Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR MARCH ....2014, 3 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Not a very interesting day here yesterday, but got a bit more tidying up done (which isn't hard as there's always something needs doing). I started out dead leafing the remaining Vrieseas on the bench in the Vriesea house and remembered I had originally planned to do something about the bench to stop plants toppling over.

The mesh on these benches was some I bought when the old mesh fence around our local school was renewed but the actual size of the mesh is a bit large and some of the pots tend to tip if they aren't sitting exactly right. This occurs with the squat pots I'm now using as on the bottom there are four areas where the bottom isn't exactly flat and it's these “step ups” that cause the problem and don't always allow the pot to sit flat. Anyway I found I still had a couple of sheets of the “Mini-Orb” galvanised corrugated iron left over from when I changed the benches in the top Neo. and Bill. shade house. I decided I would use that up as there was sufficient to do the back bench but unfortunately only half of the front one so now I have to track down a bit more sheeting at the “right price” to finish the job.

As usual, while moving plants around I got another nice surprise, this time in the form of a Vriesea which I knew I had, but had forgotten it was one I was doing a “light trial” with as I had two plants and had one on the bench in low light and one hanging right up beneath the roof in high light. While moving plants around I found they were both flowering and there's no doubt in my mind that the one that was hanging is the more attractive of the two. The plant is Vr. 'Orange Sundae' (unreg.) and pictures of the both plants are shown as Pic.1 and 2.

Hopefully today I'll get the remaining dead-leafing done and a bit more re-arranging of some of the Neo's waiting patiently in the “parking area” of the new section I plan to make into another brom garden.

On another subject, did you all know that D.G. has a limit on how many D-Mails you can send? I haven't sent one for over a week and yesterday I wanted to just send two brief ones to tell a couple of members that I had sent them plants. The first one went OK but when I posted the second a notice came up to say I had used my quota of D-Mails.

Trish – Good to see you've found time to let us know what you've been up to. I always enjoy your posts as they're most informative. It's not a very good start to the weekend when you have to start preparing for a cyclone though, and I hope your preparations turn out not to be needed. I hope your first sale at the markets went well for you and the cyclone threat didn't turn too many away.

Thanks for putting me down for a pup of Neo.‘Ink Spots' and thanks for telling me about the light experiment with the NOIDS in your post of 06/03. It's interesting what you say about how they had, “a tough feel of the leaves” but they still got burned under full sun. It's very true when they say that “things aren't always as they seem”, here you have a plant with tough leaves which get burned and I've been experimenting with a Vriesea with very thin laves and it handled the extra light (although not full sun) without any heat damage at all.

Ian – Well now you've really confused me (but then I'm easily confused); it seems to me the plant in your second pic named as Neo. camorimiana is the same as the plant named as Neo fluminensis in the pic you posted Mar. 09. Now can you tell us which is which?

As I said previously, even the web master of the FCBS says he can't get an accurate picture of Neo fluminensis so if you've been able to get the plant pictured in shots 3, 4 and 5 definitely identified as such, I'm sure he would appreciate it if you sent him the pic's for the Photo Index; and besides, you would have your name on the FCBS site "for all the world to see". I can just see it now “identification break-though by boy from down under” Ha! Ha!

Wendy – Your place sounds a bit like ours, always something to be done. There's just no end to the work when we grow brom's, but then as I tell my friends, “it keeps me off the streets and out of the pub”!

Like you I find watering the most pleasant aspect of growing brom's as it's during this time you can see the results of all the ongoing hard work you've put in, and the progress of your plants. I must say I would find it much easier with an extra tap down the bottom of our yard as well, but I don't expect it's ever going to happen.

They're a nice little batch of concentrica seedlings you've posted and my selections would be the one in Pic.2 for the best shape, The one in Pic.3, for the best colour, and the one in Pic.4 for the best combined shape and colour. I think it's a bit like judging oranges against apples though as the plants in Pic's 1 and 5 don't appear fully mature and could have some more colouring up to do and because of this they shouldn't be compared against the others. Having said all of that, I still think my overall favourite would have to be the one in Pic.2 with it's terrific wide thick leaves and almost perfect shape. What's more if it ever wants a holiday, Shellharbour is a nice little spot.

Pic's today are of the Frog Pond project Pic.1 (a very much over grown) before and Pic.2 After. Pic.3 is Vriesea 'Orange Sundae' (unreg.) grown in low light, Pic.4 is Vriesea 'Orange Sundae' (unreg.) grown under high light and Pic.5 is a compact form of Neo. marmorata.

All the best, Nev.