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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
|  Posted: 2006-01-25 08:00 am Permalink
shortly after this post was made my son started growing up, and boy, does that take up your day 
The tiki room still is not complete, however, more of the mugs are out, so i will try to take some more pictures and post them here.
When I get it all complete I might hold a tiki room "open house" for those visiting Florida for tiki events.
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Tiki-Kate
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 21, 2003
Posts: 1700
From: Yucaipa, CA
| Posted: 2006-01-25 08:57 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2006-01-25 08:00, fatuhiva wrote:
When I get it all complete I might hold a tiki room "open house" for those visiting Florida for tiki events.
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This might actually be the inspiration I need to finally plan a trip to Florida.
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TikiJosh
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 01, 2005
Posts: 735 | Posted: 2006-01-26 11:37 am Permalink
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On 2003-12-10 10:06, fatuhiva wrote:
Speaking of blooms- the Heliconia Stricta Iris just decided to bust a move now that it got cold outside:
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That is super cool. I have got to find one of those. Where'd you get it at? Realizing the photo is a few years old, I have to ask: Is it still alive?
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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
| Posted: 2006-01-26 7:00 pm Permalink
Yes, that heliconia plant is still going. It's blooming right now, in fact.
Of course, that particular flower is long gone- heliconias grow stalks, flower, the flower lasts up to a couple months, then the stalk dies, and more keeping popping out of the ground.
Hurricane Wilma whacked the clump pretty good, but a few stalks remained upright and went on to bloom. I have another type blooming now as well- i will put a pic below. I have gotten bit by the tropical plant bug and currently have about 30 different types of heliconias growing at my place, most have still yet to flower. Alot of them I have to greenhouse during the 2-3 coldest months.
A good source for heliconia plants and rhizomes (root sections that will grow into plants) is Ebay, actually.
Heliconia Latispatha:
Heliconia Bihai:
[ This Message was edited by: fatuhiva 2006-01-26 19:02 ]
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Tikiwahine
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3288
From: Ontario, Canada
| Posted: 2006-01-27 10:25 am Permalink
Beautiful! Thanks for the great pictures!
I live in a zone 9, but our weather is just not good enough to grow heliconia and bird of paradise outside. I hope to have many growing in the Huki Lounge when it's built a few years from now, as it will also be a sunroom/greenhouse.
Right now I have only banana Musa Basjoo, a few types of taro, windmill palms, and hardy ginger growing well outside.
Kind of changes the perception of Canada a bit.
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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
| Posted: 2006-01-28 12:23 pm Permalink
Greenhouse conditions are really ideal for heliconias. There's actually very few places in the US that they will grow well all year outdoors. Pretty much South Florida and Hawaii, everywhere else is marginal or just not gonna work.
However, if you can keep humidity up in your greenhouse, let in plenty of sunlight and keep the temp between 60-90F then you should be able to have a nice setup. I often wish my yard was just a greenhouse- it can be frustrating when heavy winds or a cold front comes through and damages the plants.
Ideally, a tropical greenhouse would be tall enough to house palms and big heliconias (like 15-20 feet), have a rich free draining soil (could require excavating under the greenhouse to amend the local soil) and a nice overhead watering system that uses only fresh water.
here are some pictures of a really neat one in gainsville:
http://bihaisrainforest.4t.com/photo.html
[ This Message was edited by: fatuhiva 2006-01-28 12:26 ]
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