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

weed_woman wrote:
good morning all, so much is going on!
Tash, the seedling house looks great. Although i see quite a few broms in there already! I hope it does the trick and makes it easier for you to get the little babies through summer. The veranda idea looks great too. Does the Adenium need shade up there? It looks a mass of flowers. Your hippy looks great. i have about three varieties, and I'm sure one is the same. I hve a mass of the blood red ones in front of the laundry tub now, so I can't even see the dishes!
The Chantinii flower is awesome, one of my favourites. speaking of Chantiniii, i just tied one in the tree yesterday, as it has two budding pups coming, and the old mum was looking tatty fter winter, so I put it where my other, dark chantinii is, and went well over winter, so they can keep each other company.
Trish, you have some lovely collectable vrieseas there! very nice. thanks for the tips on the metho spray. I might give it a go on the old Mums in a couple of weeks, as it would have to be kinder to the environment than the spray i have been using.
ian, I am not familiar with mushroom scale or sensitive weed. Any chance of a photo? Different pests for different climates eh? I like your Neo. 'Macho'
Shirley, I find that removing the first pup off a Vriesea can induce the plant to produce more. I originally had one pup on V. heiroglyphica, and after removal, it produced two more. I guess its a case of what do you want? In my case, more pups means more pots, needing more space e.t.c. All good if I can sell them, but starting to plant them out now, to form clumps. then i can cut off a pup if required.
Red River. I bought one called Neo. 'Running Red River' and it seems to be the same as 'Red River'. I notice only 'Red River' is in the BSI photo index, so maybe the name was shortened for registration. Anyway, its a lovely plant.
Wendy, GGM! congratulations! Sorry to hear you have those fungus gnats too. They are a pain. I have got so many that I have to pot up. i suppose I should be doing that instead of this! I am interested to see the flower on your A. 'Freckles' as mine has never flowered. Also, Is A. 'Nigre' a nudicaulis type?
Anyway, better go have breaky and get my day in order. I've started washing the windows, which is a thankless task, but I do like to see out! Sorry to hear you Qlders had those gusty winds yesterday. We had a drop of rain overnight, but just one! At least it freshens the morning up.
Everyone cross your fingers and plead with mother nature for some nice warm, calm weather and some light, overnight showers. maybe she'll listen to us? We could trade her some bromeliads?
Sue
Neo. 'Chirippo' (one of jans)