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

bromishy wrote:
Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend, it’s a gorgeous day her today beautiful and sunny with a nice breeze which kept us nice and cool in the garden. I was very excited to discover today but only with the help of me wearing my glasses and zooming in as close as I could with my camera to see all my vriesea seeds finally germinating (it’s been an exact month since I sowed all the seeds). Now the fun begins keeping them alive. Moved them all into the nursery on their own shelf and also moved my other vriesea seedlings onto the same shelf so that they all get better light and airflow etc. Now I am wondering how long before I take the lids off the takeaway containers where my germinating seedlings are growing, how big do they need to be before I take the lids off? I would appreciate some guidance from anyone who knows what next to do, at the moment I am waiting as it is definitely too early as not all of the seeds have germinated yet (they have only just started to) and I presume they need to be way more established to be able to survive natures everyday elements like sun, wind, rain, bugs etc…..

Spent the remainder of the day potting up recent purchases which I will post some pics of today and went around and gave all my broms a good drenching and a bit of a clean-up.

Joe spent the day re-potting some of his orchids and tending to his orchid seedlings which appear to be doing well as growing.

Hi Shirley thanks for posting pic of Longiflorum, what beautiful colouring it has when it is in flower. I noticed the one I have its flower is starting to change from cream to soft pink so I am keeping an eye on it to see what it does so I can take a picture. Glad to hear you liked my Neo Ink Spots, I can’t wait for it to grow and produce some pups as it would be nice to have them scattered around the garden as they spots are very striking because they have a deep purple tone in them which I adore. I just realised today when walking through the garden that I have Neo Pink River, Red River and Ice White River, but that I am still chasing Running River lol. Are there any other Rivers out there that I should be chasing? Really liked your Pics of Neo Manoa Beauty and Old Love Letters, I will one day look out for Old Love Letters when they time is right and I am not spending all my money on vrieseas lol.

Hi Bree I am glad to hear you really liked Amazing Grace and Cane Fire, I wish mine would hurry up and pup so I could send you some but unfortunately I am still waiting patiently. Have you seen Purple Cane Fire it is really nice and one I want to add to my collection at some stage, plus the fact that purple is my favourite color. Regarding your question re Neo Midnight, it is a medium sized grower. Bree I also have Neo Shelldance and purchased a couple because I liked them that much, I suppose they do not hold as much water in the centre because of the way their leaves twist and turn which in turn reduces the centre area compared to other Neo’s, that’s my guess for the reason why as silly as it might sound lol.

Hi Nev sorry to hear about your dreaded computer problems, hope you get it working again soon as we miss hearing from you and seeing all the beautiful pics you post. Yeah Nev lol I think I did burn out me keyboard the other day typing that many threads in one day, it was nice though having the time to sit and type a thread and not rush getting it done before it gets too late like normally in the week as it does take a bit to type and post what you want but I suppose I am a bit of a chatterbox so I do not make it any easier for myself. Nev luved your idea regarding using a length of plastic guttering below my proposed hanging pup pots so the fertiliser does not drop onto the mature bromeliads below but instead run the fertiliser to the end of the garden and reuse it elsewhere, and to paint the guttering green so that it blends in with nature, you are so full of great ideas Nev and I appreciate you coming up with such a fantastic idea that I reckon we will probably end up doing. Thanks for the additional info on Neo Cliff Siverd too. Nev I will D-Mail you at some stage and send you through some cultural tips on Gingers.

Hi Sue thanks heaps for the tip regarding my proposed pup hanging area and re-using the fertiliser for my garden. Sorry to hear you found more sun damaged broms, at least you know you can still salvage pups from them if you keep them and eventually new leaves will replace the old and they will look beautiful again. I had a friend give me a bunch of broms what got burnt with fertiliser and they looked shocking at the time but over the last couple of months they have grown some now leaves and are starting to look better, in six months’ time they should hopefully be back to normal and producing pups by then. Thanks Sue, yes I am feeling much better thanks and back to work and busy as usual. Glad to hear you like Heliconas and Gingers and have them in your garden, they like a lot of water and chock poo and blood & bone. I have a lot of composted paper, leaf matter around mine and they really luv it. Thanks Sue for the offer of a Neo Amazing Grace Dark Form for when you get some pups, I would very much appreciate one then if you can spare one and hopefully by then I will have pups of my own to share. Sue thanks for posting pics of Neo Amazing Grace Dark Form, really luv that one.

Hi Colleen so great to hear from you , I liked your brom pics and hearing about your friends beautiful garden, your garden sounds like my garden, a bit of everything here and there, a different surprise around every turn. Colleen great idea with soaking the coat hangers and twisting them into hangers for pots I never thought of that.

Hi Ian thanks for posting pics of the hangers you make, they are great and we are going to look at making a batch of them in prep for hanging my pups on the fence. I am in the process of looking at stocking up on these hangers and getting enough smaller pots they I have them stored and ready for when I need them.

Does anyone know of a really good supplier to buy plastic pots in bulk?

Hi Jen feeling much better thanks, pleased to hear you like my new brom garden bed and Neo Amazing Grace and Cane Fire. Really like your Amazing Grace Dark Form, the bands are so much stronger than the usual. Thanks for sharing beautiful pic of your beautiful boogie board rider, how gifted are they when they just take up a hobby of their own without pressuring them into learning to do something they do not want to do. My Jack Russell Lucy learnt by herself and I was just there to check she does not drown, she also treadmills by herself or with me which is great because like me she needs the exercise lol. Jen I really liked your Pic 5 Neo Blast doing strange things, I really luv the white, something different. Jen that Frogmoth Pic is Amazing!

Hi Wendy thanks heaps for posting pics of the multi hangers; they would be very useful in our nursery. Really liked your pics of Dykia Naked Lady what gorgeous flowers they are. Wendy really liked pics of your nursery, the wonderful hangers and your NEWSFLASH broms flowering, how beautiful everything looks. You guys sound like you have been very busy indeed in the garden potting up broms, how quickly does’ the day go undertaking such a simple but enjoyable task.

Hi Karen, Tash, Chrissy – how are you guys, hope you are all well we miss hearing from you all :-)

Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 Vr. Seedings Germinating (you will need to look real close lol)
Pic 2 Vr. Snow of Mauna Kea
Pic 3 Vr. Dark Knight
Pic 4 Neo. McWilliamsii x Blood Streak
Pic 5 Neo Black Out