Beginner Gardening: birds of paradise help, 2 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
Hi Chris-
I have had one for maybe 6 years. I agree with hcmc, the pot you put it into looks a bit big. Pots that are too big then hold too much water for too long, so root rot can occur. However if the roots mostly filled it up it may be correct. It looks like you used a clay pot? If so that definitely helps dry out the soil faster.
I also agree with tapla about drainage and feeding, but... Mine has always just been potted in regular, (premium) potting soil I bought at Lowes. I have never put it into the kind of extra drainage material I use for succulents, like added perlite.
I keep mine in an east facing "garden window" that includes a skylight extending about 3 feet into the ceiling, so it gets LOTS of light. This is enough (barely) to make it flower. However it took 3 years to bloom, and it was a bit bigger than yours (gallon size pot). You can see how big it is now. It is now growing up out of the pot, and needs repotting. I will need a crane I think! I generally water it about once a week, less in winter, maybe a bit more in summer. You can see in the picture I took today some of the leaves are curled and brown-edged, this is because I let it get too dry last month when it was hot.
How is yours doing now? Did it make it?