Hi
What method do you use to keep them upright. The flowers are so heavy they pull the plant down throw in wind or heavy rain a royal mess!!! gary

Same as Gary, How do you keep them upright? Do you have any problems with pests? If so what do you use?

I use the long, green plant stakes that you find at one of the box stores and the velcro green tape for plants. You can secure 2 or 3 stalks per stake. Secure the stalk to the stake at the very most upper part of the stalk near the most recent 2 or 3 leaves. If you secure it in the middle of the stalk, a strong wind can still bend them over at the spot where the plant is secured with the plant tape. This year my Rostrata stalks are very thick and sturdy but in years past I've had stalks that were thin and weak. The more thick stalks usually produce larger inflos.

Steve

Fortunately it is growing in my greenhouse where there is no wind at all. Occasionally, I have a stalk fall, but most of the time, they stay up right until the inflorescence fades and I cut them down.

There are so many stalks at different heights that they seem to just hold each other up.

Regarding wind outdoors versus no wind in greenhouse, I would like to see Heliconia Chartacea 'Sexy Pink' grown in a greenhouse because wind shreds the crap out of the leaves which I imagine look beautiful unshredded. My greenhouse is too small.

Hi
I made a mistake of planting in the shadehouse. They grow right through the roof. No matter how much digging I've done they still come back. I planted some among a cluster of white BOP.outdoors Does hold them up but looks so odd as the flowers lean over the BOP. Not surprisingl the flowers in the shadehouse are bigger, brighter, and far more vigorous . Maybe because I regularly water and fertilize the epiphtes in there??lol
In Costa Rica they were growing them over a wire tunnel that you could walk through. Flowers hung down into the tunnel . Seemed like a great idea but my whole grow area is only 35x50. There's always the dwarfs??? gary