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

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Well here it is the weekend once again and today's our Annual Christmas Party for the Bromeliad Society, no meeting, just a time for chatting with like minded brom growers. We had storms and very heavy rain for most of last night and this morning is dark and very overcast. Not at all looking like the forecast hot 40 degree Saturday.

Sue – Please pass on my belated happy birthday wishes to Bill, and tell him I said he's still only a “boy “. From what you say about Hipeastriums, I might have a chance of growing these “Blood Lilies”, “Pom Pom” flowers or whatever you want to call them as Hippeastriums thrive down here. Although I've never grown them, my neighbour across the road had a few big clumps in her garden and they flower every year.

Back to tissue cultured plants once more; when I was in hospital after an operation a friend brought me in a Vr Splendriet with the flower spike only half grown as a get well gift. Unfortunately when the spike was about three quarter size it started to twist and go all over the place. When it eventually flowered, the flowers were all deformed as well with some never even opening while others just went brown and fell off. I can tell you I was most disappointed and was almost ready to toss it, but had second thoughts and just put it down the back with all of the old Neo. mother plants.

Surprise!, surprise!, the following year a new pup grew very well and flowered without any sign of deformity and it has done so each year since. So in this case the deformity was just temporary, and I suspect was caused by the tissue culturing or the gassing/spraying to promote flowering or a combination of the two.

I wasn't so lucky with beautiful big Aechmea smooth leafed unnamed hybrid I bought from K Mart when they had a nursery section in their store down here some years ago. It was in full flower and lasted for months and later put up two beautiful big pups which grew into adult plants and later put up these massive pups themselves, but never a sign of a single flower on any of them. I moved them all around the yard in different light intensities and still no sign of flowers.

A friend gave me a little bottle of “Ethephon” which is what a lot of the nurseries use to initiate flowers on tissue cultured plants and he said to just put a drop or two into the cup and it would initiate flowering in a few months. I was tempted to use it but thought if I have to go to all this fiddling about, is it really worth it, and after all, you're still getting an artificial result anyway so it's still locked up in the poison cupboard.

As I bought the original plant almost ten years ago and last year when there were still no flowers, the whole lot (seven nice big healthy plants) all went into the “green bin” and that was the end to my purchasing of tissue cultured plants.

Nice garden shots Sue, but the Bill. Hallelujah still takes the prize and in my opinion (for what it's worth), it will have to be an extraordinary Billbergia hybrid that knocks this beauty into second place.

Wendy – Thanks for the offer of the stamps; I don't mind giving away plants and seeds to other people as long as I'm not out of pocket with postage. With swaps it's OK as both parties have to pay postage. I know it sound a bit “lousy” when I ask for a stamp self addressed envelope to send some seeds, but when you have to send seed or pups to twenty or more people just as a gift and not a swap, it all eats into the finances, and unfortunately “Julia” won't give me a “bromeliad allowance” on my pension to compensate for it.

I don't remember just what the next lot of pups were I wanted to swap with you and I'll have to look and see if I wrote them down anywhere. I seem to remember starting a file on them on this computer, but it's just remembering what I named the file that's the problem. Oh! ain't old age fun!

That's the first time I've seen pic's of plants on barbed wire close enough to make out the detail. I seem to remember Jack once saying he used this method to hang plants from when he built his new shade house at Tamera's place, but he only ever posted “long shots” of it.

Wow! Your Portea seedlings are powering along aren't they, what are you feeding them? Mine are only half that size, but then with a cooler climate and no feeding I suppose that's to be expected. I like Johnny's idea with the Tree Fern log, it looks great. I have one about the same size which I've been wondering what to do with for some time now, but now I know what I'll do.

Ian – That little bit of extra information makes a big difference; here's me thinking you had discovered a rare new species and getting all excited when ll the time it was one of the most popular and commonly grown Bill's of all times. I don't know how many of you have ever looked closely at the beauty of a Bill. Nutans flower, I know they don't last long but the colours are truly amazing (Pic 1).

Neo 'Wild Rabbit' is a Chester Skotak hybrid and just one of many which have since been named and are from a cross using Neo (carolinae variegated x Hannibal Lector) as a parent and in this case it's crossed with Neo. 'Tiger Cub'. To see others, go to http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?fields=Parents&id=...

You say you are wondering how “Puyas” would grow there; I'm told they are very easy to grow and if you are that way inclined it's probably worth giving them a go.

Shirley – I never though about the possibility of your NOID being an Aechmea. I know there are some lovely variegated cultivated varieties such as Ae.Mend and Ae. Rodco to name just two which came originally from Ae Lueddemanniana and they are easy enough to tell as they all have similar flowers to Lueddemanniana. So when your plant eventually flowers, check the flower to see. It's a very nicely coloured plant whether it's a Neo or an Aechmea and if you ever get sick of growing it, you can always send it down here.

A “Get Well” wish to anyone on the sick list and also good morning to the “lurkers” who aren't posting. Hurry back, we need your input to keep this forum working properly, don't let it die.

Finally can someone please start a new thread for December as this one's getting pretty big now and I don't know how to do it.

A few pic's to finish with, firstly lets admire the beauty in this flower of Bill Nutans schimperiana (Pic.1) Pic 2 shows just what you may find in a brom garden when it's ”let go”. I had forgotten I even planted an old mother of Ae. Pectinata here few years ago, and still wouldn't have remembered it had it not been for the bright red foliage peeping through among the overgrown the Neo's . Pic.3 is one you don't often see any more; Ae Bromeliifolia Albobracteata is not everyone's “cup of tea” but I think there is still something attractive about the sculptural shape of it. Pic 4 shows one of the Neo. Seedling “Culls” in the front garden while Pic 5 shows another Neo seedling “cull” beneath the Golden Robinia tree.

All the best, Nev.