BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES & ADDICTS - NOVEMBER 2012

Hi everyone,

New thread for November ... We came from

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1283582/#9322517




This message was edited Nov 2, 2012 8:01 PM

Hi Everyone!

Yeah it’s finally the weekend! Joe did a great job today mowing all the lawns, whipper snipping and checked all the irrigation, so when I got home the garden looked beautiful, clean and inviting, so I am really looking forward to getting back out into the garden once we have taken our girls for a walk on the beach tomorrow morning. I want to continue working on extending the brom garden and with the irrigation Joe put into the galvanised wire fence it is making things so much easier when it comes to watering and they do not get overwatered and appear to be really loving the fine mist they are receiving a couple of times a week.

Hi Nev welcome back through the wonderful help from Sue, when I saw that big arsed thread (excuse the French) I thought that has got to be Nev lol. Thanks for the great advice regarding seedlings, I am learning such a great deal from this forum and so appreciate everyone’s views on what works for them, you get to conduct your own experiments to see what works best for the area you are in and it gets you thinking about other things you want to do around the place and how to tackle the situation so I think it’s great. Nev your Lambert Pride seedlings look to be doing really well and are of a good size with so many variations of colours and types by the looks of things. Nev by all means when my Neo Marble Mauve pups I will let you know and send you one, I have written you in my book so I don’t forget, I also have Bree and Shirley down as well as Bree is chasing anything that can take full sun and Shirley is chasing Neo Two Tone. Nev I also have you down for Neo Concentrica x Johannis. All I need now is some pups and like Shirley I have quite a few broms in flower now so pups should not be too far away I hope as I really want to raise some of my own baby broms.

Hi Wendy, you guys did great getting 4 straight numbers in the lotto; we do not usually have that much luck usually only winning small but never the less it is better than nothing and normally pays for next time. Wendy beautiful pics of all your Nidulariums, the one I have is starting to colour up nicely so I will have to remember to take a picture to post.

Hi Shirley thanks for giving me some more information on your Neo Flirtation, I don’t mind the small compact growing Neo’s and I reckon they look great tucked in amongst the front of the larger bromeliads. Yes your right about working a 5 day week it does take it out of you, we try to get all our chores done during the week and the shopping to free up some of the weekend because I tend to get really cheesed off if I have to do it over the weekend, plus I want to enjoy the fact that the house is clean enough and that the garden is kind of under control and manageable. We seem to have a good system in place to enjoy our weekends more and more now days but I think also the fact that we have settled down more, go out less and just crave home time has really made a difference to our lives. My friends always ask us how we find the time to keep a clean house and garden when we both work and all we can say is we just do our very best to because our house and garden is our little piece of paradise and where we get to relax and unwind.

Hi Bree, WOW you have been a busy little bee shopping lol, don’t you luv that feeling you get when you bring something new home or open a parcel full of broms. All your pics are beautiful, they look like great healthy plants you did very well getting them, looks like you are going to be busy in the garden potting them up if you have not already lol. I really enjoy potting them up and wondering where best to display them.

Hi Sue how gorgeous do all your mini neo’s look and all your Bills, I really like how you have your nursery set-up so organised and neat, everything looks so healthy with lots of room for everything to grow happy and they would all be getting by the looks of things great air flow? Thanks so much for uploading post and pic for Nev it is great, we have missed Nev heaps along with all Nev’s wonderful advice and pics.

Shirley fantastic work I just read that you started November post so I will copy and paste my word doc into November thread and see how I go. Thanks once again!

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 Neo Blushing Tiger
Pic 2 Neo Princeps Select
Pic 3 Mixture of Broms
Pic 4 Neo Heck
Pic 5 Neo Stormy Forest

Hi everyone.
Shirley well done on starting the thread. I posted your seeds today. had to go to the post office to finalise mum-in-laws telstra bill. she only moved into high care in May and its taken this long to sort out the disconnection of her phone. In the end I insisted on being referred to someone senior IN AUSTRALIA to sort it out. only took half an hour and all done. Malaysian call centres need a lot more experience. turns out the 2 telstra systems weren't talking to each other in May hence when the technical side disconnected the phone the accounting side didn't know about it. so each month when I phoned they would tell me the phone was disconected and the bill would be wiped. next month another bill and another call. so now all finalised.

anyway when I got back home from the post office I discovered that a plastic dish of seed I had collected washed and dried from a neo granny takemura x concentrica which is a stunning plant, had blown over off the bench under the house. I discovered the container in Max's water bucket and seed floating and sitting on the bottom. I scooped a heap of it out and put it down in a container of seed mix. I then discovered a heap on the floor and in Johnny's storage container so I collected what I could. Pic 1 is the plant I collected the seed from. Shirley I included a packet of this seed for you to try. also have 2 pups I took off this mother plant.

Nev glad to see you posting again even if through Sue. I'll get your parcel off to you soon. still searching for the AFRN05 that you wanted. I keep thinking I've found one but it is AFRN802 which is a stunning plant also. see pic 2 AFRN802. I'm sure the ones down the backyard at present look nicer than this old pic. the AF part of the code is of course Alan Freeman. we do seem to have a lot of his NOID plants. Nev that vrisea Maroochy smooch that went for $925 on ebay was an Alan Pythian hybrid that he sent to Neal for free with a purchased plant(s). it actualy turned out to be a very niceplant which Neal named and registered in consultation with Alan. I still think our one from same grex is just as nice as Maroochy smooch so we might have to put first pup on ebay.

Bree nice haul of new plants you have there. love a new haul of babies. Jen and I are off the BSQ spring sale tomorrow but I'm only looking this time. although if there is a stunning plant at a good price I will have to get it but not going for anything specific. Certainly no vriseas. Johnny has enough to play with now. we potted up a few today so now they are taking up more room than they were.

Ian I purchased a bottle of Milton today and will try it on our seedlings to see if it will keep the little gnats at bay as well as the green growth. although we are not getting as much growth now that we have learned to sow the seed sparsely instead of too thick. we found that expecially with the vrisea and tillandsia seed the hairy bit does tend to grow a hard surface if too thick. better to make 2 dishes of thinly sown seed than 1 thick lot. I've tried spaghnum vs coir peat as well as holes in the lid, drainage holes low down on sides. I guess I've learned from making mistakes and am still learning from my friends on DG. I've just finished rearranging our seedling area again and had to resort all our trays of seeds. Now I'm a bit worried about where we are going to put them all so I have to be sure I really really want to grow these plants before I sow the seed. I now think I have too many pitcairnias growing from seed. Liking the flowers is one thing but do I really like the plants???? I have to say no to some of them. when I ordered the seed I was only looking at the flowers and thinking yes that one is nice. should have looked at the plant too. some of them look straggly and would better suit a sprawling garden than a pot. I've decided I like the smaller plants like pit. andreana in pic 3, but not the larger bladey grass ones. anyway if the landscaper wants them I'll consider selling them to her for a job but they will have to grow a bit and form a clump first and then they might look nicer to me.

