Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for novices and addicts September 2013, 5 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Hasn't the weather been great? Yesterday was just like early summer; real shorts and singlet weather and a real pleasure to be able to get out and enjoy working in the garden. As our show gets closer I seem to have more things I find I haven't yet got ready, soon it will be panic stations again just like it is every year, but then everything seems to turn out alright in the end. It's quite interesting, but last year I worked out it took us about three and a half hours to set up the show and the main display (that wasn't counting registering entries) and on the Sunday late afternoon it took exactly thirty three minutes to dismantle everything........ If only we could put it all together that quick.

Tash – Regarding the “stabbing of punching “ of plants to prompt them into pup production, I remembered there were a couple of pretty good discussions about this very subject on the old “Garden Web Bromeliad Forum” and another on the original “Bromeliad and Air Plant Forum” (now called the Bromeliad Forum). I'm about halfway through downloading and saving it all to a Word document which I'll send to you when it's finished. I'm sure you'll find it quite interesting to hear the views of other growers from countries other than Australia. (Anyone else who wants a copy, just give me a shout and I'll Email you one too).

You had me going there for a while when you spoke about that “Dreamtime” grex; it sent me off to the BCR madly looking for all of these great plants and all I could turn up was one; Neo.'Dreamtime. This of course was a plant from the “Aussie Dream” grex made by Bob Larnach See: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&i... and I just thought oh well, Tash's just had a touch too much sun and is “rambling”, and that's the reason I can't find any others. When I re-read what you had written and saw you had mentioned “Jack” I immediately realised it wasn't Neo's I should be looking for but Vrieseas. “WOW”! What a surprise, hasn't the old master turned out some beauties in this little lot? His babies just seem to be getting better and better.

I've only ever used the cinnamon treatment once, and that was on a container of little seedlings which had developed a type of fungus, it didn't work; but then neither did any of the other fungicides I tried so maybe that wasn't a fair trial. Has anyone else here used the cinnamon powder as a fungicide, and what sort of results did you get? Maybe this is another item I should be adding to my every growing list of “Cultural Tips”.

Just looking at the pic's of your beautiful Vrieseas and thought that your local pastry cook must be nearly be running out of “plastic pie delivery trays by now”. Down here the manufactures of the trays also went to the red colour to make them more obvious and lees likely to be "borrowed", but they, (like milk crates) still seem to keep walking into people's back yards to be used for another purpose.

Sue – I've now seen several Ae. Caudata x Recurvata plants belonging to various growers as well as the reverse cross of Ae Aechmea x Caudata and they all seem to have a similar form to yours and if I was a betting man I'd bet that's what yours is. The flowers on the ones I've seen seem to range from a pale mauve right through to pale apricot in colour.

As for the second plant of your pic's; from what I've seen of Ae. apocalyptica, the flowers appear more spaced out than those on your plant. Your plant looks more like one I have called Ae 'Wyee'; but even that has a question mark hanging over its name, (see Pic.1). This plant was grown in a low light area so take this into account when comparing it with yours which seems to have been grown in higher light.

Cody – Sorry you both are a bit unwell. Oh dear, a tooth problem; looks like a trip to the dentist is on the schedule for you because what you describe as “an infection under the tooth” will probably need antibiotics before it turns into an abscess, as these can get quite painful. It sometimes helps a bit to hold a cloth covered (just warm) hot water bottle against the side of your face for a bit of pain relief along with a couple of paracetamol tablets if you can take them. It won't fix the problem but might give you some relief. Paracetamol will also help to lower Alex's high temperature. It is a good drug, but like any, must be taken as directed.

With your “Guzzie”, although it has a little way to go yet, once the tips of the flowers start to die, remove the flower spike (we'll tell you how when the time comes). This will allow more nourishment from the Mother plant to feed the pups and they will really start to grow faster. I also notice your plant is sitting in a saucer; make sure it's not sitting in water as this can start rot. It's a good idea to put some gravel in the saucer so the plant sits on the gravel and not directly in the water. The pups look great and look bigger every time we see them, so keep up the good work.

Ian – You won't have a problem getting the contraceptive pill; just borrow a lady's handbag, sling it over your shoulder, put one hand on your hip and breeze into the doctor's surgery with an exaggerated hip swing, and say, “Hi sweetie (with a lisp if possible), I would just like some of those little 'pillie thingies' to stop me having babies". One of two things will happen, you'll get your prescription or get chucked out!

Ian, I thought you gave up fagging; what's the ash tray with the cigarette butt in the foreground of the pic. Have you fallen off the waggon? If so, just try again, you'll beat it in the end.

Your pic's 2 and 5 certainly prove that the camera really does lie; just like growing plants, what a difference a change in light makes; and what about Pic 4, how I'd like to have a “blank canvas” like that to work on.

Trish – Spiders are pretty much like any other venomous creature, all you have to do is to leave them alone and stay out of their way and they won't harm you. Just remember you always have the upper hand as you are many times larger than they are so you are in control. Just remember they are here for a reason (eating other insects which may harm your brom's) and should be allowed to do their thing. When they are in the house it's usually just a sign of a change in the weather or somewhere protected to hatch out their eggs in a safe environment. (I'll bet they don't go to your place again though Ha! Ha!). Once they have done what they are there for they usually move on and won't freak you out any more.

Breeindy – Hi – good to see you dropping in again They're two nice plants in your pic's Neo. 'Ring Leader' has always been a favourite of mine. Yes the albinos are beautiful looking plants, it's just a shame that they can't survive without being attached to Mum.

That's it for today and the pics are, firstly Ae.'Wyee'? for Sue to compare with her flower, Pic's.2,3 and 4 are pic's of some of my old mate's Dendrobiums I spoke about a while back and Pic.5 demonstrates what you do when you're really, really thirsty.

All the best, Nev.