Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES & ADDICTS - NOVEMBER 2012, 2 by perke_patch

perke_patch wrote:
Hi everyone.
Thanks for all the messages of support re Max and his health problems. we waited for the call from the vet this morning with the results but it didn't come. Instead we had a call from Chris (our son getting married) to say that his battery had died and Jess was going to Sunshine Coast today via airport to pick up her bridesmaids (sister & best friend). so that was the last bit of stress that Johnny needed. anway after the money we've paid out for Max Chris is driving around with the battery out of Johnny's boat. anyway after sorting him out we decided to see what was in our wardrobes to wear to the wedding. Johnny had 2 good black slacks .... alas 1 too big and 1 too small. So we had to dash off to the shopping centre for new ones. Luckily the first shop we went to we found a lovely black pin striped pair that fitted him perfectly and while he was in trying them on I browsed and pulled out a lovely dress for me which he really loved also. so we both have new outfits. (and i had just washed all my good corporate bling that I'd kept and tried on .... they smelled a bit dusty hence the wash). anyway we'd only just gone into Big W to see all of the lovely things from Olive Branch when the vet rang. Yesterday's tests were again showing nothing so the vet had rung the UQ vet school for advice and they jumped at the chance to take on Max as a training patient. So the rest of the day was spent up in St Lucia at vet school. again first thing said was "we do think there is a tumour there somewhere we just haven't found it yet". every vet we've seen has believed it to be cancer but the tests have not backed up their diagnosis. this vet really checked him over much more than any of the others and found swollen lymph glands on left side so everything is on left. he also has no air flow from left nostril which points to a blockage there somewhere. they wanted to keep him oernight toight and do some procedures in the morning and then keep him tomorrow night also for observation. she said we could pick him up Saturday morning but with the wedding that was impossible for us. so he goes in Tuesday morning. Jen has kindly agreed to check on him a couple of times Saturday for us. The reason for the checks is that the vets all believe there is a possibility that he could have another bleed from the nose and bleed to death so he is to be kept calm with sedatives and we have spray to shrink the blood vessels in that L nostril. hopefully that will keep the bleeding to a minimum. So it still looks like we will eventually have a cancer diagnosis. oh and another bill of $1500 on Tuesday. We probably should just say put him to sleep but he is not sick or in pain and Johnny is not ready to say that until we hear that confirmation of cancer. I guess until there is positive proof there is a hope it is something else. so we have fingers crossed for a few more days.

Sue, I was surprised at the explosion in your microwave. My first thought was that I use 30 sec as we have a button that sets 30 sec increments of time. but then I realised the microwave downstairs has the old dial so I just spin it round. I think it usually clicks to around 10 - 20 secs. I'm going to try using the milton to sterilise the mix now. I also keep the mix in a bucket with a twist seal lid so no exposure to bugs. Oh and that technique of wrapping the coconut fibre around the foam was at Barry Genn's place not Barry Kable. too many Barry's around isn't there?
Pic 1. I sometimes grow my till seed on fibre fllled balls made of fishing net as in pic 1. I tuck the seed in behind the net and then just dunk the ball into the bird bath every other day. you will notice that the bottom half of the ball has germinated better than the top half and I believe that is because the bottom is wetter for longer. This ball contains seed of till gardneri.
Pic 2 is a ball of till hayley's comet that has almost disappeared beneath the tillandsias.
Pic 3 is another way that I grow tills. I glued a very small ionantha seedling onto this little gnome statue a couple years ago. it is now almost overgrowing the gnome and looks great when it flowers. but I've never been successful at pollinating any of these and obtaining seed. and the ionantha seed I purchased from Brom-L hasn't sprouted at all so maybe I cooked them beside the heater over winter. If anyone knows of a source of ionantha seed please think of me. I'd love to have another go with them. I have a contact overseas who says that they have tillandsias growing on everything that doesn't move in his neighbourhood including the power lines. he is going to collect some next seed collecting season and will send me some. not sure what I'll get if anything but fingers crossed there'll be some ionantha and stricta.
Pic 4 is some seedlings Johnny tied up on a length of fishing line and hung from the shadcloth roof to the shelf below. they were all little seedlings like this we plucked off the shadecloth where the seed had blown and attached and grew. we didn't know what they were but the last couple months they flowered and turned out to be schiediana I think. the wire is now almost completely covered so Johnny did another one that is strung just below the shadecloth from post to post. I'll download a pic soon of the first one and the new one so you can see how they have grown.

Oh Sue when we went to Barry Genn's did you get a piece of his schiediana yellow form? If you did that has now been proven to be a species as the seed produces the exact same plant with yellow flower spike. these have been named as tillandsia shy and the minor form is t. little shy or shy too. (can't remember but it gives you a starting point to check BCR or FCBS.)

Anyway I'm off to bed soon. havea big day tomorrow again. I'll be glad when it is this time next week and one way or another all our stresses will be over (hopefully all of them). We're actually thinking about jumping in the motorhome and taking off to Coffs Harbour to laze on the beach and fish for a couple of days. not sure if it will be park on north or south side of Coffs but it is only a wish at the moment.

Might watch a bit of TV before going to bed so I'll wish you all goodnight.
Wendy