Well I better be off to bed now if I'm having an early morning trip to the spring sale. Night all.
Wendy

Nice Broms!!!
Yes Trish i have already potted up my new pups. hehe!
Sue I got them off ebay, every now and then ill get a lot from the same seller that no one else bids on so they work out pretty cheap.
Heres my Marbled throat (abit old now and getting red which it never had), whats marbled throats size ment to be? because mine is a really small grower.
Heres my new Pitch Black, cant wait to see it in a few months, ill have to post a before and after pic in a mth or so. It should colour quickly.

Hi all, been busy today, built a house for my seedlings, put some in then looked at my Crypthansus and decided they needed a new home. Seedling house full. They need some tlc and will get it where they are now. I will move them soon to another location.

Bree my marble throat is a mini, less than 8" diameter. Pitch Black is a beautiful plant when mature,this is the only way I have seen it.

Off to the markets tomorrow morning. Have a good one.
Ian.
Pic 1 Crypthansus Elaine
Pic 2 Crypt Marion Oppenheimer
Pic 3 Crypt racinae
Pic 4 Crypt Ebb tide
Pic 5 Crypt Silver zones

hello all, message from Nev.
oh, It looks like he has sent me the same one in error. I've left it a bit late for him to get back to me, so I will leave it till tomorrow before I post the pictures (which I did get Nev) or else we won't know what Nev has to say about them. As for me, its bit late in the evening, and my typing is atrocious. Till tomorrow
Sue

Hi all,

Got up early this morning and went off to the market … a bit disappointing. The only plant I bought is an Ae Blanchetiana Red, a nice big one to go in the garden next to my nice big yellow one. I would have liked to go to the BSQ Show/sale at Windsor … maybe tomorrow.

Wendy, thanks for posting the seeds, I will check at the post office on Monday. Being put through to an ‘off-shore’ call centre when trying to sort a problem can be so frustrating, especially Telstra and BigPond. That neo Takemura x Concentrica looks like a stunner, Wendy, thanks for the seed, hope I manage to get a few of them to grow.

Jen and Wendy, hope you both made some good buys at the BSQ sale, photos please.

Sue, I am betting you have made Nev very happy by relaying his posts to DG. It will be good when he gets his computer up and running again. Nice pics of your bills and minis too. Bill Muriel Waterman is a standout out, isn’t it, I love any of the pink-purply ones though.

Nev, good to hear from you, we have all missed your posts. WOW, those are certainly nice Lamberts Pride seedlings in your pic. I especially like the two light coloured ones on the extreme left of the pic. If you are looking to swap one of those at any time, please let me know.

Bree, nice pics, I like the look of neo Big Mac, nice wide and toothy leaves. It took a couple of attempts but I finally got the new thread for November working.

OK, time to look thru my photos to see if there’s anything new.

Pic 1 is neo Red Africa pup, pic 2 is neo Magenta Mist pup

That it from me, G’night

Shirley

Hi all, Nev has kindly sent me the next installment, so here it goes.
Good morning everyone – I can see we've had a bit of rain overnight and it's still drizzling, so that should freshen up the garden. There won't be anything getting done in the yard today though as our monthly Bromeliad Society Meeting is on again, so time to meet up with like minded brom lovers and learn some more about the culture of these wonderful plants..

I still can't post so I'll have to rely on Sue to relay again for me, however I suspect I know what the problem might be but unfortunately not enough time to sort it out today so maybe tomorrow will see me back posting under my own steam again.

Trish – When initially watering with a new sprinkler system, always check the mix in the pots to make sure it is getting enough water. When the mist comes off the sprays, everything gets wet so it's easy to assume that everything is watered, however this isn't always the case. You really need to randomly check pots especially the ones at the back and on the ends of your garden to make sure they are getting sufficient water from the sprinklers and if necessary adjust the sprinklers. I previously had sprinkler systems in two of my shade houses, but stopped using them during the extended water restrictions a few years back. I still don't use them now because although they do save time, in my opinion hand watering is the best part of growing plants as it's very relaxing and also the best way to look at each individual plant and pick up any problems early so they can be rectified.

I'll just correct you on the pic of the Lambert's Pride seedlings; the plants shown weren't mine, it's just a pic I got from somewhere to illustrate just what's possible using Lambert's Pride as a parent. I am fortunate enough however to have just harvested a few seeds from a cross I did of Neo. 'Lambert's Pride' x 'Barbarian', so it will be interesting to see what they produce down the track – always something new to maintain my interest.

How large is you plant of Neo. 'Princeps' (Select)? I have one called Neo.Princeps 'Rainbow' (special form) (Pic 1) which is a very open type plant with a spread of about 30” when grown in the garden, nothing special shape-wise, but I do like the colour; however it is unregistered so I'll never know for sure if it is actually a 'Princeps' or not. Your plant of 'Heck' is very different to mine (see pic 2) and either one of them is wrongly named or it is another of the many variegated plants which are very unstable, hence the different markings.

Wendy – Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the active ingredient in Milton Sodium Hypochlorite? If so this is the same chemical we always sterilised our orchid seed in when sowing. Ordinary household breach contains the same chemical and I imagine would be much cheaper. We always used the Woolworths “Home brand” which we made up as a mix of 20% bleach to 80% water; it always did the job well with orchids and I still use it to sterilise any dry bromeliad seed in before sowing. It's probably worth trying on your little gnats as well, but you would need to compare the % of sodium hypochlorite in each of the solutions to ensure they are the same and adjust accordingly with water if they aren't.

I'd better finish now as I don't want to give Sue too large a job of relaying so all the best,

Nev.

