probably repot into a bigger pot in a nice rich loamy soil with some leaf mound added in if you can get it. They like lots of light and humidity, but not direct blazing sunlight, so it could be leaf scorch from too hot west sun through the window which so will act like a magnifying glass.  Better to give it more prolonged exposure to daylight (try east-facing?). The leaves do bruise easily, so could they have been manhandled a bit? It could also go outside now, but again, protect from the fiercest sun. Although a tropical forest plant, they do grow quite well by the sea here in Spain, because of the humidity, so in addition to keeping the soil moist, an occasional misting with a water spray might help.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Lorna95Lorna95 Posts: 436
    Hi Nollie, thank you so much for all the information, my son has one on his window ledge which is east facing and his plant is fine, my other son has one and his one is west facing and his is fine, just seems to be my one, I will repot it tomorrow and mist it and see how it goes, thank you again for all your help. 

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Your welcome. I wouldn’t worry too much about the leaf damage unless it starts to spread to other leaves. It’s a mystery how one person can have a plant in the ‘wrong place’ and totally neglect it (not saying your sons are doing this btw) and it does fine, whilst another does everything by the book and it doesn’t thrive! 
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Ive got one that we grew from a seed years ago, it lives outside all summer only come in for the winter. It’s not that good, it only ever gets 2 flowers on at a time. Every time it gets a tatty leaf I cut it off it then grows a new one. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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