Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for Novices and Addicts - May 2013, 4 by bromishy

bromishy wrote:
Hi Everyone!

We managed to get out of our warm bed early this morning and go for a walk on the beach. Heaps of people were already there fishing for winter whiting and they were catching them, we normally luv fishing for them as they are fun to catch, the biggest one I have caught was 36cm, it was a kidney slapper of a whiting and one that we brought home with its friends to cook up. There is nothing nicer than fresh whiting cooked same day. I luv to eat them for brunch with a wee garden salad – yum.

The rest of the day was spent doing house chores, potting up pink gingers and agave’s, collecting seeds from some of my Neo’s that have self-germinated, gave me Vriesea seedlings some fresh air and light by taking lids off containers and brought some Neo’s in from outside as pups need to be taken off. We also hung some Vanda Orchids from our Mango Tree and Joe set-up irrigation so they can be spritzed every day. We had to hang them there because the root system is far too long to have them in the nursery. I will have to remember tomorrow to take pics of the flowering one’s in the nursery as they are gorgeous. My friend also came over for a visit and we sent her home with orchids and gingers and she was going straight home to put the gingers in her garden. She is not into bromeliads, that is the only thing that is wrong with her but I still luv her he he.

Hi Shirley thrilled to bits the parcel I sent you arrived safe and sound and that the broms and gingers handled the trip well. I will send you some more red dwarf ginger down the track when some of the seedlings have grown a bit bigger as they were not as big as I would have liked but know they should still do fine as they are pretty hardy if you keep them watered and weekly / weekly fertilise them or use a little slow release fertiliser.

Shirley the toothy brom you asked about was a special gift from a friend that does not have a name tag yet, it is only just a pup so I am waiting with baited breath so see what it grows up to be like as I adore it.

Shirley I luved Pic 2 you posted on 24/5 of Bil’ ‘Deliciosa’, I will have to look out on EBay for one of those because it’s gorgeous. Also luv your Pic 4 Vr’ ‘Hieroglyphica’, they are still one of my favourites in my Vriesea collection.

Hi Wendy sounds like you did great catching all those breams. We luv going fishing on the beach and coming home with some bread and butter fish to have for brunch, my favourite of them all is Whiting because it’s so sweet and tender - yum. Hope the next camp spot you move to has no pesky kids or kayakers cutting in front of your fishing lines when you fish, on top of all the boats flying past, how annoying.

Wendy thanks for sharing what medium you use under your broms, it has been interesting to read what some of the people on this forum use, something for me to think about down the track. I found it very interesting that you soak the gravel with termite spray, what a great idea.

Hi Sue what a bugger D.G. is giving you grief again. I did get your D-Mail thanks and replied; hope you got it as well as I sent an email to your personal email? Sue sounds like you’re getting horrible weather; I hope when the sun came out there was no damage found around your property and that you are safe and well. I yes I remember my wood cutting days when we lived in VIC, I was a lean, mean fighting machine back then as Joe used to cut the dead tree’s into rings and I used to jump on with me splitting axe and cut it up, then cut it with the normal axe into more manageable pieces, load it in the trailer, unload it when we got home, stack it and then cut up some kindling. Ah those were the days. If I tried this now I would probably not be able to move for a month or more LOL.

Sue the Pic 2 you posted on the 23/4 of your Ae. ‘Black Beauty’ is gorgeous, and I adore your strong looking little Vriesea seedling in Pic 5 that has defied all odds and survived to be the last seed that took on your tree fern, how amazingly wonderful. Will you keep it there or look at moving it down the track? It does look like it is happy there. Sue I hope none of your broms coped any damage in your nursery after all the effort you went to protect your babies.

Hi Jean thank you for you kind comments about my broms. I can’t wait to see pics of your recent brom purchases after they arrive in the mail as well as the ones you are currently potting up. You must be so excited plus the fact you selected such special ones. Jean the variegated brom you said you liked in my Pic 5 I posted on 23/5 is Neo’ ‘Imperfecta’, it is in full flower now as I moved it into more light, so I will have to post a pic of it for you to see.

Hi Nev I hope you’re keeping warm and getting things done under cover like you wanted to do.

Nev thanks I am really pleased about the additional pups I discovered on my Vriesea and have been feeding the mother well because she well and truly deserves it. I still reckon it was from placing a prill in each leaf axel that did it though like I read from you way back when I first joined D.G so Nev thanks ever so much. I hope the pups all survive to grow up big and strong and if they do make room for one as I would be more than happy to post you one.

Nev I too am not too much into Guzmanias because I like colour in my garden all year around but some of the Guzmania pics you post make me go Wow how pretty is that one and they do look great inside to display such beautiful flowers.

Nev, yeah I reckon your right gravels the go for under my brom pots plus the fact I use it inside top of my brom pots. They luv it and it does them no harm come summer because I have them covered anyway. It will also keep my broms squeaky clean when we have heavy rain so nothing splashes up and onto or inside them.

Nev luved your Pic 4 you posted on 23/5 of Ae’ ‘Mirlo’ grown in low light – I like, when I split pups off my plants I will definetly try putting some of them in different spots as yours looks like a totally different plant altogether. The Pic 3 clone of Ae. ‘Bert’ is a stunner!!!

Nev thanks for the advice on “Crampeze’, I will have to get some because my muscles are sore from the cramps I got last night.

Hi Bree hope the rain has backed off for you so you get time in the garden. How are all your orchids doing, have you got a few flowering at the moment as would luv if you snuck in a few pics now and then. I will post some Vanda pics tomorrow.

Hi Ian 311 Neo’s and counting (not including your NOIDS), that’s fantastic. Have a great time in Cairns, careful on the road as there is a lot of road works going on at the moment and drivers are losing patience and overtaking recklessly. Ian not too sure what your Pic 5 Bil’ NOID is but I adore it and it’s beautiful flower.

Anyway time to head as Joe has been patiently waiting for the laptop – oops!

Trish

Pic 1 to 5 – Random Garden Shots but too much sunlight