Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for novices & addicts, October 2012, 1 by ianperry

ianperry wrote:
Hi all, another dry and windy day. It is surprising just how much the wind dries out the plants
Nev my visitor will be selling plants on Sunday at our local markets and I will see her then. She probibly will be at our monthly meeting in the afternoon. If I remember correctly she mixes metho and ammonia 50/50 and either sprays or uses a paint brush. I will check this out also.
I did a short course at an Ag Colledge in 81 and was taught that Nitrogen feeds leaves that suck the other nutrients out of the soil, Phosphorus feeds the roots to give stability of the plant and also help with feeding and Potassium feeds the fruits, nuts and seeds.. I have always leaned heavily on the fruits and seeds as a food source and have fertilised accordingly. I have also used Epsom salts especially around citrus trees. Being a magnesium fertiliser and only required in minor doses it would probibly not do much good with Broms, I used it about a year ago mixed with potassium and it didn't seem to hurt anything. I don't know if it helped because I did not have the correct light levels. It seems that there needs to be a balance between light and fertiliser and moisture.
I will have to have another look at my Nudicaulis as I seem to have several different ones, at least 4 varigated, some with stripes and 1 or 2 with spots and dots.

Sue, I can relate to scale on old plants, maybe sick plants also. I have been finding mushroom scale on some of my broms, all have flowered and seem to be giving up living, yet most are producing at least 1 pup. I have tried successfully painting the scale with an artists paint brush. Vinegar will also remove the white gunk from between the leaves. Not really between but where leaves touch and moisture runs down. Brown vinegar and salt will kill sensitive weed, a pest around here. I think that plants are a bit like people, when they are healthy they can fight off bugs more easily. In agriculture it is the sicker plant that starts of catching and then spreading disease.