Good morning all – Well the workshop went well yesterday with nine members present seven of which are new members. I took three very large and very much pot-bound plants of Neoregelia, Aechmea and Vriesea to the workshop to practice on, and just to put you in the picture, our workshop worked like this:
First of all, as the topic of our last General Meeting was “Growing Conditions”, I started a small discussion on this topic as an "ice breaker", which not surprisingly brought forth a lot of questions. We have found that since we have been holding these workshops, members and especially new members are more likely to ask questions than they do at a full General Meeting. The reason often given is that they feel a bit intimidated at a large meeting and of course the exact opposite is true of our workshops as they are just small groups. We spent about half an hour discussing and answering questions while the new members had their pencils and note pads working full speed.
We then had a cup of coffee and while they were drinking this I started with the rather large Neo and explained what was required when dividing/re-potting a plant. This started with an external examination of the plant for possible bugs and diseases and then a demo on the correct way to remove it from the pot after which an examination of the roots was performed as I explained the types of problem that may be encountered such as Root Mealy Bug, Curl Grubs etc. I then explained how to clean it up paying special attention to the correct way to remove dead and damaged basal leaves without damaging any possible tiny pup “eyes” which may be hiding behind them. Discussion then took place on the selection of an appropriate sized pot and what the requirements were for a good potting medium.
With the plant I had selected, I had purposely cut off pretty well all of the roots so that when it was potted I could show one of the ways to stabilise it in the pot using bamboo kebab skewers while emphasising that this is done as they are reluctant to put down new roots if they can move in the pot. This was met with quite a bit of interest and when it was potted up fertilized and watered, I then went and sat down again.
This was met by some very bewilded looks on the faces of the members present until I said, “It’s your turn now”, and before they had a chance to back away I told them that whoever came forward got to keep the plant that they potted, and we soon had a group around the table potting plants.
This is how the rest of the day went; I next demonstrated on a couple of very overgrown and very prickly Aechmea recurvatas and explained that the best way to tackle this type of plant was from the bottom thus avoiding the spikes. I cleaned and potted one and once again it was their turn; this time they didn’t have to be told, they were around the table waiting for their turn.
We then had lunch, after which I went through the same routine with a very large and very overgrown Vriesea ‘Barbara’ and once again they followed and each finished up with their own plant. To finish the workshop we had a brief session of questions and answers, cleaned up and went home.
The benefits of this workshop were two-fold, I got rid of three very much overgrown plants that required a lot of work and would have required a lot of bench space (which I didn’t have), It also allowed me to get rid of many plastic pots of odd shapes and colours that I didn’t feel like throwing in the bin and most importantly it sent a group of new members home happily armed with a little knowledge and few free plants that they didn’t have when they arrived in the morning; but what’s most important, is that we all had an enjoyable day.
Karen – I had seen the pic’s of that particular Puya before and was immediately attracted to the unusual blue colour of the flowers. Are you now growing it up there in Brisbane?
Shirley – Yes I have to agree with you about the weather; I don’t think it’s the cold so much as the sudden unexpected change in temperature is what seems to knock us for a six. You have two more very nice plants there in your pic’s, and with both of them, the best is yet to come as they mature, especially the Kiwi cream.
Wendy – Firstly let me thank you for the seed which arrived during the past couple of days, it will certainly be put to good use. Sorry to hear you lost your post. It seems to be a common problem on this site doesn’t it? The Billbergia you show in your post is an “oldie” but still a “goodie” and looks very good when planted in the garden and just left to build up into a large clump. As well as the variegated leaves, I think the colours in the flowers (although short lived) are as good as those of any Billbergia I’ve ever seen.
Geoff – Once again what can I say except WOW! Where were the pic’s all taken, are they in a Botanical Garden or in habitat as there seems to be quite a Puya plantation there? I’ve never seen them for real, do they have spines on the leaves or are they smooth leaved, and how tall are some of those tallest inflorescences, they look enormous? It seems to me that you would need a very large property if you were to start collecting this genus as they seem to be a very spreading type plant judging by the Puya venusta plants in the fourth pic.
That’s it from me today and unfortunately still no new pic’s
All the best, Nev.