Pic 1 Neo Princeps 'Rainbow' (Special form), 2 is my Neo 'Heck', Pic. 3 is breakfast time at Nev's

My turn now,
where to begin
I just drove back from the central coast of NSW after finalising the clean up, for settlement, on my F-I-Laws house, so I haven't had a chance to have a look at whats going on around here, but I did take a few photos on friday before setting off, so at least I have something to share.
Trish, congrats on getting the watering system in. I agree wih all of Nevs comments to do with checking where the water has reached. i can tell by the weight of my pot, if the water has gone in, and i usually rotate a few if one is drier than another, and also turn the pots on occasion so they get more even light. Yours, being in the garden would be a bit trickier i suspect. I love to hand water, and use the time to check for pests and weeds nd pups and flowers, but sometimes its not possible to find the time so the automatic system works well. It does, however, water the floor and other areas that don't need watering, and i have to watch for weeds if I have used the system continuously for around a week. thats not a common occurence though, so pretty much weed free here (in the pots and shade houses). Thanks for the compliments and yes, there is quite good airflow, although it can get very steamy in there when the sun is out!
I think i like your N. 'Stormy Forest' most, of the photos you posted. I do like the bright coloured minis.
Wendy, I'm glad you were able to rescue some of your fallen seed, i hope they didn't get too contaminated. I now what you are saying about your pitcairnia seed, as once space becomes an issue, you start to wonder if you really need trays of plants that may not appeal to everyone. i have found the solution is to offer small seedlings at $1, in my sales, and it saves me potting them up, finding a shelf for them, and gives me more room in my green waste bin for other things. Also, if you have 30 small seedlings, theres potentially $30 for hardly any work at all. If you have them in cell trays, you can just remove the plug with one plant, and wrap a bit of foil or newspaper around the soil and the customer can pot them themselves. I usually have a photo of the flowering adult, which helps to sell them, but only when its a species.
Bree, thats smart thinking about getting combined postage. Thats what has held me back from ebay this year, the postage costs. i'd rather spend it on petrol and go and hand pick my plant purchases, not that i've had too many bed ones through Ebay, but i also enjoy meeting the growers, and have made some good mates that way.
Ian, this talk of Cryptanthus has me wondering what you do with them? I have about 4-5 different ones, and have varying success with them. i find that keeping them moist (as seems to be the go) encourages moss on the top of the soil, and I am forever pulling it out, because i think it is causing rotting amongst some, and then sometimes i'll have four of the same variety, in four different pots, but with the same soil and watering and in the same location, and one will just turn brown and die! They give me the pips, to put it nicely!
Shirley, i understand your disappointment at the markets. i went to the Toukley markets this morning, and couldn't find anything, other than a couple of books, to take home for the shade house! i wish i was closer to brissie because i would have been at the BSQ spring sale for sure!
Anyway, I'd better see what photos i have to offer, and then go check the yard.
Photo one i for Bree. i thought this looked more like the mini you posted awhile back. Its labelled as Neo. olens x guinea
Photo two is for Shirley, showing how I germinate my Tillandsia seed. These are T. utriculata.
Photo three is N. 'Royal Cordovan' a favourite
Photo four is Vriesea heiroglyphica, with my size 9 jandal in front for size comparison.
Photo five is a pup of Aechmea pectinata 'Kathy Dorr' which is supposed to turn orange instead of pink, and seems to be getting a bit of colour now, so I will keep you updated on that.
laters
Sue

Hi all, mIltons active ingredient is Sodium dichloroisocyanurate. Each tablet contains 500mg 32% available chlorine.
Enough of the technical stuff. I went to our local market today, well 1 of them anyway and aquired some more plants. Only a couple of NOIDs today ! I think is a Canistrum and the other is an Aechmea, looks a little like burgundy in shape but not in colour.

Sue Crypthansus are pigs of plants to grow. Grant Patterson grows his with 15% shade here and heavily feeds and waters them. I just moved most of mine from under a citrus tree and they were in pots buried in the soil but still didn't like it very much. I still have to find where they like to grow, possibly each like their own position, moisture level and feeding. I have in the past let them dry out and they take a long time to recover.
I will have to look at ebay and see how my bids are progressing, finishing in about 15 minutes.
Have a good one
ian
Pic 1 N Fosters little gem
Pic 2 N Oh No Very cherry
Pic 3 Canistrum- I think
Pic 4 Ae NOID

Shirley heres my Ae Blanchetiana Red pup ive just received. I love how big they grow.
Thanks for the picture of the mini brom Sue it does look like mine.
Were waiting for you to get back online Nev!
My mini marbled throat would be lucky to be 5 inches. Its tiny.

Hi Everyone!

We go a great deal accomplished around the garden this weekend, I continued working on the brom garden extension, we put some more irrigation where our gingers and heliconias area as some are not getting enough water, I worked in the herb and veggie garden, Joe potted up by putting them in individual pots three trays of orchid seedlings and we went and had a look in the nursery to see where I can put some shelving in and where I need to clean up prior to Xmas so I have a safe place to move all my bromeliads (other than the vrieseas that are in the entertainment area) so that if I need to with cyclone season upon us and with the wet coming that I can move them when I need rather than not having anywhere to put them, as at all costs I want to avoid them getting damaged and they may need to be moved temporarily at some stage. We also need to invest in a good trolley to move them around with, has anyone got any suggestions on where is the best place to by a good garden trolley from at a reasonable price?

Hi Nev and Sue, that’s so much for the helpful advice regarding the irrigation system we have put in for the broms, I will keep a look out to make sure the pots are getting enough water and don’t’ dry out, I am still giving them a good drenching by hand fortnightly with the hose. I am enjoying having the irrigation in though because it frees up more time for me to check on all the pots, remove old brom leaves and gum leaves and move the pots around as I need to get the best colour out of my broms.

Nev my Neo Princeps Select is 40”. I really like your Neo Princeps ‘Rainbow’, very similar shape and size to mine, just the difference really in the colour. Yeah I agree our Neo Hecks have very different markings but similar in colour, mine still has a little more growing and colouring up to do as well. Nev we absolutely loved your Pic 3 Breakfast Time, what an amazing photo of three very different types of birds sharing the same close space together, I could think of nothing nicer than sitting there with a cup of tea watching them. We have been watching our mum and dad Kookaburra’s feeding their chicks in a hollow in one of the large paperbark gumtrees, we must have spent at least a couple of hours out of the weekend watching them with our cuppa’s, them flying back and forth with food for their babies, life does not get any better than that.

Sue how massive is that beautiful heiroglyphica of yours, mine is about quarter the size of yours. They are magnificent and so deserve the name King of The Vrieseas. Neo Royal Cordovan is also one of my favourites, I really like how strong and proud it sits in its pot and that strong colour throughout the plant is really nice.

Anyway, I better get a move on as a few things I need to do before it gets too late.

Huge Hi to Everyone I have missed chatting with tonight, I will do my very best to chat with you during the week sometime if all goes well.

Have a great week everyone and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pics are of Brom Garden Beds and the Kookaburra Nest (too slow to get pick of Kookaburra) lol.

Had time problems with ebay and yes I won 1 seedling. Ae Noid is a problem to post.
Pic 1 NFancy free X dianne
It is not going to cooperate with me tonight.
ian

Hi everyone, we have had a couple of light showers of rain here over the weekend, most welcome.

Sue, we didn’t end up getting to the BSQ Spring sale … maybe next year. Just so much else going on and not enough days in the week. Thanks for the pic showing how you germinate Till seed, can’t wait to give it a go. Your Vr Heiroglyphica is enormous, I will be pleased when mine get to that size.

