Bromeliads for novices and addicts. April-May 2011

Nev, with regards to copyright, while it's wrong to post a pic without the copyright owner's permission, a link to it is fine - literally just the link, NOT the picture linked from there, and showing up in the post.

You posted while I was, Nev. The system here at Dave's is a pain to get along with if you want to totally delete a post ( or pic). I reckon you'd need to contact the admins to have it removed. There seems to be no way for us to do it ourselves.

BTW, if you scroll down in a post you've edited more than once, you can remove all the 'edited by' notifications, and just the one will show up after you post.

Hi everyone,

Thanks Gardengal, I've found where I can send a message to Daves Garden and have done so and requested that the pic be removed, here's hoping they can help me.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone,

Gee that was quick, it didn't take long to have the post deleted at all.

Now to start all over again.

Wendy, in my opinion for what it's worth, your Neo Grace Darling x concentrica variegata cross has the potential to produce some pretty good hybrids, and just for the record, please put me down for twelve of the babies as soon as they're big enough to travel if you have some to spare.

Concentrica is a tried and tested parent over many years, and to see some of just what it can produce, go to "http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php", enter "concentrica" in the search facility, select "all" and hit the "search" button.

A list of about 500 concentrica hybrids will be listed and you can find the breeding history as well as a pic. of each. Just by selecting the third name on the list as an example (Neoregelia ‘Adrienne’) will show you just what it is capable of as a parent.

Another very good site is the FCBS (Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies) "http://fcbs.org/pictures.htm". It has a lot of the same records with thousands of pictures of the different genera as well. It also has pictures of most of the described species, which the BCR site doesn't have.

Both of these sites are magnificent resources for hybridists as well as for anyone with brom's who just wants to look at the pic's as well as being a valuable tool to aid identification of unnamed plants.

All the best, Nev.

Good morning all. I have been outside doodling with the galv and clouts. Here's what I came up with. Colleen

Colleen you're just too clever. That should look absolutely STUNNING in no time. :)

Pam

Hi Colleen,

You've done a good job; but there's one suggestion I would make with the bottom plant behind the galvanised strapping. Make sure it doesn't touch the new galvanising as the chemicals in it can harm the plant; this can be overcome if the strapping is first washed in vinegar to neutralise any chemicals on it.

I once had an experience where I hung a sheet of galvanised mesh at an angle and attached a lot of potted seedlings to it. Everywhere the leaves touched it they got burnt and went brown. I removed all the plants and ran over the whole sheet (both sides) with a paint roller soaked in vinegar as advised, and no more problems. Another way of course would be to paint the straps (both sides) or put some sort of barrier (plastic, bark, moss) between them and any plants they may touch.

All the best, Nev.

.

Thanks for the comments Pam and Nev. I have put some palm bark where the plant was touching so hopefully everything will be okay now. Colleen

Looks great, Colleen. Very inspiring! I'm eying off some of my palms that have grown too big and are headed for the chop. Nev you certainly are a font for practical information. Thanks to you both. Jen.

Nev, I thank you for all your advice and info too.

Wendy, good to see those babies growing.

Colleen, I really love what you've done with the palms.

You are all such a clever bunch, and I love seeing your pics of your plants and the things you've done with them.

Karen'

Hi everyone,

Coleen, Jen and Karen, there's really no need to thank me for any advice I give as that's what these forums are all about, "sharing knowledge". If I know something which I think may be of use , I'll gladly share it, if I don't know the answer to a problem, I'll say so as well.

It's true that a lot of the older generation like me may not know much about all the new electronic gadgets available today (my computer drives me nuts!), but when it comes to practical things that don't require a power point or a battery, we can run rings around the "young 'uns", as we have had to make do with what we had by improvising and didn't live in a "throw away" age.

For example, the other day I was measuring something with my old wooden three foot rule, (yes I'm still using inches as well as centimeters) and a young friend of the family asked me, "what it was". When I told him and said that I had bought it when I started my apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1955, he looked at me like I had "two heads". He couldn't believe that it was possible for someone to look after something and maintain it in working condition all that time.

Give him a bit of paper and a pencil and ask him to add up some figures or answer a mental arithmetic question and he's "slow as a wet week", but give him a calculator to add up with or a mobile and tell him to text a message and he's light "greased lightning". Maybe there's a lot of truth in the old saying of "To each his own", but that doesn't stop me often wondering what the consequences would be if we had a "world wide" blackout for a month, and no electric power. Food for thought!

I'll get off my soapbox now

All the best, Nev.

Hi again,

I meant to ask, does anyone grow this plant?

Neoregelia 'Princess Di'

All the best, Nev.

Good morning everyone. Nev, that is pretty. I went to Bunnings yesterday and was surprised at the range of bromeliads they had there. I didn't get any though it was tempting. I need to be thinking about getting the ones I've got through the cold ahead. I wonder how they'll go. My tillandsias are looking good at the moment, for now. I hope they are not too exposed for the cold to come. They are in the only spot that will get a small amount of winter sun during the morning, but will be "in the dark" for the rest of the day.

