Bromeliads for novices and addicts, Jan-Feb 2011

hmm, not really a brilliant comparison now that I see the two pics side by side, will find one with more similar light.

EDIT: the system won't let me post a pic into an edited post, so shall have to do another. sorry!


This message was edited Feb 4, 2011 10:19 AM

Even brighter light still than the original pic, but there's a huge difference in the colour in just a short time. I don't think it's totally happy in its new location, so will find a spot for it that gets a little more shade I think.

Pam

This little cutie was a noid when I got her . It's gotta be a girl because it's pink! lol

And from inside the the shadehouse, inspired by pics I'd seen of the brom house at Nong Nooch Botanic Gardens at Thailand.

The bowl contains Neo. 'Martin' and that's neo mottles around the base.

that looks really good!

Hello everyone, sorry I have been AWOL. I've had a sore back which makes spending time at the computer a bit uncomfortable. Seems to be on the mend, so I will try to respond to all the lovely pics here. Pam, I think the contrast between the two pics is awesome! What a difference. I made a mistake in putting my Alc. 'Silver Plum' out in the sun. It had been in a very bright position in the shade house, then I moved it to late afternoon sun, then out into full sun, but it burnt and bleached almost immediately. Mind you, the temps have been a bit extreme this last week. It'll recover as it grows new leaves, but a bit of a shame, none the less. I like your thailand bowl and little Billys too and the Blanchettianas further up the thread. All good stuff.
Karen, nice Vrieseas there and all the other goodies form the markets. You are getting quite a collection growing.
Wendys place is looking really lovely. I just love that glass urn near the pond. I would love to find something like that to use around here, but I fear it would be smashed by falling gum branches.
Jen, your two recent purchases look lovely too. I'm not familiar with either, which means we have more to add to the swap list. he he.
Theresa, how are you? Hows your broms going?
Bree, how are your broms doing in this hot weather? Are you able to keep them sheltered so they don't get burnt or bleached?
I have been watering them every couple of days for the last week, with just a splash really. It helps to keep the water in the centre fresh and wash off the stamens from the gum flowers. Today I used the jet on the hose to try and flush gum leaves out of the big Alcants, aswell as a few rather large spiders. I also flushed a mouse out from behing a Staghorn Fern. How bizarre. The dogs were watching the place it ran to, for most of the day, and I had to keep shooing them out of the shade house for fear they would knock over pots if the mouse decided to make a run for it. All was well though.
Anyway, off to the markets in the morning, so had better have an early night. I'll see if I can find a Pic of Wendys glass urn.
Sue

Hi Sue. That urn was a freeby I got from someone who was dumping it. Don't know who but we've had it for a few years now. We put frothy frog eggs in there early each season and then feed up the tadpoles until they get big enough to survive the fish in the big pond. Then we just keep some pond weeds growing in there. Sometimes we will put some native fish in there but mostly just weed.

Pam I love the pink billbergias and the bowl on the plinth is lovely. I love to see how different people display their broms.

I got a new guz yesterday. It is called patricia. Johnny doesn't like the flowering guzs and vriseas but he was the one who just had to have it.
Wendy

I moved all my tills onto one frame while Johnny builds me a new area for stock plants. I can't believe how many I have amassed. Several are flowering and even more multiplying.

Wendy

Wendy do you just glue them onto the board? Hi Sue bad backs are the pits aren't they. Hope you're well soon. Hello everyone else. Beautiful plants everyone. Colleen

Sue, I originally put this Alcant. in full sun and burned the poor baby too, hence taking it to the shadehouse and leaving it there for a couple of years or so. It was doing nothing much there, so I figured it was time to take action. Not good about your back, take care of it.

Wendy it looks like a fiddly job attaching all those little babies to their mounts.

baby pimmento...so cute.

Thought you might like to have a look at some of my Broms. Colleen

another

Sue my bil. nutans is coming along, seems much improved with the shadier spot & a bit more water in this heat.
Some of the leaves are quite damaged, would it be better to cut them off or just leave them?
The pups are almost as big as 'mum' in one pot, the other pot is the one that didn't flower & it has just one small pup.

other one

I'm going to try to put some more pics up. It wouldn't let me do it before. Colleen

I don't know what's going on but I can't get any more pics to post. Colleen

Hi Pam & Colleen. Those tillandsias are easy to mount. The grandkids love to help me mount them. It is one of their favourite activities when they sleepover. Even 3yo Emily helps. We use a bit of clear selastic (not sure of spelling) and leave the mount on a table for a couple of days till plant is securely attachd before hanging. Another good way to mount them is with a Unail but sometimes they crack the wood.

We went to the markets this morning and got some new plants but didn't get a chance to take photos. From memory we got Guzmania Sunnytime, another guz????, canistropsis guava, and a box of fireball to finish another fishnet snake spiralled around the post out the back.

Less than 4 weeks now till our BSQ open day.

Wendy

ctmorris- is that pic you posted a wild gossip? look at mine...its in full sun.

No it's Predator. Colleen

anyone know what colour this flowers going to be?

