Costus spicatus
Spiked Spiralflag Ginger
Costus is a tropical fleshy-leafed perennial plant, the leaves spiralling up the stem. In Summer it bears cone-shaped inflorescences with small flowers around. The plants can grow quite large, depending on the variety. In areas that do not have a tropical climate they will need to be grown indoors. Costus spicatus is a tall ginger with stems that spiral like a corkscrew, and 12" x 4" dark green leaves leaves that spiral around the main stem. It bears a short cylindrical red-orange cone with flowers of the same colour emerging from between the bracts.
Contributed by @rzgonsalves
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Partial shade
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Frequent watering
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Not Frost hardy
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Free draining and fertile
Common name
Spiked Spiralflag Ginger
Latin name
Costus spicatus
type
Rhizomatous perennial
family
Costaceae
ph
6.0 - 7.5 Acid - Neutral
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Light
Partial shade
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Frost
Not Frost hardy
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Soil
Free draining and fertile
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Water
Frequent watering
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
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When the plant will bloom
full grown dimensions
1.00 M
3.00 M
Costus spicatus
Costus is a tropical fleshy-leafed perennial plant, the leaves spiralling up the stem. In Summer it bears cone-shaped inflorescences with small flowers around. The plants can grow quite large, depending on the variety. In areas that do not have a tropical climate they will need to be grown indoors. Costus spicatus is a tall ginger with stems that spiral like a corkscrew, and 12" x 4" dark green leaves leaves that spiral around the main stem. It bears a short cylindrical red-orange cone with flowers of the same colour emerging from between the bracts.
Flowering
From Early Summer TO Late Summer
The exotic-looking cone-shaped flowers appear through Summer
Planting
From Early Spring TO Late Spring
Costus likes moist, free-draining soil. In anywhere other than tropical climates they will need to be grown indoors. Container-grown plants will need annual re-potting
Propagating by division of rhizomes
From Early Spring TO Early Spring
The rhizomes can be divided in winter to extract new plants. Dig up the whole clump, or a section of the clump, (or remove from the pot), and shake off the soil. You will see a clump of fleshy rhizomes with many shoots. Remove any dead or unhealthy rhizomes, and divide the rest, making sure each division has at least two or three shoots. Re-plant immediately.
rzgonsalves
jaeCee
quinnedy