Keep warm, everyone.
Karen

All these broms are so pretty. I am hoping for lots more color on mine when it gets warm again. I have quite a few pups coming on now. I found a new one yesterday on "Break of Day " The pup on "Hannibal Lector " is nearly as big as mum .
Reading all the tips on your posts, I will leave the pups on the mums until spring .
I am watching the flower stem on one plain green brom as it is a noid . I am curious to see what it is.
I notice that all the petals on the pretty billbergia flowers are curled up looking very pretty. Must get out and try for a photo if the sun comes out.
Jean.

Nev I have Neo Princess Di but it doesn't look anything like your's. I hope mine colours up like that. I've now put it on top of a palm trunk and hopefully it will get more sunlight and change colour. Colleen

I managed to get into the area near this brom and get a pic of the flower. They are just about finished now but you can see the curled edges. I think I have a pic of more of the plant so you can see the foliage.
Jean

Here is a pic of more of the plant. You can see the stripes at the base of the leaves. Quite large buds when they come. Much bigger and prettier than Queens Tears.
Jean.

This message was edited May 15, 2011 12:08 PM

Nev, I had Princess Di but was going through a stage of giving away all the Neos that were mostly green until maturity. The first photo is of mum and the second is one of the pups that had this interesting stripe in it. I'm sorry I got rid of it now but hopefully my sister might have it and I can see what future generations do. Jen

Princess Di pup

Jen, going by the pic of your pup, it looks like that why mine's that colour. It is a pup, so I'll wait til it matures a bit and see what colours I get. Colleen

I've had Princess Di for awhile, and have always thought of it as a bit 'Ho Hum' I've never had the colour Nevs is, but maybe I have a different clone, or just an inferior pup. I bought mine off Ebay, so didn't exactly get to pick my plant. I have plenty of pups from my original, but none have reached maturity yet. This seems to be the only pic I've taken of it, which indicates that it didn't do much for me during its growth changes.
Colleen, your palm trunk pot is a great idea! I have used a couple of hollow gum trunks to plant in, and they do eventually split, but then I can just lie them flat and they act like a bowl to plant in.
Jean, I like your Billbergia. I think its the one you sent me bits of way back when? If so, I have grown some in high light, and the foliage goes a burgundy, with a nice curled leaf tip. Also very quick to pup.
Sue

Hi everyone,

Hi evryone,

Just to set the record straight, that picture of Neo. Princess Di, wasn't my plant. I don't even have it, and the reason I asked if anyone grew it was that I'm after a pup if anyone wants to sell/swap one.

What about you Sue, you say you have plenty of pups from your clone, are you interested in a swap? If so send me an email so we can sort something out. Don't forget I already owe you some I'm holding as a "rain check". Have you got that other shade house built yet?

The one in this pic isn't one of mine either, it's just another pic to brighten your day. This is Neo. Wild Raspberry which is a hybrid bred by Jack Koning of Port Macquarie and is something a little bit different to the usual pic's of Neoregelias.

All the best, Nev.

Nev, I love that wild raspberry. When we get to Port Macquarie I will do my best to get one of those out of Jack. If I can get 2 I will even bring one back for Jen as a thank you for looking after my little seeds while we are away. I don't have a Princess Di but if they look like that photo you showed us it will be on my list.

Nev you said you thought the grace darling x concentrica var would make impressive pups and you want some. I had some spare seed saved for you - didn't I put it in the box for you????? If not I will certainly put some in an envelope and send to you. It will still be in the fridge downstairs.

Colleen I can't wait for Johnny to get his chainsaw fixed and decides to cut down one of our palms so I can get some nice palm pots.

In Hervey Bay this weekend we were in our son Paul's garden looking at his broms and naming them for him. He has decided to get into them more than he was before. He said he wants to grow them like us so I was showing him how to collect seed and guess what????? one of his tillandsias with a spent flower had a seed pod splitting open with lots of seed. He said he wasn't ready to grow them yet so I collected them and brought them home. Now I have a container of till fasiculata clavispica for Jenny to look after for me. Hopefully when I get home they will be starting to shoot.

Paul gave me these timber mounts for plants. They get truckloads of timber to start the furnaces at work and the guy who cuts them up slices off some of the bark into strips for Paul. He has long lengths of them in his garage and cuts them up into these pieces. He gave me some to bring home. Paul has a lot of tills and even mini neos mounted on them. after about 4-6 weeks he can remove the ties and the neos are ready to hold themselves on. I can't wait to come back and mount a few.

