Can Strelitzia augusta be kept indoors?

When someone asks if the strelitzia augusta Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, I can’t help but think about my own plant, which has been growing in the garden since I bought it, in 2017. Of course, this is possible due to the climate in Mallorca, and to be more exact , in the south of the island, where the summers are very hot (we have reached 38ºC in the heat of the heat wave), and the winters are rather mild with occasional frosts of up to -1,5ºC, which is not recorded in all the years.

The situation would be very different if the area had snow, for example. There we would have serious difficulties if we wanted the strelitzia augusta he would survive, because most likely he wouldn’t unless he got into a greenhouse or home. If that’s your case, that is, If you live in a place where winters are cold, I recommend that you provide the following care.

What is the minimum temperature that can withstand strelitzia augusta?

I think it is important to start talking about this before getting into the matter, and I am going to explain why: sometimes we may be convinced that a plant is very sensitive to cold and therefore has to be indoors no matter what. , when in reality it could be cultivating outside without difficulty.

With regard to the strelitzia augustaI have seen in numerous blogs and in some gardening books that they say that the minimum temperature it supports is 10ºC, some say 15ºC. Good: mine has endured without suffering any damage up to 0 degrees. Even frosts, if they happen, since they last so little and above all are weak (I remember that they are only up to -1,5ºC) because it recovers quickly from them.

But you have to be careful with this too: we don’t have to stick with what the books or blogs say. I could only tell you that it holds up to -1,5ºC and it would be so wide, but I would not be giving you all the information. And it is that a specific frost, which occurs, I don’t know, once or twice throughout the winter, is not the same as a frozen winter, that is, a winter in which frosts are frequently recorded. That is why I insist a lot that they are punctual frosts, and also of short duration.

And it is that if in your area the temperatures drop to -1,5ºC for many days, probably the strelitzia augusta I would die. And not only that, if after the frost the thermometer does not show at least 10 degrees, it will also have a bad time. Based on this, you will be able to better decide whether to have it outside or inside the house, and in case you decide to have it indoors, here I will tell you how to take care of it:

How do you take care of strelitzia augusta indoors?

Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that it is a plant that can become very large, and even if it is going to be kept in a pot, which we will fill with universal substrate as this, we will have to try to transplant it every 3 or 4 years in order to continue growing. Of course, there will come a time when it will not be possible for us to remove it from the container and plant it in another due to its size and weight. Well, when that happens, we will still have to continue fertilizing it so that it does not run out of nutrients.

Now when do you have to pay strelitzia augusta? As it likes the heat, it will grow only during the months when the weather is good.. Therefore, we will only pay it then. For this we can use fertilizers for green plants, whether they are nails or these or liquid fertilizers such as this provided that the instructions on the packaging are respected.

If we talk about irrigation, it must have a moderate frequency, which means that it will be watered about twice a week in summer, and less the rest of the year. In case of doubt, the humidity of the soil should be checked, since it does not like excess water on its roots. Likewise, it is important that rainwater is used whenever possible, or failing that, one that has a pH between 6 and 7,5. Think about draining the plate after each watering.

Another issue to talk about is location; that is, where should I put it? Strelitzia is a plant that needs light, so we will put it in a room with windows through which the sun’s rays enter without difficulty. But also, you have to put it near them, but not next to them to prevent the leaves from burning.

Likewise, Avoid exposing it to air currents such as those from fans and othersince otherwise the tips would turn brown and the plant would suffer.