Bree, I will try to remember to take a pic of my new Blanchetiana Red tomorrow.

Trish, great that you achieved so much in the garden over the weekend … you can now look forward to spending the week at work LOL. Your garden looks fabulous, so much colour, great job.

Hi to Nev, Wendy, Jen, Karen, Colleen, Tash, Ian and anyone else looking in.

Catch up tomorrow,

Shirley


Pic 1 is neo Justins Song, pic 2 is neo Sun Valley

good morning all
Its so nice to wake up in my own bed!
Ian, I think your Canistrum is C. auranticum. I'm glad you find Cryptanthus just as troublesome as me. I can't work them out. I did hear there is a very good grower of them, somewhere here n our local area, but he keeps very quiet, and I never see any for sale at markets or on display at the botanic gardens or orchid shows, so I wonder what he does with them? might make the effort to find some contact details and see if I can get some expert advice on growing them. I don't like them all that much, but I like the pink or black zebra types. Alot look too similar to me, much like dyckias do. I wondered what happened to your photo four? It looks like it mixed up one of Trishes sentences too, the one about Joe potting up his orchid seedlings. That happens to me too, where, while I am typing, the cursor suddenly jumps into the middle of what i have already written, and I am too busy looking at the keyboard to notice.
Bree, it will be interesting to see how your blanchettiana grows. I have the very green/yellow one, one that goes a bit orangey, and another that has very strong orange, almost into the reds. I was sold a red one from an unscrupulous Ebay seller, that has turned out to be a cross between blanchettiana and another, and it doesn't cope with full sun.
Trish, its great that you are enjoying each others company, and your garden time so much. Its a nice time of year to be outside too. as for your trolley, I picked up a four wheeled metal one from mitre 10 for about $100, quite awhile ago, but I think they still come up for the same price, from time to time. It has gone the distance for about years or more, but I make sure i don't leave it out in the weather, and I give it a spray of WD40 now and then to try and stop the rust. Everything rusts here as we are only a few kilometres off the ocean. Anyway, it has a little bit of surface rust, but nothing serious. I use it daily.
All your brom beds are looking great, and I note you can pick up pots! I thought you had buried them in mulch, but can see you haven't. That makes it easy if you want to move them around eh? Is it starting to get warm up there?
Shirley, yay, you got some rain! if its anything like us, we got 2mm! pfffft! I'm sorry you didn't get to the spring sale. i honestly don't know how you could resist, but I do understand the need to get other things done. I am always trying to get my priorities right.
Your two red spotty broms look lovely. Is N. 'Justins Song' very big? I have looked at it from time to time on Ebay and wondered. I'm going to get a little package ready for you today.
I was looking at my Aechmea nudicaulis flavomarginata and noticed the albino sport was flowering. I don't know that you can call it albino, because its sort of yellow, more than white.
Photo one is the A, nudicaulis sport flowering
Photo two is a group of minis recently potted
Photo three is Neo. 'Medallion'
Photo four is a variegated N. 'Lila'
Photo five is the emerging spike on Alc. brasiliana
Sue

Sue heres the photos the seller had on the Blanchetiana i bought. It was cheap so whatever it may be thats fine.

Hi all,not much happening here today, a shower last night someone told me there was 8 mils. not as much as needed but am grateful for any. I destroyed some plants today as they were too contaminated with flyspeck scale. The general garbage bin is about half full of them. Nearly all bil pyramidalis.I think this is the best way to control it. Some more valuable plants I treat. I found mealy bug colonised in the joints of my clumping palms, they are going to greenwaste. My seedlings seem to like the new area it is a bit more protected than where they were. One day I might finish the building and put a door on it.
I had a Guz whitmackia send out a non varigated pup and have potted it up and named it as Guz Whitmackia novar, have I labelled it correctly?
Thanks everyone for sharing your plants with me.
Have a good one.
Ian
Pic 1 N NOID
Pic 2 N mini Golden grace
Pic 3 N mini Little dazzler
Pic 4 N mini Flicker
Pic 5 N Kelvin

Hi everyone.
Gee I missed last night and had so much to read today. Sue your hieroglyphica is huge. we've had clones that have grown huge and others that have flowered when still small. and I love the albino nudicaulis. very nice. But my favourite pic has to be that glorious infloresence rising from the braziliana (or whyanbeel as it is now called). I'm glad I'm not the only one that the curser jumps on. I used to think it was only the laptop that it happened on as I only use the arm of the lounge chair to sit the mouse on so I thought it was the curve of the chair that made the mouse move slightly and jump. but then it also did it a couple times on the big computer but not as often as the laptop. It can be such a pain when it happens. I've had the curser move and highlight a whole chumk of text and then delete it (or overtype it more likely)

Bree that red blanch is a stunning pic. I really hope yours turns out to look like that.

Nev your latest seed cross sounds like a good mix of genetics. you should get some stunning seedlings from that cross.

Shirley we also had a couple of showers the last couple nights but not enough to really register in the rainguage. just enough to have things dripping slightly in the morning. I think we get more water in the tanks from the solar hot water system boiling over which happens often in the summer months. we've even had our PVC downpipes buckle from the heat. apparently the system is set up that when the water inside gets too hot it purges some hot water to allow cold in to drop the temperature. anyhow we have the overflow set to run into the tanks rather than waste it. But we do need more rain to top up the tanks again or we'll be buying more water before the year is up.

Ian I bought some Milton but instead of the tablets I got a bottle of liquid. I figured that would allow me to mix up a smaller lot if I need to as I'm not sure how it would keep. I'll start off using it to water in the new seed as I put it down. then I'll use it to dampen the trays of seedlings as they need wetting. hopefully the few trays left with gnats will eventually have no more little buggers biting the new roots off my little seedlings. Yesterday we potted up a lot of the larger vrisea seedlings that had been infected with gnats. some had roots but most had none so now hopefully they will grow roots and take off. we'll keep spraying them with the condys crystals to encourage root growth. but I'll lay off the organic foliar sprays for a while in case they are introducing the gnats. not that the seed trays of smaller ones have been sprayed with organic foliar spray.

to anyone I haven't mentioned tonight I hope you all had a lovely weekend. next weekend will be a big one for me with my youngest son's wedding. Emily told us she was getting married to daddy. and mummy and Rylee were getting married to daddy too. she really feels like it will be her wedding too. I hope the rain doesn't wait till next Saturday as we are having a BBQ reception in the beer garden at Ettamogah Pub. the last thing we need is rain that day. lets hope it gets it all over and done with before then.

