Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for novices & addicts, October 2012, 2 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Well it turned out to be a nice fine day yesterday and I was able to do the rounds of the yard and check for wind damage among my plants. Fortunately it was only minor with only just a few pots blown over which was much less than I expected as there were tree branches down all along the street, however once again my plants survived the wind.

Trish – Although a lot of people speak of the (original) Seasol as a fertiliser, this isn't really correct as it's function is as a “tonic” where it is used more to enhance the plant's own ability to ward off disease and other problems. It is made from Kelp seaweed which is a renewable resource and is really a product which I have had wonderful results with. I used it initially after a severe hail storm where the brom's in the garden just looked like so much “green confetti” and again later the next year after our famous New Years Day heatwave where everything in the garden was “cooked”, and the recovery of the plants in both cases was nothing less than amazing and it's a product I now use on a monthly basis on everything, even the smallest seedlings and delicate ferns.

It is now also manufactured in various forms including fertilisers, however the one I speak of and regularly use is the “original” Seasol tonic. To find out more about this great product look at http://www.seasol.com.au/

As for Robb Smythe, as well as being a well known brom hybridiser he is also a retired chemist who has made up various environmental and human friendly insecticides in his primary quest to control “Flyspeck Scale” and mosquitoes. He is a great “information sharer” and even prints a little free monthly newsletter called Bromwatch Townsville which I'm sure he would gladly email to you if he had your email address. Although he has bred and registered many beautiful Neo Hybrids, his main interest is in trying to sort out the confusion among the names of many Alcantareas, an interest he's spent countless hours on trying to sort out for the benefit of all Alcantarea growers.

You say your concern now is about all the pups coming on your vrieseas and where you're going to put them all. Take it from me this is only a small part of your problem "the tip of the iceberg" so to speak as you're forgetting all of the seed you planted and where you'll put all those resulting seedlings. Best buy a farm I think.

Once again you (and "hubby") have produced some great pic's; unfortunately I can't help you with a name for the NOID in pic 3 of your first lot of pic's, but maybe if you post it again when it's mature and fully coloured up, one of us may be able to identify it.

I see hubby's using Sue's idea of taking a pic of his foot along with the plant for size comparison, it's really a good idea and helps keep everything in perspective. As well as an orchid grower he's also a great photographer, and he really did capture the beautiful colours of your plants. What is the name of the plant in the second picture of the second last lot of pic's you posted and what's that in the centre where the flower should be? Also I like the NOID in pic 2 of the last lot you posted, it has the most unusual colour combination and is certainly very different to the usual run of Neo's. It's a pity we don't know the plants in the breeding of it. Also what's the name of the variegated plant in pic 3 of the last batch? The flower looks very Bill. Pyramidalis like.

Ian - You say you don't know the “rules of ID” yet, well let me say although there's no substitute for experience, you can help it along the way, if you go to http://fcbs.org/ Scroll down to “Bromeliad Information” and then open “Glossary by Derek Butcher”. When you have taken in all of this you will more than likely be an expert in the rules of ID!

There are many different indicators to be looked for when identifying any brom and I am certainly far from being very experienced in this area, but having bred seedlings using Neo Concentrica as a parent those “concentric rings” I speak of are just one of the indicators I have observed. These "rings" on the leaves of concentrica are where it gets its name from and there are differing views on how these rings are formed. They are usually apparent in one form or another in all genuine Concentrica plants, as well as in many (not all) of its hybrids. I find they are a reasonably reliable indicator of Concentrica being used in the breeding if plants are displaying these rings, I'll post some pic's to show what I'm talking about.

Wendy – There's many unexplained very puzzling things that occur for which we don't have an answer and one that comes to mind is my father-in-law's brother's watch. It was a very good quality watch which never gave any trouble but one night it stopped at three minutes past twelve. This was the exact time of my father-in-law's death in N.S.W when his brother was living in Qld. The strange thing is, that once his brother had picked it up and seen that it had stopped, it started going again, just like it was waiting to tell him something had happened at that time. I guess we all still have a lot to learn about how things in this life really work.

As for Max; well a “hot spot” isn't all that serious and they often appear when dogs are stressed or in ill health. I had an old blue cattle dog who often got them in the hot weather as he had trouble tolerating it in his old age and it used to stress him really badly. We got an ointment from the vet called “Ilium Neocort” it cost $8 a tube and was amazing stuff and cleared the hot spots up in a few days. I've recommended it to many friends who have similar problems with their dogs and they all have had the same good results from it. Fortunately, down here we can just buy it direct from the vet without any consultation charge.

Well that's it for today and I'll post a few pic's now of various plants with the concentric rings I was speaking about to Ian earlier. Pic 1 is a file film from the FCBS Photo Index and is of a true Concentrica species, Pic 2 is of a Concentrica x (Charm c Cracker Jack)
plant I bred myself and the rings are also evident in its foliage. Pic 3 is Neo. Phyllis (which I've posted before) but the rings are very evident in this as well and although we can't prove that it has Concentrica in the parentage, one of it's parents called Neo 'Two Tone' has the same tell tale rings, but unfortunately its parents are not known, but if I was a betting man I'd bet there is Concentrica in there in the (unknown) background somewhere, Pic 4 is Neo 'Beetroot' which is a hybrid which has Concentrica in both parents (hence the very prominent rings) and finally Neo. 'Alvin Purple' of which the seed parent is Concentrica with the pollen parent unknown.

I know all of this is boring to some of you, but it's interesting nevertheless and handy to know if you intend to do any hybridising.

All the best, Nev.