Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for novices and addicts, August 2011, 1 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sue – I was told a while back about that “horse liniment” by a friend and I’ve been meaning to try it but it slipped my mind. The only trouble is that the way things are at the moment, I’d probably have to bathe in it to get to all various aches and pains.

Karen – It is possible to buy a lot of these Tillandsia species and hybrids in Australia if you just contact someone who specialises in “Tillies”. I don’t know who they are as I don’t grow Tillies but I imagine someone here can tell you. Getting them from America (or any other country for that matter) is usually possible, but they have to go through Aust Quarantine and this requires gassing with Methyl bromide which usually kills a good percentage of them. If they get through this, they have to be quarantined in a registered quarantine house for about six months before they are released. Add to this all the various Govt. Import Fees. Permit Fees, Inspection Fees, Gassing Fees, Quarantine Fees and any others that Julia can think up at the time. All of that plus the fact they are often roughly handled by people who don’t care or understand bromeliads (not nice and gently by brom lovers) and are often damaged in transit due to rough handling (I’ve seen pic’s of this). These are the reasons I would never import any type of brom. Read the AQIS (Aust Quarantine Inspection Service) regulations on line, all hundreds of pages of them. They just make it so hard it’s no wonder people try to bring stuff in illegally.

Bree – I really like your Red Chestnut cross. It’s a pity you can’t read the tag any more. This seems to be a common problem when people buy plants written on a faded old tag. It’s always a good idea to write new tag when you get the plant and the name is still legible, cause once it’s gone, it’s gone for good unless you know the grower and they can identify the plant for you.

Sue – Thanks for that recipe, the only trouble is that pineapples aren’t always easy to get down here and when they are they’re pretty pricey. As for the Ae. Weilbachii, I have a few different ones and a couple of them are pendulous (the last two I think). There’s weilbachii var weilbachii, weilbachii var April Showers, weilbachii var April Storm, weilbachii var. Pendula, weilbachii var viridesepala.

Jen – You’ve done a good job of growing your weilbachii. Down here it’s often one of those plants that seems to attract a bit of leaf tip die back, but I don’t see any on yours. What’s the cultural secret?

Good on you Tash, it’s just as well everyone’s not waiting on me to start a new thread or you’d have a long wait.

Wendy – You asked for a pic of my Rosy Morn x Gee Whiz babies, well here they are. Still very small but I’m hoping they’ll really take off when spring arrives.

All the best, Nev.