I'm off to bed now after a very hectic and shitty day today. everyone seemed to want us to do something and we were rushing from one thing to the next and Johnny didn't make it to the hospital for a blood test but instead ended up so stressed out and exhausted. to top it off Max started sneezing again and spraying blood everywhere and it wasn't just a couple drips it was a LOT of blood. a full box of tissues job then onto a roll of toilet paper. unfortunately it was too late to get to the vet before closing so it would have been a good trip in peak hour to get to the nearest 24hr vet so we worked through the nose bleed and it eventually stopped. hopefully he won't start sneezing again through the night and start up again. I hope it won't cost as much this time for the vet to work out what the problem is. It obviously was more than just the teeth. ah well hopefully we'll win that $100M tomorrow night and we won't have to worry about $$$ again. wouldn't that make a wonderful wedding this weekend with all those $$$ to spend on it. I'll let you all know how I go tomorrow night. and if I do win that much money I'll buy you all the brom of your dreams. start making that wish list tonight so I'll know what toget this week OK.

Night for now.
Wendy

oops forgot to upload the pics for you guys not on fb.
pic 1 is the grand champ of the BSQ sale .... vr marshmallow from Nigel Thompson.
pic 2 is some of Nigels seedlings from his candyman grex. apparently the top one (12 I think) is going to be registered as tic tac as it is small just like a tic tac.
pic 3 is part of the Dillings display at BSQ sale
pic 4 is part of Mal & Michelle's display showing parents at the back and resulting seedlings at front. some stunning ones in there of bianca x gulz grouped into 3 colour groups. I bought a white one from this grex which shows some promise.
pic 5 is part of Dandaloo Valley display. I didn't know till tonight that this is Nigel's nursery name. totally missed that sign at the show. I know I thought who the hell is dandaloo valley to have a display?

hope you enjoyed these pics and I'll share some more tomorrow night.
Wendy

Hi all, just a very quick post tonight as it’s getting rather late.

Sue, neo Justins Song is fairly large, I’ll will try to remember to measure its’ diameter tomorrow.

Bree, love the pic of the red blanchetiana. I will add a pic of my yellow blanch which is in the garden and also the new one which is just starting to colour up. I haven’t got around to planting it into the garden yet … maybe tomorrow (it’s always tomorrow that I’m going to do all these things!!!)

Ian, like your NOID in pic 1.

Wendy, hope all goes well with the wedding, I will cross my fingers that the weather holds good for you … just remember to steer clear of the chewing gum.

Sorry to hear you had a bad day, Wendy, tomorrow will be better I’m sure. Hope Johnny is feeling better and more relaxed and poor Max too. Good luck with the lotto tomorrow night … I was thinking I would like a vr Milky Way, or perhaps vr Crackerjack then I saw the pics in your second post ... think I will have either Vr Precious Pearls or Candy Shop (No 16), thanks Wendy.

till tomorrow, Shirley

good morning.
Bree, if your plant turns out as nice as that photo, it will be a stunner.
Ian, you have been ruthless with your pest control, but well done! Sometimes thats the easiest way to get on top of a pesky pest. Regarding you Guzmania wittmackii, if its not variegated, its just wittmackii. Most variegated plants have a registered name, such as Neoregelia 'Martin', but if it threw a non variegated plant, it would be N. 'Martin' novar. So if the variegated Guzmania wittmackii doesn't have a registered name, when it has no variegation, it would still be G. wittmackii. Does that make sense? You could still put novar on the label if you wanted it known that it came from a variegated parent. Some people live in hope that they might get a pup that gets the variegation back. I think your Noid Neo looks a little bit like it has some 'Gee Whizz' characteristics in there? Is it quite large?
Wendy, that cursor jumping happens on FB too. I hardly ever access Fb from the tablet, as its quite a pain.
That V. heiroglyphica is the largest one I've grown. The previous one was reasonably big when it flowered, but nothing like this one. No sign of flowering yet.
I have the bottled Milton solution too, for the same reason as you. I had forgotten about it until Ian mentioned it, so I shall make more use of it, although after potting up the worst affected ones, I haven't seen any more gnats around.
Sorry to hear poor Max is still not right. I wouldn't have been any help at all, as I go faint at the sight of blood! You pair need to go on another trip for a break, by the sounds of it. Maybe after the wedding? I hope that all goes well and the weather holds for you, but the forecast for next weekend is for quite heavy rain across the coast. It might be an idea to make alternative arrangements, just in case?
Thanks for the lovely pictures of the displays, was that at the table tennis centre? Did you get any treasures? There is a plant labelled Tick Tac in the second photo, but its the brown, heiroglyphed one in the front. I love the pink centred Vriesea in the centre of the last photo too. Haven't they come along way in a few short years?
Good luck in lotto, but our friends up the road reckon they have the winning ticket, so not to bother buying an entry. however, if they are wrong, and you win, I would like a V 'Crackerjack' or a V 'Maroochy Smooch' please.
Shirley, Aechmea nudicaulis is on the way. I hope you have more success with it than I have. I've kept an older, shabbier plant for myself, which I will tend this spring/summer and then put it in the mini hot house overwinter and see if i can't get a better looking plant by this time next year.
Your blanchettiana looks really healthy too, and obviously isn't bothered by not being potted out yet. I appreciate that you will make the effort to measure N. 'Justins Song'. I am curious.
I didn't have time to do brommy things yesterday, except to water (which is enjoyable) and today looks as though I might be held up with other chores also :-( I am hoping its not as hot today, as yesterday, as I really had no motivation to go outside in the heat.
Well, lets see what photos are left on file.
Photo one is a bench of Vrieseas, which from that angle, looks crowded, but isn't.
Photo two is V. kitteliana getting some nice colour as it grows.
Photo three is Alcantarea heloisae, just starting to lose its winter colour. No sign of flowering on this one yet!
Photo four is Alc. extensas flower spike
Photo five is a small frog on the veranda rail last night. I think its a 'Perons Tree frog' but his eyes were so huge I couldn't detect the tell tale 'cross'
well, I had best get up and get things happening around here while it is cool
see you all tomorrow.
Nev, wheres the next installment?
Sue

just a quick one tonight to say that bad new re Max today. not looking good and I thought Johnny was going to keel over with a heart attack when we were told. anyway more tests tomorrow ... the cheapest tests that is. Can't afford $3,000+ for CT & MRI tests to confirm anything so we'll just keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow's tests.

Night all.
Wendy

Hi all, still cleaning up and chasing those pesky bugs, I know that it is way overdue by about 5 years. As I think about it trash has been building up in the clumps and it has been a breeding ground for bugs.It is simply a matter of hygiene.I guess hindsight makes no mistakes and experience is a good teacher. I lost a plant this week by putting it somewhere safe. I don't remember where it is. It is there somewhere. I got a couple on ebay tonight so now for a spell from buying for a while.
Vr marshmallow certainly caught my eye it is spectacular.I hope someone gets a win tonight.
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 N mini Zoe
Pic 2 N mini Ink spot
Pic 3 N mini dinkum
Pic 4 Ae NOID 0411
Pic 5 N mini cougar

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick thread tonight and then I am off to bed.

