I transplanted a 3 year old giant bird of paradise

Question

I transplanted a 3 year old giant bird of paradise from a semi low light corner in my living room to outside. We divided and then replanted outside in a large planter. It’s been about 2 months and a few leaves died immediately. A couple of the leaves have sunburn, but there are a couple of new leaves that have survived. I know that I need to trim the sunburned leaves off, but am scared that the plants will die, as there will only be 2 new baby leaves that have not grown at all since the transplant. How do I save these plants? I moved them outside, as they were looking very sad after being in that corner for 3 years.

Answer 1

Bird of paradise is incredibly tough. Your plant has about a 99.9% chance of living, no matter what you cut off it. Don’t worry about the sun scorch areas, they don’t harm the plant in any way, they’re just areas of dead cells that were burnt by the sun. You can leave them on the plant so the green parts can contribute to the energy of the plant, then cut them off later when you have some more green leaves. Or you can cut them off now, so the plant can put all its energy into growing new roots instead of supporting leaves. It doesn’t really matter. It may take it a couple of years to establish, but just about anything you do to it is ok.

Answer 2

Thank you, 4 months later and it is looking really good! A few large very healthy new leaves and I think all is well.