Wendy

something must have gone wrong with pic of timber bits. here it is.
Wendy

Now you have 8 pieces instead of 4 Wendy.lol Colleen

this is till fasiculata clavispica. see if this pic works.

when I looked the pics wouldn't show up so I thought I better post again. worked all along. sorry. Wish I did have 8 Colleen. I'll have to use these 4 and go to get some more.
Wendy

This message was edited May 15, 2011 9:34 PM

I just stood the till up for you Wendy. Colleen

Pity you all don't live here in Brisbane. When we came home from Hervey Bay today we brought home a large esky full of 5kg boxes of frozen fresh prawns caught last week. Apparently the seafood coop up there offered the trawlers $35 a box for their catch while offereing same boxes to the public for $78. I think this is disgusting profiteering at the expense of the primary producer (just like the poor farmers) Anyhow one of the trawler operators told them to shove it and he would rather dump his catch back at sea than give them a bigger profit for doing nothing. He asked my sister (a trawler operator too) if she wanted any before he dumped the rest at sea so she offered to sell some for him. Luckily she told us Friday night so we were prepared with the esky in the boot. We brought home 20kgs at $10 per kilo. Much cheaper than woolies and much fresher. Jen has her half box and we had some for tea tonight also. Yummy. Filled our freezer too so #1 son's 40th birthday party will have prawns rathe than pizza. Much yummier

Wendy

thanks Colleen. I have several obviously different types of fasiculata including this one I think but they are all called fasiculata. I now know I have gnat (a very large one), nidus (a minor or much smaller version), now the clavispica one as well as the normal fasiculata, oh and one labelled vasiculata but there is no such thing I don't think. It is a much smaller compact one with much stiffer leaves than normal fasiculata.

Wendy

Wendy does your sister in law still have any prawns or would they be past it now?

Pam

This message was edited May 16, 2011 6:35 AM

ok - I am now dead set convinced that my next house must have a conservatory so I can grow broms!!!
I am enjoying the easy care Bil. nutans, not often I bother with a plant that needs to be brought indoors for winter but they are so undemanding.
I have a really interesting pot plant stand, will share a pic & see if anyone can guess what it is ;)
one hint, my hubby is mad on aviation, especially classic planes.

Good morning everyone,

Hi Wendy, I'll bet you're a lot warmer up there than I am down here.

The seed you sent was Painted lady x Fairy Plum and Narelle F3 A.F. hybrid, but definately no Grace Darling x concentrica. I certainly would appeciate some if you have a bit to spare.

Enjoy your nice warm holiday

All the best, Nev.

Is that plant stand a propeller shaft or similar Teresa?

Pam

Nev - if you want to know what happens when you have no power for a month just visit the eastern suburbs of ChCh.
After the Feb 22 earthquake they were without power, water & sewerage.
Some suburbs may never be inhabited again.
I was hoping for a few more guesses on the plant stand but will tell you what it is...
it's a sleeve valve - formerly inside a Bristol Hercules engine, the kind the powers the Bristol Freighter...
or Bristol Frightener as it was affectionately known.
49,999 rivets flying in formation :)
My hubby plans to have it chromed eventually, I think it looks ok as a plant stand as it.
When he finally noticed that bil had taken up residence he was a little taken aback, not quite what he had in mind for Sammy the sleeve valve.
I'm going to post that pic on the aviation forum & see what reaction I get.

Hi dalfyre,

Like most males of my vintage, I've always had a love old propeller type planes such as the spitfire, mustang, hurricane, lancaster, lockheed lightening , mosquito and ... and ... and .....

I'm fortunate that I only live about five minutes away from the HARS (Historic Aircraft Restoration Society) museum which is just across the way from the Illawarra Light Railway Museum (old 2' gauge steam and diesel trains) of which I am a member and we are often given a free show when they are test flying their old Catalina, DC3's and Neptune bombers around the local area, but I never ever thought I would see a part of a plane used as a home for a Billbergia.

Thank's for sharing

All the best, Nev.

Nev - we were at Hars in October & were very impressed

Hi all. Just thought I'd invite you all to visit the Tea-room and join us on a magic carpet ride. If you go today you'll really only have to peruse today's posts to find out what we're up to.You too Nev. Colleen

Hi Pam. If you want some of those prawns phone my sister in Hervey Bay. I will dmail you her phone number.

Nev I sent your seeds off today. I wish I had time to find some more for you but it was a rush today loading the winnie. We are all ready to take off in the morning but when trying to recharge the telstra turbo tonight I have found they have disconnected the sim card so I now have to go somewhere to buy a new one and phone to activate it before I can recharge. I did take advantage of a local retravision store closing down and got a very cheap laptop to take away so I will be able to keep in touch easily once I get the turbo working.

Wendy

Good morning everyone,

Colleen..... what/where is the Tea Room ?

Wendy..... Good to see you getting away at last, I hope you both have a great break and find some good brom and fishing spots. I think Port Macquarie could be a good place to start looking for both. If you get to see Jack or Tamera, say hello for me

All the best, Nev.