Wendy sorry to hear about Max and I hope you and Johnny find out more tomorrow when you take him back to the vets, our hearts go out to you both and the stress you are clearly feeling at the moment with not knowing until all the results come in. When our girls get sick we always say how we wish they could talk and tell us what was wrong so we could fix things and make them better, it is amazing how they become such a big part of our lives but I think it is the other way with our girls, we become a big part of their lives and they are number 1 priority for us.

Hope the wedding goes well and that the weather stays nice for the big day and that you all have a wonderful time.

Apologies everyone, just a quick look in tonight, no pic's to post sorry. Wonderful pics everyone posted these past couple of days, my wish list is getting bigger each week to the point where I have started to write a new page.

I will catch-up with you all hopefully later in the week.

Trish

Hi everyone, very quiet on the forum again.

Sue, thanks so much for sending the Ae Nudicaulis, I will check at the post office tomorrow to see if it is there yet, I’m looking forward to its’ arrival.

I measured neo Justins Song, it’s approx 38 cm, but still has a bit of growing to do. I saw a pup on eBay tonight, looks like a nice one, which measures 40 cm across. Also looks a little different to mine, nicer colour.

With regard to the Miltons, do you dilute the solution to spray on your seed and seedlings and if so, at what ratio do you use the Milton solution/water, please.

Frog’s cute, oh and love your Vr kitteliana too.

Anyway, we have to get up early tomorrow as someone is coming to fix the tractor at some ungodly hour in the morning, so I’ll call it a night.

Shirley

Another message has been posted while I have been typing … two, in fact.

Wendy, so sorry to hear the bad news about Max. Lets hope you get better news tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Ian, I can relate to putting things ‘somewhere safe’ and not being able to find them again, I do it all the time … really frustrating. Like your little mini Inkspot, I think DG might have switched the photos around on you.

Catch up tomorrow.

And yet another new post ...

Trish, good to hear from you mid week. I know what you say about growing wish lists, just gets longer and longer !!!

Bye for now

one from Nev

Mon 5th

Good morning all – I hope you all had a nice weekend and were able to get out on the garden and enjoy your brom's.

Sue – Tell us a bit more of the technique you use to grow your Tillandsia seed, I sure many will be very interested as there is always seed available from someone and it's certainly worth a try although they are much slower than other brom's to grow from seed.

I love your pic's 3 and 4 which are two of my favourite brom's and it's easy to see why Vriesea hieroglyphica is known world wide as the “King” of bromeliads as it certainly a magnificent plant; and what's more it's very easy to grow from seed. I grew some about seven years ago and I think almost every single seed germinated and as they grew I was almost overrun with them until I advertised I had some for sale (Pic 1). Within three weeks I only had three left out of about 200 plants. So they're easy to grow and easy to sell so therefore well worth growing. I'll be very interested to see what your Ae. Pectinata 'Kathy Dorr' turns out like as I haven't seen or heard of it before. I've searched the registries for it but found nothing so perhaps it's a “pet name” given to it by a grower; either that or registration is still pending. It looks like a smaller form than the common one which I have and which will get to about three feet or more across when grown in the garden.

Ian – The plant in pic 3 certainly has a look of Canistrum about it but I can't find any which look the same on either the BCR or the FCBS photo indices. Perhaps it is an unnamed hybrid which isn't registered. Is there any chance of finding out the name from the person who sold it to you?

Thanks for the info about the Milton; it seems that Milton and bleach both use chlorine as the sterilising agent and that is probably why the bleach was so successful sterilising orchid seed. I must try it on some dry brom seed and see how it reacts and I'll post the results.

I was able to find out some “basics” about Cryptanthus growing from a couple of society members who grow them very well down in this area. Firstly they grow their plants in 50% shade; secondly, the mix they use is a commercial African Violet mix; thirdly, they fertilise weekly at half the recommended strength and finally and most importantly, they like to be continually damp (NOT WET) and must never be allowed to dry out. I haven't tried these methods so I can't speak from my own experience, but there is also an informative article on Cryptanthus culture on the “Cryptanthus Society” web site at: http://fcbs.org/cryptanthussociety/CS_CultureSheet.pdf

Trish - What a beautiful garden full of colourful brom's you have, you must be very proud of the outcome. I love them in a garden setting like this, always something different to see and your local Kookaburras have certainly selected themselves a nice solid home and conveniently situated for you and hubby to view while having a “cuppa.”

Ian – I previously found that any time I had trouble posting pic's on D.G. It was due to the size of the pic. I'm not into the technicalities but when they are too big they either take a long time to load or won't load at all. I found that by using the programme called “Paintbrush” which comes standard on most computers and is usually found on desktop. If you reduce the size so they just fill the screen when opening up with Paintbrush they will load and post quickly. To do this, open Paintbrush, open you picture file and select the pic you want to post . (Initially it will appear gigantic on the screen if it hasn't already been reduced in size). To reduce the size hold down the control and “W” key together and a small screen will appear called “stretch and skew “. Just use the stretch portion of the screen which is in two parts, “horizontal” and “vertical” with each showing as 100%. I simply change 100% to 25% in both areas and you should find the picture comfortably fills the monitor screen. Just save the changes and you pic is now ready for posting. (It will also speed up loading pic's on emails as well)

Shirley – I like the two pic's you posted of the “spotties”. These spotted types although not everyone's favourites have always been a favourite of mine and I see are a favourite of yours also; when mixed in among other colours, they really stand out and truly show the magnificent colour range available in Neoregelias.

Just one pic today, its of part of the batch of Vr. Hieroglyphica seedlings I grew and which the large plant in a previous post came from.

