Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for Novices and Addicts - July 2013, 2 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone, I got a little bit done yesterday in between family chores. It seems like only yesterday that I dead leaved all of the Neo's and they needed doing again. However when I looked up my little book (which incidently I found once more) I see that it was the Vrieseas which I dead leaved five months ago and not the Neo's; so doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

Breeindy – You've posted two great pic's of some nice looking Vrieseas; the Neo is a beauty as well but it's not Neo Concentrica, it's a much nicer looking plant than Concentrica. As for your seedlings, they look nice and healthy and I don't know where I've seen more Vr Splendens seedlings before. You need to watch they don't escape or you will have to mow them to keep them under control. As for re-potting, I personally wouldn't think of potting them up (down here) until spring time when the weather is warming up and everything is starting to grow; but as you are in a warmer area you could possibly transplant them at any time and then just stand back and watch them take off!

Cody – That particular plant of Guzmania 'Hilda' is in an 8” pot and I won't re-pot it until spring time next year and then depending on the state of the plant, probably into a 10” pot.

Theresa – I would say Guz. 'Hilda' would possibly be the plant you speak about on sale at the Warehouse in your area, as I bought mine in Bunnings with a similar generic name tag (which told me it was a bromeliad).

According to the BCR (http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=GUZMANIA&id=...) it was registered in 1997 by R. Deroose (Holland) after being grown from seed from unknown parents but thought to possibly be Guz. lingulata X wittmackii. According to the Deroose site http://www.derooseplants.com/en/select_plant_search_results.... it was originally grown by Van Schie. My plant was identified by Ross Little of “Pine Grove Bromeliad Nursery” at Wardell N.S.W. who saw it when it was first in flower and told me they had come into Australia as tissue cultured plants and Deroose had exported them to many other countries (possibly in their thousands).

I have found that most Guzmanias are quite cold tender and certainly don't tolerate our lower temperatures without protection as they mark very badly. With your predicted -3C temperature they would most certainly need to be brought into the home or a heated green house.

Most of the plants produced in Holland go to the European market where they are kept inside the homes and used like you say “as an alternative to cut flowers”. The flowers are short lived, but the coloured bracts can remain in colour for six to twelve months, after which (in Europe) they are tossed in the bin and replaced with a new plant.

Often they come into Australia as small tissue cultured plants still in the laboratory flasks. This way they don't have to go through the gassing treatment by the AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service). They are usually imported by the larger nurseries who grow them on and then distribute them for resale to places like Bunnings, Big-W , K-Mart etc. for resale to the general public.

Trish - I don't have any idea how old the Neo.'Lovely Lady' in the pic from Thailand is but the fact that they heap on so many leaves does have its drawbacks as they are much slower to pup and rarely pup until after they flower as the plant is still producing leaves and not flowers (after which the growth of pups is usually triggered). Thai growers are envious of us being able to produce pups annually on most of our Neo's and we are envious of them being able to grow plants with so many leaves, so I guess the old saying of, “you can't please everyone all of the time” is very true. My plant in the picture was last year's pup and still has a bit more growing and colouring up to do yet.

The plant in your last two pic's looks like Billbergia Nutans to me and is the same plant that Theresa said she has and which can tolerate frost & temps below 0C. Bill. Nutans is a species originating from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and it has been grown as a garden plant in Australia for many years and can still be seen growing in very old gardens; what's more, they are virtually “bullet proof”.

As for the “marbled” types, there are many different ones from different hybridisers, if you go to: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&i... you will see six different ones that have been registered by just one of the hybridisers, Vic Przetocki. There are others registered by different hybridisers and I expect many more that haven't been registered.

Shirley – Yes the 'Birds Nest Fern' in the "Mobile Fernery" became quite a talking point especially when it got to about 6” in length and everyone who walked past it wanted to pull it out. Unfortunately the old ute was due for a rego. check so it had to go, but I certainly got some laughs out of it while it was there just watching the reactions of people when they saw it for the first time.

I like your Neo. Concentrica x; it certainly is something a bit different. I have my doubts about the name on your second plant though, (Neo Meyendorffii x Marmorata) and this is just based on the colour alone. As a general rule it has been found that the seed parent influences shape and size and the pollen parent influences the colour and I'm quite surprised to see a plain colour without any leaf markings like the Marmorata; but then I guess there's exceptions to all rules and that's the surprises we sometimes get with hybrids.

Your NOIDS in pic's 4 and 5 are surprisingly similar to the two plants I used as parents for the cross depicted in my notes on growing bromeliad seed. (Did I ever send you a copy? If you would like one just say so and I'll email one to you) The Pollen Parent was almost an exact replica of the plant shown in your Pic.3 and is called Neo. 'Charm' x 'Cracker Jack' and I would say yours is either 'Charm', 'Cracker Jack' or a hybrid between the two. The plant in your Pic.4 is very much like one of the paler Neo concentrica x concentrica hybrids

Sue – I was able to find that plant of Neo 'Buccaneer' x 'Johannis' which I suspected was a seedling I got from you, and I now know for sure that it was one of yours as I always write the history on the back of the name tag and although it's not very clear in Pic.1, it definitely says:
P/ 3 /12 / 5 x OsEx/ S.Unsworth which “deciphered” means it was a pup “P” when I got it in March (3rd month) 2012. It was fed with 5grams of Osmocote Exact High K fertiliser when potted and it came from Sue Unsworth. So you see it is handy to always keep a record with the plant, as it goes everywhere the plant goes and what's more it saves going to the house looking for a note book or on a computer for the info. Pic.2 shows the actual plant.
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Time to go again, Pic 1 was the name tag on the Neo 'Buccaneer' x 'Johannis' seedling I got from Sue and Pic2 was the seedling itself, Pic.3 is Neo. 'Bird Rock', Pic.4 is Neo.(Carolinae x McWilliamsii) x 'Perefecta Tricolour' and Pic.5 is Neo.'Purple Glaze'

All the best, Nev.