No sorry, Bree, but they both look VERY sick. You'd better send them to me to avoid the rest of your collection becoming infected. :)

Don't listen to Pam, Bree, we all know things get better at my place! You'd better send them here. I'd say your V. 'Gruberi' is going to have yellow flowers, the same as V. ospinae. Great colour on your N. 'Wild Gossip'.
Colleen, your broms are doing wondefully, and you are getting good colour in your predator and ,what looks like Billbergia 'Hallelujah'? I can't believe how full your shade house is. When is John coming to make an extension?
Wendy, I think its spelled (spelt) solastic? I'd never thought of using that for Tillandsias. I usually tie mine on with Fishing line, but am only new to Tillandsias really, so haven't had them for long enough to comment on if it works well yet. You cant go wrong with flowering Guzmanias! Theres alot of people out there who don't like plants with prickles and spikes. Personally, I think they don't know what they're missing out on, although I'm not keen on bromelia balansae.
Theresa, you could trim down the brown leaves if you like, just shape them to a point and you won't even notice them gone. While the weather is warm, you could use a little liquid fertiliser at half strength, (do you get 'Thrive' over there?) to give them a little boost. Also seasol, a plant tonic, is recommended by alot of growers. I love Billbergia nutans when its in a wall pot, or hanging basket, as the flowers are then at eye level. When they are in flower, they always sell well on a market stall.
My back seems to be ok at the moment, so fingers crossed it stays that way, and meanwhile, I'll try not to do anything stupid (very hard for me) like lifting heavy objects or doing lengthy weeding sessions! Meanwhile, I'm off to repot some of Leisas plants that are in need of a refresh. Happy gardening.
Sue
Neo. 'Lamberts Pride'

Wow Sue your LP sure has some colour. I must go and find mine and see if it needs more sun. Don't worry John knows he has to build another SH but he said that he would leave the broms in this one and the other one can be for everything else. lol. Colleen

OH, Wow! That LP is divine!

At Wendy's recently she showed me some coconut balls for air plants. I got some today from Fame Orchids. Put this one up just to photograph. It is larger than the other two.

Karen

Got another crypt from Barry's mother this week. The dark one is my fosteranus (I think that is the name), and the new noid is the pink one. It is very pretty, but was left out in the rain for too long. I hope it will pick up. The 4 pups it had fell off, so I'll pot them separately.

Karen

Sue - I think we get thrive, not sure about seasol.
Have one called maxi crop that is a seaweed based liquid fertilizer.
Strangely I know about it through dog showing.
The kelp is good for boosting pigmentation & many breeders swore by it to ease arthritis...
haven't heard many extolling it's virtues lately & my vet was dubious.
Will have to start planning to bring them inside, it is nice now but frosts can be pretty hard here in winter.
they did ok last winter on the stereo by a north facing window so probably stick to that location.

This message was edited Feb 7, 2011 7:47 PM

Karen they are beautiful. They look like they're moving. Here's my Lambert's Pride Sue. Colleen

Just a group that I thought looked nice. Colleen

Colleen, I love group pics, especially when they are as colourful as yours. Yes, the wavy patterns do seem to cause a bit of an optical illusion.

Kelp is supposed to be good for thyroid too, isn't it?
Karen

Karen we found the hard way that the neos on those balls (coconut husk & fishnet ones) don't do too good unless they are facing upwards. I think it is because they are not in potting mix to get water & nutrients and if they can't hold water in their wells they dry out too quickly. So when mounting them make sure they face upwards so they can hold water. We had to reposition some which didn't look too happy hanging down.

We have a new best friend after our last sale. He kept asking if we had this and that and then offered to bring back some of the ones we didn't have. We've heard that one before so were pleasantly surprised when he turned up again on Saturday afternoon with some plants to swap. He came back again Sunday with puyas and then again this week with a heap of cryptanthus and an enchantment with albomarginata rather than variegation. Sorry I haven't got photos yet.

We have so much potting to do before our open day but we keep getting visitors who stop us working or we have our grandaughter to mind while mum works so we can't get stuck in. She just wants to hop in the spa for a swim and with the heat we've been having it is just too easy to comply.

I am attempting a new creative project over the next couple of days. I have downloaded the instructions and am attempting a nappy cake for a baby shower for my next grandaughter due in about 6 weeks. I saw them at the markets on Sunday and thought I could do one so tomorrow I will go to get all the items required. I promise I will post some photos when completed. Can't wait to get into it.

Wendy

Wendy, thanks for the tip on the balls. That is actually all just one plant, and I just put it on temporarily with wire to take the photo. I think I'll put a pauciflora on one of the balls. Haven't decided what else yet.

Question: Do the pups need roots before putting onto the ball?

The nappy cake sounds great and I can't wait to see what you do. Those things are all the rage now, aren't they.

I have never actually seen a puya plant, but have seen pics, and they are very interesting flowers. I love the Sapphire Tower. I almost got one once but felt I didn't have anywhere to grow it to do it justice. They take many years to flower.

Karen

A newbie from the shops this morning.

Karen

i like Billbergias but there so tall. Hard to prob. up when they have no roots or just been transplanted. Wonder what flower that one has?

I haven't seen any bills in flower. I like this one for its simple green and cream. My bills were all already been potted, so I didn't know they were difficult to pot up. I like broms because they all grow different and make a nice cluster with different colours and textures and shapes.

Karen

thanks gardengal-I only have one and its flowers is similar to this one...

This message was edited Feb 8, 2011 5:28 PM

Here is the one I have. Love the blooms.

Sorry I've ben AWOL for a few days. Had to make a quick trip to Hervey Bay as my Dad is in hospital there. His 91yo body is letting him down. Don't know if outcome will be good or not.

Karen the pups don't need roots to go on the net balls. As they do grow roots they wind themselves through the netting and become permanent attachments. This is a good time of year to attach them as it is peak growing season. I must do a few more.

We raided my son's garden today before we came home and bought all his pups off him. Had the back of the ute so full I had to have our bags on the floor under my legs. I think my bum and one leg is still numb from being cramped and unable to move. Now we have to pot them all up for sale at our open day. Less than 3 weeks to go now.
This is an aechmea wehave had for a while but recently discovered name for. It is pendula eleuth ropetala

after looking at the photo above I think it is a neo not aech. Wonder why I wrote down aech when writing down name.

Wendy