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

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Again just another quick visit today, but I just had to welcome our two new members Trish and Ian. It’s really great to see two new members joining our friendly little forum and I’m sure you both will get heaps of enjoyment from being with us. I have been on quite a few forums during the past few years as well as some of the Face Book bromeliad sites and I can honestly say that without a doubt, this is the friendliest forum of the whole lot with everyone going out of their way to help fellow members. I think what makes this forum different is that everyone realizes that that nobody knows everything we are all here to learn and help each other.

As Shirley says I’m especially pleased to see another male member joining us; although we have Mike who is very knowledgeable and pops in from time to time but we don’t see him nearly as often as we would like. I’m especially pleased to see that you, like a few of us here are trying your hand at growing brom’s from seed. I have been doing this for a few years now and can really recommend it as a most enjoyable and interesting part of brom growing and if you would like a little booklet I wrote on the subject, just send me a D-mail with your email address and I’ll send it to you (and that offer goes to anyone else who would like a copy)

A lot’s been happening here lately with Sue re-landscaping her garden, making stepping stones and building bridges; is there no end to this lady’s skills? However I can still see a lot of places to put brom’s in the last pic you posted Sue. Not to be left out of the building stakes, Wendy and Johnny are remodeling an area of their home to make a seedlings growing area which I’m sure will certainly get a workout!

Shirley – I like the pic of your Neo Bruiser (one I haven’t seen before) it’s a beautiful healthy looking well grown plant and thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks also for the good wishes for my crook knee. It felt a bit better yesterday and I spent most of the afternoon removing dead leaves from the Vrieseas in the shade house and while I was doing this, guess what I discovered? The Spotted Honeyeaters have got babies once again in this same shade house.

When their babies left last year I put their old nest in an empty pot and hung it in a corner, but they didn’t seem interested in it this year and built a new nest on top of another plant. They only had one egg and we got a severe thunder storm one night and they left the nest not long after and it still has just the one old egg in it. Well yesterday when I noticed the mother watching me closely and then disappearing up into the corner and then I once again heard the sound of baby birds begging for food and there she was on the side of the empty pot feeding two babies (at least I think there was only two as I could only see two beaks popping over the edge. Anyway she continued to fly in and out all day feeding her babies and not taking any notice of me whatsoever so she mustn’t see me as a threat- Ain’t nature great?

Karen – What you say about your Vr. Hieroglyphica is very true, plants will adjust better to climatic condition when started off younger. I found I could never do any good with Vr hieroglyphica; they would grow but only just. That’s why I tried a batch from seed and they just grew and grew and I have sold all except one as I didn’t have the space for any more and it’s still powering along. As for those couple of pic’s of my concentrica x ‘Burgundy Beauty’ seedlings, what I find interesting is that at certain times of the day the colour seems to look different, especially late in the afternoon when they take on a definite bluish hue which I don’t seem to be able to capture with the camera.

You have posted another nice batch of pic’s and pic No. 4 looks very much like a plant I’ve had for a few years now and is called Neo ‘Lambert’s Pride’ x [‘Charm’ x ‘Cracker Jack’], it’s not one of my crosses and I originally bought it in Bunning’s with the usual generic label stating it was a “Bromeliad”, but it wasn’t until I re-potted it I found a label down in the pot with that name and that’s what I’ve chosen to call it ever since as I can see bits of both parents in it and expect the label is correct. I especially like your pic No.5 and although it’s one I don’t know it appeals to me as it’s something different to the norm. I also like the pic’s you posted in your recent post today, especially the radial red Neo Sweet Dreams X Painted Desert. There seems to be more and more radial reds popping up in seedlings lately, I know I’ve bred a few as well.

Tash – Wow! What an improvement good light will produce with Neoregelias and what I wouldn’t give to have a bit of your climate down here. That shot of the Neoregelia bench in your shade house is just a magnificent kaleidoscope of colour. I know Vrieseas are your first love, but you really do a fantastic job with the Neo’s as well, so keep up the good work and keep posting the pic’s of your plants. Your Till looks at home in its new mount as well, but be careful you don’t get roped into joining the “VOMIT” club. The radial red Neo’s a beaut, what is its name?

Ian – Like you, Acanthostachys strobilacea was in the first lots of seed I ever planted, and like you I found they grew very fast, unlike Vrieseas which were like Guzmanias and the slowest of the lot. I’ll just give you two bits of advice and first is to keep good records of what you cross and the second is to remember that little seedling eventually grow into big plants and you will very soon have a space problem like anyone else that grows seed. Ruthless “culling” is an unfortunate necessity and you will see by the few pic’s I’m posting today just how seedlings can take over if allowed.

Trish – Growing Brom’s and orchids in the same shade house can be a problem, I know as I originally grew both and sooner or later a choice between the two had to be made, however it’s even more complex in your case as you grow brom’s and hubby grows orchids so without staring a domestic just let me say that I’ve grown them both in shade houses and in the yard as well so there is possibly a chance for compromise; and they do go so well together with the water in the vases of the brom’s creating a good healthy environment with well-balanced humidity which the orchids seems to love also. Also I’d like to say that I’ve found that Vrieseas are just as tough as Neo’s and in some cases even tougher when it comes to standing up to weather extremes, at least that’s what I’ve found down here anyway. Also as regards to brom’s being “bottom feeders” I don’t really know what hubby means by that, as both orchids and brom’s will grow on trees and both will benefit from foliar feeding (top feeding) as well as fertilizer in the mix “bottom feeders”, so you see they do have a lot in common. Again like everyone else you have also posted some great pictures of nice plants and please keep up the good work.

Finally a big “Get Well” to Colleen and anyone else on the sick list and no doubt you are all getting enjoyment from all of the postings of late.

I’d better finish as I said it would only be a short visit today so just a few pic’s to encourage Ian in his seed growing endeavors. Pic 1 is where it all starts very innocently and then it grows to Pic’s 2 and 3. Pic 4 is a few of the Acanthostachys I grew from seed and just when you're wondering if you’ve done the right thing or not, out of a batch of your seedlings pops something like Pic 5 which makes it all worthwhile.

All the best, Nev.