They grow well in a standard peat moss/sand which can be anything from 50% to 70% peat moss. There's no need to fertilize, as the plant relies on insects for food.
In general, Heliconias are evergreen in the Tropics and warm Subtropics, like zone 10. Further north, upper zone 9 and lower zone 8, they may be frozen back to the ground each Winter but survive to resprout the next Spring.