Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES & ADDICTS APRIL 2012, 1 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone,

Yesterday turned out to be quite productive for me as I was finally able to make a start installing the extra roof joists from which to hang more plants in my shade houses. Unfortunately once this space is used up, there’s nowhere else I can go as I will have used up all available hanging space.

Colleen – I’m pleased to see you got your plants OK. It seems like the poly styrene boxes are the answer for a five day trip. How did the Bird’s Nest Fern travel? I don’t usually send ferns so I’m new at this and still feeling my way. The brom’s all look pretty fresh considering they’ve been locked up in the dark for five days, it must be that “magic elixir” they’re soaking in, and it really does give good results doesn’t it?

I suppose by now the boys will be home and “bending your ear” about everything they did on their big adventure. It’s really great to see kids going camping and getting introduced to one of the best things boys can do and it’s great to see Uncle John taking the time to take them, so well done Uncle John!

Karen – If you’re concerned about your little plant getting too much rain, just lay it on its side. This will stop it getting overwatered and help drain off any excess, but don’t forget to stand it up again when the rain’s finished otherwise you’ll have a plant growing sidewise. It’s good to see you “setting your sights high” on a quality plant like Neo ‘Wild Rabbit’. It’s a very nice and most unusual Neo. and only one that Chester Skotak (the master) could breed. He had quite a few with that unusual colour combination and they’re very popular and much sought after worldwide and I thought it would have cost more than what you say.

Having a run in with Big Pond are you? I’ve been there and done that; and found the hardest thing was to get a person who could speak understandable English. In the end I asked to speak to the supervisor and got a nice young lady who understood the problem completely and everything was fixed up within ten minutes. That was after about two hours talking to other people who I couldn’t understand and were obviously very much out of their depth in the job they were doing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not a racist; and in my previous job I came into contact with almost every nationality in the world and have the greatest respect for most of them and never once had a problem with any of them; it’s just that I don’t think it’s too much to expect to be able to speak to an English speaking person in your own country, and I think Big Pond needs to get its act together. They are just exploiting these poor people from third world countries, paying them crap wages, just so they can make big bucks off you and me without providing the service they claim they are. Like everything else these days, it all about the “mighty dollar”, stuff the customer service!
Sorry about that little “rant” I feel much better now I’ve got that off my chest.

About your pic you say, “This rather large invader seems very attached to my brom. Matchsticks. Can't see that he's eaten any though”. Well let me say it’s just that he doesn’t like them, his favourite food is vrieseas, Guzmanias and Tillandsias with the Tilly flower spikes his speciality. The best time to find these pests is when you are watering early in the early morning; they don’t like getting wet and move quite slowly under these circumstances. Don’t use insecticides as a remedy because by the time he’s dead from the insecticide he’s already eaten his way through your best plants, first catch him, (hold him firmly behind the head as he can sometimes give you a nip) then firmly grip the middle of his body and pull the head and body in different directions. You will now find the head in one hand and the body in your other hand. Drop them both on the ground, place your foot on top and twist it backwards and forwards, job done...........problem solved!

Wendy – I don’t have Ae Rubens so I’m especially interested in some of that seed. I’m always happy to take any sort of seed you like to send, hybrids as well as species and as usual I’ll apply the same rule as I do here with my other brom friends; we always share the resulting seedlings. If they are hybrids and one of us gets a good one, the rule is that the first available pup goes to the other person. We’ve been doing it this way right back to where I grew orchids from seed and it’s a system that works well but only with trusted friends.

As I’ve said many times, all though I like mature brom’s, my main interest lies in growing the seed. I think it’s a very fascinating hobby and doesn’t take up any space. It’s not until it’s time to move them up into pots that the space problems start.

The plants in both of your pic’s are quite attractive and what you say about increasing the light with the first one could intensify the variegations, although it could also lighten the green in the leaves and hide the variegations even more, so I guess it’s a matter of trying, to find out for sure. I think somewhere down the track the name may have got mixed up also, as I think it’s possibly Dr. Oeser x Black Knight not Dr. Dresser x Black Knight, as I can’t find a Dr Dresser anywhere on the registry. Although Dr Oeser is a registered name, and does carry the variegation gene in its gene pool so that would explain the variegations in the hybrids from it. On the other hand, it may also be an unregistered name and my suspicions may well be incorrect.

The second plant appears to have very faint red lines similar to a “radial red”. Although it is a registered hybrid, unfortunately there is no picture on the registry and like all of Hummel’s hybrids; no parents are given so there’s no way of finding out where the faint variegation may have come from. It’s still an attractive plant just the same, as is the other one. As far as breeding goes, I’d be inclined to put some Neo Rosea ‘Striata’ pollen onto it and I’m pretty sure you’d breed quite a few nice radial red seedlings.

Now for a few more pic’s to finish, Pic 1 is Ae Faciata 'Purpurea' (I find this to be a very slow grower), Pic 2 is Ae. Fasciata 'Rubra' (Again a slow grower), Pic 3 shows two pups taken from an Ae Fasciata variegata and they are showing unusual pink colouring through the leaves, Pic 4 is Ae Bromeliifolia 'albobracteata' (these were grown from seed and although they have an insignificant looking flower, the plant does look good as a feature in the middle of a cacti garden. Pic 5 is Aechmea 'Pie'

All the best, Nev.