Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads For Novices and Addicts - October 2014, 1 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – Sorry I didn’t get around to posting yesterday, but I thought you were probably still wading through the previous “book” I posted the day before What a fantastic day it was yesterday, the complete opposite to the day before. I spent most of the morning picking up plants that had been blown over with surprisingly little damage except a few broken leaves. In the afternoon I was able to get a bit more potting done, so all in all yesterday was a pretty productive day.

I hope anyone who was in the path of those horrific winds and rain didn’t sustain too much damage before it fortunately went out to sea. They say now it was a “mini-tornado”; so I can imagine more clearly what our Nth. Queensland members have to put up with, only on a much larger scale.

This morning is very overcast and it’s been raining solid since about 4.30am, so not promising to be much of a day again.

Brian – Firstly let me say that I don’t think any of your question are “stupid”; what’s more if we don’t ask questions how will we learn?

In answer to your first question, obviously many plants will perform better if they have what’s commonly called “bottom heart” and I don’t imagine Desert Roses would be any different.

When I had orchids many years ago in a colder area south of here, I built a fiberglass house 30’ x 20’ and insulated the inside with poly film. I installed an old coke fed slow combustion stove outside which heated water which re-circulated through pipes beneath the benches and then back into the cold water feeder tank above the stove. As well as heating beneath the benches it heated the whole area sufficiently to remove the chill from the cold frosty nights we were plagued with.

The more tropical orchids and other plants loved it. It was cheap to run as the water was free, and as I worked at the steelworks, I could buy “Peanut Coke” for about one pound a truck load (supply your own truck). Remember these were the “good old days”. To run the same system today would cost an “arm and a leg”, and that’s why when I started in brom’s I said if they wouldn’t grow outside beneath shade cloth, then I wouldn’t grow them at all. True there’s a lot of brom’s I can’t grow, but there’s a lot I can, and I’m happy to continue the way I’m going.

As for question two, the answer is yes, it is a combination of age, stability and size. With a collection of over two thousand plants, I have to continually re-pot throughout the year to try and keep on top of things. I find that by growing brom’s in a pot that’s slightly smaller than other growers use, my pups form roots much quicker and grow better.

Remember these plants are epiphytes so they just want the pot to support them and aren’t wholly dependent on the mixture within as long as they get a bit of nourishment via the foliage. The content of the pot could be anything at all from inert polystyrene, Skoria, broken bricks, charcoal, bark or a mixture of any or all of these as well as of the hundreds of potting mixes available as long as they are open and free draining. Once my plants reach about two years old they are almost out growing the pot, hanging over the side and becoming more inclined to topple over, especially the Billbergias. So in answer to your questions, (age, stability and size) the answer is yes, yes, yes to all of these.

The plant in Pic.5 is Neo.’Purple Star’; a very nice brom but difficult to capture the true colour with a camera.

In your pictures of the Botanical Gardens, that’s one hell of a plant of Ae. pineliana in Pic.2; it’s massive. Unfortunately it isn’t getting enough light to show off its beautiful pink tones and unless it’s moved, will always continue to be an unattractive plant. Unfortunately I can’t read the name on the beautiful burgundy coloured plant in Pic.3, it’s probably an Alcantarea but it could also be a Vriesea and as I’m not really up on these genera I can’t be sure. It’s certainly an eye catching plant though and we’d know what it was for sure if the flowers were open.

Trish – I’d just like to add a little to your info about the “Cockatoo” series of Vrieseas; there is also a very attractive dark purple form as well and obviously called Vr. ‘Purple Cockatoo’.

You ask about hybridising; firstly let me say that I’m certainly no “Guru” and am still very much feeling the way myself. I don’t remember if I sent you a copy of a little book I once wrote on sowing brom seed and hybridising but the hybridising process for Neo’s is explained in there. However, if I had known then what I know now, I would have started with Billbergias as they are much easier to work with and if you’re interested I have some very good pictures which explain this which I got from a friend in South Africa.

The brom meeting you’re going to on the weekend sounds like a very good informal type of meeting. A lot of groups start off this way where they use a different member’s home as a meeting place each month and it works well as it cuts down on expenses but you also get to see everyone’s gardens and pick up lots of new ideas. Unfortunately our society has grown now to the size where this can’t work as we have too many members (50+) and we now have to meet in a hall large enough to accommodate us. It’s still a nice friendly society but like all things when they get large, you don’t have the same family atmosphere and camaraderie.

At last I know what Vr. Altodaserrae looks like; for some reason I was looking on the BCR and couldn’t find it so I immediately thought, “another NOID”. For some reason it didn’t occur to me to check the species Photo Index on the FCBS site, and when I did, there it is, and what an interesting looking plant it is.

Like you say it does have a large inflorescence like Vr. philippo-coburgii but unfortunately I can’t post the pic as they are all copyrighted but you can find it in the FCBS species section at No.2 on the list. Please put me down for a pup when you get a spare.

Regarding Joe’s orchids and your brom’s, I once knew a family where the husband was into orchids, his wife was into ferns and the son was into brom’s. They had a huge shade cloth/fibre-glass growing house and grew them all together as a mixed collection, and what a picture they made. The last time I was there many years ago, his wife was talking about adding Miniature Crotons to the collection as well. Unfortunately I lost track of them but I have heard they moved to another area on a five acre block but I couldn’t get an address, so my mind now “boggles” when I think about what they may have achieved by now.

Teresa – Bad luck you missed out on the variegated Bill. nutans, but as they say; these plants are like trains, “there’s always another one coming”.

Diane – As for printing off those notes I posted, just copy them and paste to a blank page in Microsoft Word and then print it off from there.

As for getting things confused, well we all do that from time to time, but if you don’t understand something just ask and I’m sure you’ll get an answer from one of us. If it’s any consolation, I’ve been growing brom’s for quite a few years now and some of the names regularly confuse me too.

As for your comment about Shirley’s photo’s, yes she has a good camera, but more importantly she has good plants and grows them well. The paddle on your Vriesea is slowly starting to spread its wings so to speak, and when they are fully spread you will see the first of the little flowers tart to appear.

I don’t know the name of the spotted Neo in your pic’s as there are many around with similar colours, but it’s nicely marked and certainly a vigorous looking plant judging by the way it’s taking over that tree trunk.

Shirley – That was a quick visit, but at least we know you’re still about and will be back when time permits.

That’s it once again and I’ll finish with a mixed bag today; firstly a third generation hybrid of Jack Koning’s Vr. Fosteriana ‘White Bands’ F3, Pic.2 is Ae. pineliana (about two feet high) and a much larger plant than Ae. pineliana minuta. This was taken in winter before it coloured up. Pic.3 is a little Neo. miniature species called Neo. ampullacea Rubra (Large Firm), Pic.4 is the nice pendulous inflorescence of Bill. sanderiana and Pic.5 is an insect pest called a “Katydid” which causes similar damage to a Grass Hopper but you won’t see it during the day as they are only active at night They can be just as destructive as Grass Hoppers and especially love Vrieseas.

All the best, Nev.