Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR MARCH ....2014, 1 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone - Not much happening here, just a bit more plant rearranging and tidying up yesterday morning and a bit of potting in the afternoon. Today of course is Thursday so there'll be nothing done here as it's Museum Day, and my day to mingle and exchange bull...t and solve the world's problems with my old mates.

Theresa – I saw on the news where the cyclone was heading off in your direction, so let's hope if fizzles out before it gets there. Anyway, you'd better just batten down the hatches anyway, in case it decides to pay you a visit.

Ian – I've often heard it said that an accumulation of leaf litter in the centre of plants will cause rot, however I'm not fully convinced that this alone is the problem as this happens continually when plants are growing in habitat without causing any detriment. In fact it's the breaking down of this leaf litter and the combination of this, small animal and bird droppings with the water in the cup that makes the “soup” which acts as an on-going weak liquid fertiliser which helps sustain the plants. But then to look at the whole picture and take every thing in context, most of these plants are growing on trees or rocks in habitat and with this comes abundant air circulation around the plants and more importantly, the roots; and I think with domestically grown plants it's this lack of sufficient circulating air which causes most of the problems when we grow these plants under our backyard conditions.

I know that few years back I had a run of rot in some Vrieseas (about nine plants), they were all on the same bench and were badly overcrowded as I had just “parked” them there temporarily (and as we know these temporary things often last much longer) until I decided what to do with them.

Once I saw what had happened, I relocated them to an area with good space between them to aid air circulation, the problem ceased and no more rot started. It's because of this that I'm thoroughly convinced its more a matter of insufficient air circulation than leaf litter and other debris in the cup that's the cause of a lot of rot; in fact these particular Vrieseas were under shade cloth and had no debris in the centre anyway, so that obviously wasn't the cause in their case.

The size of the pot is also very relevant, as large pots take a long time to dry out and as you say, yours were in 12” pots which are pretty large as far as the usual size for brom's go. Generally speaking I have found that by under potting (using a smaller size pot than normal) my plants are growing better and look healthier than they ever have before, but the down side is that they are prone to toppling over unless simple steps are taken to rectify this.

To give an example, I have two Alcantareas just sitting in the garden on top of the ground among other plants and they are both about 2' 0” high and 2' 6” in diameter. They are still in the 5” pots they started out in. I also have an Ae. 'Forest Fire' seedling (which is a large growing type like a Blanchetiana) and that is about 30” high and it's growing in the original 4” pot it was last potted in a few years back. Although these plants don't have optimum air circulation, they do have the ability to dry out and not stay waterlogged, and because of the small size of the pot they don't require quite as much air circulation.

A friend of mine has the exact same type of Alcantarea and the same size (we both bought our plants at the same time) in a fancy glazed pot of about 15” diameter and it's growing in a very open potting mix. It's also growing well, even with a centre full of leaf litter, however it's the centre piece of her garden and is sitting up on bricks where it gets good air movement and optimum light all day. As I see it, the main requirement is good air circulation and the ability to dry out a bit and not stay waterlogged between waterings.

That's a nice group of Ananas plants you've posted Ian, unfortunately they don't like growing in my area. With your last two pic's of the rot, you've either posted the picture of “Rot in base “ twice or the D.G. Gremlin is playing games again.

Wendy – I did do some more crosses of mini's but I didn't sow the seed as by that time I had run out of places to put them; in fact I may still have some stored in the fridge, if I can find some I'll send some up to you and Johnny.

As for the plant I mentioned as Vr. 'Gemma', I've just remembered that the name was changed to 'Gemma Gold', as once again there were two Vr Gemmas listed on the BCR and both were different plants. (See Pic.1).

I seem to remember something about a Vriesea called “Goldfish”, I think it was brought into a meeting once as a “Show and Tell” plant. From what I remember I think it was a smallish type plant with a pendulous inflorescence and I also think it was a species. I could be wrong as the old memory ain't what it used to be.

From my past ambulance work I remember that usually when people have a fall it is more often than not “a three point contact” which results in three separate injuries of varying severity. Obviously, the most painful injury is the one you feel the most and it often conceals the other less serious injuries and it's not until things start to heal that the others may become apparent and this is probably why you didn't feel the sore hip at the time.

Looking at the leaf marking on your Vriesea pup, I had a similar thing happened to a Neo pup a few years back which got me all excited, but unfortunately as the pup grew, the markings disappeared.

I like the colour of your Neo seedling, and the pedigree of Neo.'Tangerine' x 'Scarlet Charlotte' has possibilities. Sue may have been a bit hasty dumping her plants as yours is already showing nice colour. Personally, I wouldn't cull any until you see what the next generation of pups brings, you may just be pleasantly surprised. Some people pick a plant on the colour, some pick them on the shape, but if you can get a plant with good colour and shape, well that's a bonus and you may just find that the next generation will show an improvement in shape.

Boy some of these concrete garden animals and reptiles do look realistic don't they? That one looks like an Indonesian Komodo Dragon like we saw when we were in Bali. I hope they don't frighten away the live birds and animals who might visit; although they could solve any future rat problems. As Johnny has found out, some of these things can be possible “hernia material” when you feel the weight of them.

Speaking of imitation lizards let me relate what happened to the lady in the house over the back fence from our place. She had a type of plastic solar water heating device installed across one side of her roof to heat water for her swimming pool. One morning when she came out there was water squirting up like little fountains from everywhere, the reason being the white cockatoos had been having a chew. She tracked down a company who specialised in animal and bird deterrents and they suggested a couple of rather large imitation soft flexible plastic life like looking Goannas. The very next afternoon I was in the yard and heard a commotion and looked up to see a group of cockies with one on each end having a tug-of-war with these new toys. I don't think the neighbour was very happy but I couldn't stop laughing at the sight.

I'll finish today with just one picture, Vriesea 'Gemma Gold'

All the best, Nev.