Bromeliad for the novice and Addict for mar-Apr 2011

Hi everyone,

Nice pic's Wendy and Pam.

Here's some more Nid's
Nid. campos-portoi

Nid Innocentii purpurea

Nid. Miranda (Pic is not my plant, but I do have it)

Nid. Ruby Lee

And the last one is Nid Innocentii var. lineatum.

All the best, Nev.

I've been reading Nev's book on BROMELIADS FROM SEED TO FLOWER. The pictures have been very helpful so I know what I am looking for. I have been trying to get seed from plants too far gone but now I know what to look for. This morning I went out and the first plant I found which looked promising, I pulled three full seed pods out. It was one of our favourites called Narelle's Joy. I squeezed lots of seed onto a paper towel. Tomorrow I will plant them in some seed raising mixture. Narelle's Joy is a lovely Alan Freeman variegated hybrid as you can see here, but I know that we will not get variegated seedlings from it but I am hoping that there might be one or two with some variegation.

Next lesson will be cross pollinating a couple then collecting the seeds about 3 weeks later. I'll have nursery and kindergaten areas filled like yours soon Nev. I'm glad I "met" you ...... I have learned so much in just a couple weeks talking to you. Thanks heaps.

Wendy

Nev, I always get confused over which innocentii is lineatum and which is striatum. I have ready that lineatum looks almost white because of all the fine white lines. like this one.

Mid last year I had this plant which looked like all the other longiflorums but when the others all went red in the middle this one stayed almost completely white. I posted a photo on this forum asking if anyone else had a longiflorum which didn't colour up and one of our members on this forum later identified it for me from photos she had taken on a trip to Germany. It was in a group of photos taken in a university arborium. It is nidularium innocentii var paxianum. Sue this plant now has about 4-5 good sized pups on it. Do you want one for "Leisa's memorial garden". Jen got the first pup it had in memory of Leisa. I have plated it in a large square tub and have it beside one of the posts. I can't wait to see what it will look like with multiple heads next year.

Wendy

sorry eveyone looking back over my posts tonight there are typing errors everywhere. I think the batteries in my wireless keyboard are going flat again. That's my excuse anyway.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Join the club, as I get confused between lineatum and striatum also. I even had a "so called" expert tell me which was which from pic's, and next time he saw the pic's I got a different answer so ??????????

With Narelle's Joy, I'm sorry to say, "don't get your hopes up". Pretty well all seed from albo-marginarted plants will give albino seedlings which will die in a few weeks. Sometimes there is the possibility of a couple of plain green ones also, which never seem to amount to much. I was told this by a couple of expert hybridizers quite a while back and tried sowing the seed anyway. Guess what? Albino seedlings.....lots of them. It's something to do with the genetics.

The seedlings from a variegated plant on the other hand are OK but just not the albo-marginated ones.

All the best, Nev.

thanks for that advice Nev. I think I'll just dump those seeds and go looking again tomorrow. If I was successfull in finding seed today I can do it again tomorrow and follow through with the next step of sowing that seed.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

It seems that I may have given you a "bum steer". When I looked at the pic of Narelle's Joy, it was the thumb nail pic I looked at and it appeared to me that the plants was clearly albo-marginated.

After I had posted the comment I viewed it again, this time in the larger size and I then saw there were other variegations in it as well as the albo-marginated leaf edges. So please ignore my previous advice and give a bit of seed a try. As you said initially, you probably may not get variegated plants, but who knows for sure.

Give them a try as you've "gotta be init to winit".

Below are a few pic's from a batch of my variegated seedlings from a cross which turned out to be a real identification nightmare.
Firstly the seed parent.

A few of the selected seedlings showing variegation

3" pot size

more 3" pot size

3" pot size showing different colours

More 3" pot size showing colour

Coloured up 1

Coloured up 2

Coloured up 3

Coloured up 4

Part of the group showing the variation in colour

I think that all the different colours you get are what makes it so interesting, and I wonder what I'll get out of this little lot. A lot of rubbish I know, but perhaps a few good ones as well.

If you haven't tried your hand at sowing brom seed, give it a go, you don't know what you'll get until you try.

If anyone is interested in having a go, send me an email (splinter1804@hotmail.com) and I can send you some free seed to try as well as some step by step notes.

All the best, Nev.

Again I am amazed by the variance in colours. Broms are really incredible plants. I doubt I will ever get into seed raising, as I just don't have the set up, or the patience. Kudos to those that do. I can't wait to see more creations.

Karen

Karen,

You would be surprised at just how inexpensive it is to get started (under $10). If an old bloke like me can do it, anyone can!

All the best, Nev.

Love the orange ones. Beautiful!!!

Hi everyone,

Sorry if I appear to be taking over your site but I've just found the picture I was looking for the other day when I posted my experiences with seed taken from albo-marginated neoregelia plants.

This is what the little seedlings looked like after two weeks, all albino!

All the best, Nev.

Will they die with no Chrophyll? My Adeniums do.