All the best, Nev.

good morning, Nev apologises for the late post, he got sidetracked and forgot to forward it to me earlier, but we don't mind! As the saying goes, better late than never.
Wendy, I am sorry to hear all is not well with Max. My thoughts are with you both and with Max too.
Ian, I too have mealy bug in the golden canes, but have had an influx of lady birds this year. I have never seen so many, and they are having a good old chew on the mealy bugs, and on the aphids that are just starting to appear on the cordylines. I scoop lady birds out of the pool, hundreds at a time, and have been relocating them to any plants with pests. seems to be working well. Also, I have the same trouble with putting plants in safe places! then I walk around in circles trying to find them again! It must be quite common by the sounds of it?
I am glad you take the photos with the name labels visible, as then it doesn't matter what order DG posts them. I like Neo. 'Inkspots'
Trish, I gave up writing a wishlist, and now just purchase on impulse! I have a small wishlist of sorts, in my head, so can recall what I want if I get somewhere where it might be likely they have the plants I want, which, unfortunately, is not often enough!
Hi Shirley, I did wonder why you thought it was quiet? You must all have come on at the same time. in regards to the Milton solution, I make it up to the ratio suggested on the bottle (too comfortable to go look at it) and you can use this to spray the seedlings, or to wash your containers and even the seed. Its the same stuff used for sterilising baby bottles.
I imagine your parcel will arrive today or Thursday, as its a bit slow from here. In their wisdom it goes 7 hours back to Sydney, then the 11-12 hours back the other way. I've tried sending things express, and it takes the same time, and three times as much cost!
Thanks for measuring Neo. 'Justins Song' is it a relatively new purchase for you? I will have a look on Ebay later and see if its still there.
Your little pot of Crypt. bivattatus looks very happy!
Bree, Neo. 'Hurricane Alley' is back on Ebay, with two bids, last I looked. I thught one might be you, so I decided to leave it this time. I think it looks a bit like N. 'Cliff Siverd'?
Nev, I saw this technique for growing Tillandsias at Barry Cables in Brisbane. He had polystyrene board and covered it with coconut fibre, held on by winding cotton or fishing line around and around. You spread the Tillandsia seed over it, and wind more cotton around to hold it on, then hang it in a shaded, airy spot and mist it daily, in the morning, so that its dry by night fall. You can have it on both sides, so a good space saver. I find the birds keep nicking
the coconut fibre, so I lose a few seelings, but it doesn't matter too much. You can thn mount the seedlings when they are big enough to handle.
Aechmea pectinata 'Kathy Dorr' was discussed on Garden web some time back, so maybe a search there might bring up more info? It does seem small to be colouring up, but as I only got it this year, I am not complaining, because my other one has sulked for years, although is showing a little colour now.
Thanks for the info on Cryptanthus. I'll pick up some African violet mix next time I am at Bunnings and re-pot a couple and see how they go.
Photo one is my Billbergia 'Estrella' seed pod, that something has had a munch on! I managed to get about 30 seed out of it, so hopefully they are ripe.
Photo two is an Aechmea nudicaulis. I think its variety nordestina?
Photo three is a baby A. chantinii, which will hopefully attach to the tree its Mum is sitting in.
Photo four is N. 'Rosey Morn' in the afternoon sun. I'm looking for things to cross, and wondered what a cross with N. 'Jewellery Shop' would do?
Photo five is Ananas tricolour coming into fruit. Unfortunately there is too much shade and the plant lost its pink tones.
Anywa, thats it for me.
Hello to all the lurkers!
Sue

Wed 7th

Well at last I have some good news; once again I did a test post on DG and this time it worked. This same thing happened a while back where I couldn’t post for a while and then it just came good on its own accord; maybe it’s trying to tell me I’m talking too much! Anyway, I'll get on and type a few comments and hope it's still working when I've finished. I don't know about posting pic's yet as I haven't tried that, but by the time I get this finished, I should know. I must thank Sue for helping out and relaying my posts while I couldn't send them, I guess it's a good example of the old saying of “where there's a will there's a way”, so thanks again Sue.

Sue - I like your Ae. Nudicaulis “sport”, it's more of a lime yellow in colour and I think it would grow OK on its own as there would be enough green pigment in the leaves to sustain it. It would be interesting to see if it will throw any pups of the same colour and certainly worthwhile trying to stabilise any that it produces. I had a Bill 'Foster's Striate' that once sent up a similar coloured sport but I wasn't as interested in that sort of thing then as I am now and unfortunately didn't do anything with it.

That's a great looking flower spike starting to happen on your alcantarea and judging by the thickness of it, you will have to get the chain saw out to cut it off when it's finished.

I also love your little frog, and they're always a good sign of a healthy environment.

Ian – I think Sue's “nailed it” by correctly identifying your plant as Canistrum aurantiacum, I don't know why I didn't see that, but all of the pic's I looked at had markings on the leaves. That will teach me to not do things in haste and to look more carefully in the future.

I think you did the right thing dumping your infested plants of Bill pyramidal are as it's a pretty common plant and easily replaced. We aren't troubled much with fly-speck scale down here as I don't think the climate is hot enough as it seems to favour the tropics more. I have found though that Bill Pyramidalis does seem to attract White Soft Scale and Mealy Bug; that's why I always keep a single plant as an “indicator” to remind me it's time to closely check my plants and if these pests are present, I can eradicate them before they get a hold of things. Like a lot of cultural problems, these pests can more often than not be either put down to over-crowding or coming with a plant you have brought in from elsewhere. I know we brom growers always say, “There’s always room for one more plant”, but if causes overcrowding and loss of good air circulation, perhaps it’s not a good rule to follow.

As for your Guzmania Wittmackii, I think you have labelled it correctly by adding NOVAR after the name. For anyone here who doesn't know the meaning of NOVAR it is just an abbreviation of NO VARiegation. I don't think it's a written law that this must be done, but more likely something done by all “responsible growers” who don't want to deceive people who buy these non-variegated plants into thinking that the variegations will develop at a later date; they won't!

Sorry I can't help you with your NOID in Pic 1, but when I look closely I would think it does have a bit of concentrica in its breeding background somewhere. Once again there are traces of those semi concentric rings I spoke of in a previous post. As for your plant of Neo 'Kelvin' there is an interesting history about the naming of this plant. There are no parents listed on the BCR but it does tell us that it was registered by Rob Smythe of Townsville who says: “Named for a Kelvin Shannon who was a Curator at the Townsville Bot. Gardens where this plant was found”.

Breeindy – That's a great coloured “blanchie” in your pictures and hopefully the seller is genuine and the plant you bought will turn out just as eye catching.

Wendy – Sorry to hear that Max is having trouble with a bleeding nose; hopefully it’s just a case of a blood thinning agent in some of his medication which is causing the problem. The trouble with dogs is that you just can't tell them to press the nostrils together until the bleeding stops, they just naturally sneeze to clear the nasal cavity and as we all know, blowing your nose during a nose bleed is the worst thing you can do and only makes it bleed more. Maybe you or Johnny should have sat with him and pinched his nostrils together?

It will be interesting to see how the Milton works on the little gnats and hopefully you will pass on the results to all of us. It may also be good for sterilising dry seed before it's sown and sprayed with again after it has been sown. There are some really great looking hybrids in those Vriesea pic's you posted and it definitely shows just what can be achieved when one dabbles around with Mother Nature.

Trish – When you get your trolley, get one with inflatable tyres; it will cost you a bit more but well worth the cost; especially if you have to push it over grass. I had a couple of old trolleys I bought from Bunning's way back when they first opened, and like Sue we are also troubled by the salt air which has taken its toll on the metal in both of them. However I was able to make up a bit of a prototype by adding the handles from one to extend the handles on the other and then mounting a plastic bread try on it to carry plants on. It works OK but would be much better with inflatable tyres. The best part is that our grandsons love it and every time they come over, they drag it out from under the house and push each other around the yard in it.