Pam, I'm sorry we didn't get to see your Araeococcus flagellifolius flower! I didn't even know what it was untill I googled it. How and where did you get it?
Wendy, I'm none the wiser about your Litmus/procerum blue enquiry. This is my first time for Litmus, and I haven't seen the other either. I hope you find some interesting seed to try. I have tried seed from variegated plants, and had none variegated, and also used them as pollen parents with no variegation in the sresulting seedlings either, but thats not to say that it can't happen. I think variegated concentricas are used a bit in Skotaks hybrids?
Nev, firstly, what a great set up for your seedlings. So neat, and in order. They all look very healthy. The variance in your seedlings is amazing, and no doubt due to the unknown quantity when it comes to the parentage. If you cross hybrids, there is the chance of getting genetic variances from all the plants that made up the parents, so, I guess, a greater chance of getting something different. I was reading somewhere that Grace Goode liked to use species as parent plants, as they are more stable and you can be surer of the results.
I also questioned your Nid. innocentii var. linneatum. I have a plant that looks similar to your pictured one, but it seems to be a thicker leaf, with more spines than innocentii, and the flower stays green in the center, and is also variegated. I have another plant that I beleive to be var. linneatum, and it gets the fully red flower (still variegated). I'll just see if I have a pic somewhere. Yep, found one.
Hello Charleen, is it warming up there yet?
Karen, try a couple of garden visits to bromeliad gardens, and you'll soon be spotting all sorts of plants you hadn't seen before, and seeing different ways people landscape with them. Its just another way to kick that addiction along! The Alcantareas are great, as they have smooth edges and can take alot of sun. Big though, most of them, but quite a statement in the garden.
Sue

Yes they all turn brown within three weeks and it's back to square one again.

Sue,

That's a great looking Nid. in your pic and as I said before, even the "experts" can't give me the same answer twice on the pic's of mine. So I'll just call it "NidNoid" !

Re. you comment on the variance of the seedlings, true they often do "throw back" to something in the genetic background, but also we should never rule out the intervention of insects just before we placed the pollen either, and I think this happens much more than growers will admit to. That's what makes it all so interesting though, trying to work out where the "odd man out" came from.

Also re. the Nidularium Fulgens 'Orange', I don't have a spare pup as I've only just got that plant myself, but I've written your name on the label for a pup and as soon as I get the first one as a spare, you're next cab off the rank. I also have a pale pink one, a lolly pink one and one that's suppose to be yellow which I haven't flowered yet.

I've yet to get around to dividing and potting them all up so there could even be others and I'll send you a list when I sort them out.

All the best, Nev.

Yes, Dear. I sure don't want any of your winter either. i had enough already. You all doing great???

This message was edited Apr 16, 2011 7:47 PM

Hi all, just to add to the confusion here's the one I bought as Nid. innocentii lineatum. It is a bit different from both of yours.My striatum has a lot more white and they are growing under the same conditions. It hasn't flowered yet. Jen

Nidularium innocentii striatum

Nev I really like your coloured 3 and 4 pups. good variegation in those. Just as well I am slack and haven't yet dumped that paper towel with seeds on. Hope they are OK still. I will sow them tomorrow. Johnny has some heiroglyphica seeds to sow also compliments of Michelle Cameron. She was showing me how to tell when the seed is ready to collect and pulled one off to show me how they split into 3 segments full of seeds. She then donated the seed pod to me instead of chucking it. Lucky me. We opened them up today and have a dish of seed. Woohoo.

wading into the innocentii lineatum / striatum discussion - I was using the Andrew Steen books as reference which states that lineatum has more fine regular stripes and almost appears to be white from a distance. It is also a smaller plant than the striatum version which has more irregular stripes ie some wider and finer. Also the infloresence is raised up higher out of the centre of the plant. If you see them both flowering at the same time and can compare the size, colour, stripes etc it becomes a bit clearer. (I hope this is all correct - the books are downstairs) I thought I was all clear about this now but when you think about it you start to doubt.
Wendy

Wendy, just wanted to know if your parcel from me has arrived? Was everything okay? Colleen

Sorry Wendy our wires must have crossed over, I was typing my questions while you were D-mailing me. So glad that everything was okay and you were happy with the swap. I' m very happy with the TP. Thank you once again for getting them to me. The pups are looking great and starting to colour up here too. Yes, lucky you with the heiraglyphica seeds. I bought one plant for my son for his birthday year befoe last and it now has a couple of pups. Guess who's put their order in? Colleen

Colleen, I posted a message on Dmail.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I posted a free ad on gumtree last Wednesday night. While I was still editing it I had 3 visits. Thursday I got 3 phone calls from the ad and one person came Thursday arvo and bought $50 worth. Other 2 are coming to our next sale. I have had several email responses also and they are all coming to our next sale over Easter. Today I had another phone call and they came down this afternoon and bought $80 worth. So all up I have had a very good responce to this free ad. Try it.

Wendy

wow Colleen you are lucky to get a couple pups on heiroglyphica. We were told that they only produce one pup to reproduce itself before it dies. I heard that the only way to get several of them is to grow from seed. So if you got a couple pups on one you are very lucky. We have already grown one lot of seed and have about 30 plants which have grown to about 6 inches high now. That has taken about 2 years or more. We have just started to sell a few of them. It will be good to get a few more going now.

Wendy

Way to go with the ad, Wendy! Free is always good. :)

Sue, the Araeococcus came from a couple who sell broms (including quite a big variety of til's) at the markets here. She was showing me her photo album, and I asked if they had a spare of it at home. With its long grassy foliage I figured a couple would make a nice feature either side of .... something, don't remember what, and asked if they had another. They didn't.

They were on the look out for other species of Araeococcus but It seems A. flagellifolius may be the only one readily available in Australia. If anyone happens to come accross any others, I'm sure they'd be grateful for the relevant info.

The shadehouse is so chockers at the moment and it rains often enough that I don't have to go in all that often. with babies and kitchen renovations and goodness knows what else, that is a good thing. I find all sorts of little surprises every time I do though, and kick myself for not spending more time there. lol.

Pam