Shirley – Unfortunately I think you will find that all new high quality hybrids like those in Wendy’s pictures will be of such a high price as to put them out or reach for most of us for a while yet. Like most plants however, after they have been around for a while and there are more and more produced, the prices will drop to a level where we all can afford them. Until then we just have to be patient and wait.

That's all for today, except to say, “get well soon” to anyone on the sick list and “where the bloody hell are you?” to the other regulars who used to post. Once again, thanks to Sue for relaying my messages for me and it looks like now everything’s working again, you have to put up with a “double dose” from me today.

Pic.1 is part of the Ae Nudicaulis I won in the raffle on Saturday, (I gave the other half to a friend) Pic. 2 is a variegated Ae nudicaulis I found when “walking around the traps” yesterday together with Pic.3 a beautiful flower on a cold damaged plant of a Quesnelia. (Unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to accurately capture the beautiful cerise coloured flowers which at first glance looks a bit like crepe paper) Pic 4 is Neo Rosy Morn just starting to come into colour and pic 5 is the prototype brom trolley I improvised and which the grandsons' have taken ownership of.

All the best, Nev.

Hi again – Last Sunday (4th.) I had typed up this info. which I thought you all may find interesting, but what with all of the D.G problems I've been having, I forgot to send it on to Sue for posting so I’ll post it now, better late than never.

We had a wonderful meeting on Saturday 3rd. and had the rep from “Neutrog Fertilisers” as a guest speaker and he told us all about their products as well as some new lines that are coming out soon. I have previously used a Neutrog product called “Strikeback for Orchids” on my brom's and found it to be a good natural product which is similar to Dynamic Lifter and based on chook poop.

As well as this they also have other pelletised products made from “fowlsh” mixed with seaweed which is good as it's all from natural sustainable resources. As well as the pelletised types they are now also marketing some in a liquid form as well as another line called GOGO JUICE which is advertised as a pro-biotic liquid for soil and plants.

According to the rep they are getting great, quick results from this on the turf surfaces of football fields and race tracks after they have been used of a weekend and need to be rejuvenated quickly for the following weekend. From what he says it seems to me it would be a good product for brom's suffering stress from heat, cold or any other sources.

Another new product is “Kahoona” which is primarily for camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons but with a NPK of 6.4, 1.95, 8.2 as well as trace elements of calcium, magnesium, sulphur, iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum and boron, I think it should be suitable for brom's and I'll be giving it a try as we all received a sample bag of various products including this one.

When summing up at the end of his talk he emphasised that theirs was a reasonably new company in the fertiliser field and was willing to listen to suggestions from growers about ways to improve their products and possible suggestions for new ones. So while I had the chance I jumped up and told him of the problem brom growers have trying to get a reasonably priced fertiliser with a low Nitrogen and high Potassium content with the only good one being Osmocote “High K” which is at present only available in 20kg bags and marketed for professional growers at about $180 dollars a bag which is quite expensive and out of the reach of the average back yard grower. He listened to what I said and took notes, but whether it goes any further than that who knows?

As well as this interesting guest speaker, our monthly point score tables looked more like an annual show with the most plants being benched that I have ever seen since being a member. The quality was also very high and there was also a good selection of unusual species which we seldom ever get the opportunity to see which was also very interesting. It's good to see growers are becoming more aware of the importance of growing species especially as they are becoming more and more extinct in their native habitat due to land clearing. Even the commonly grown little Ae pineliana minuta is now said to be extinct in the wild so it is very important for us to keep growing these species so they may live on and be available for future generations to enjoy.

To finally top off a very pleasant meeting, I won a prize in the raffle which was a plant of Ae nudicaulis v. aureo-rosea (albeit a bit rough), but nevertheless a nudicaulis I've been chasing for quite some time. I guess everything comes to he who waits!

That's enough of my ramblings for today and I'll leave you all in peace now until tomorrow when hopefully D.G. will still be working OK for me and I can post again.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone. we had a very very stressful day today imagining and expecting the worst possible outcome. The vet really and truy expected to find a tumour in Max's nose which was impacting a major blood vessel causing the nose bleeds. the vet went as far as asking "if we find abc what action do you want us to take?" and "if we find xyz what do you want us to do?" We truly thought they were going to find the tumour but hoped they would find a fungal infection causing all the problems. We opted for a needle to never wake up if they did find a tumour so we were waiting on tenterhooks all day for the phone call to say he didn't wake up. When the vet phoned about 3pm to say he had just woken up I nearly cried with relief and that's when my stomach started aching and I felt sick. till then I had kept busy potting up seedlings and writing tags for them all. Johnny of course helped to pot up his vrisea seedlings and it kept him occupied instead of fretting. I almost had to tie him up to make him wait till 5pm when we could collect Max. Anyway we now have another thousand $$$ less in the bank and another night waiting for more test results as the procedure today didn't show up a tumour where they expected to find one. they still think there may be atumour up higher where their scope couldn't reach so they took samples and blood tests for specialist examination. So more $$$ tomorrow I guess. anyway we still have our Max home with us. At one point yesterday I thought I was going to lose both my boys so it was a stressful couple days and another one tomorrow. Oh and they even brought in a donor dog incase Max needed a blood transfusion if he had a major bleed on the table. I've never even heard of a donor dog but never thought about the need I guess. they think of everything don't they?

anway back to broms. we didn't do anything except pot up seedlings. I will get some pics tomorrow of the seedlings we potted up. some have grown to a good size in 1 year.

Nev I love your trolley made from a bread tray. we have a trolley that we purchased from Mitre 10 several years ago but it is now getting a bit rusty. It has a green plastic tray and we have always left it out in the yard. at times it has even filled up with water with broms sitting inside so now has some splits and underneath has rust spots on the metal bits. it has been a wonderful and useful asset so we may get another one. perhaps Johnny should have a go at modifying it a bit like you did nev. ours is also very popular with the girls wanting rides too.

anyway I think we might need an early night tonight so I'll say goodnight now.
Wendy

Hi all,nothing much achieved here today, just filled the rubbish bin and read a book. Time off for Ian, just for today.
Nev, I read with alarm that you are considering using a high nitrogen fertiliser and another one with copper and zinc, both poisons to broms. I trust that you will tread with caution and not experiment with your best plants. But then you have a lot more experience than i do. Maybe the results will teach me something more about growing broms.
As for dumping plants, i have to get rid of the source and some of that is in the bases of clumping palms. When I get rid of enough of these then I have a chance of controlling pests within the rest of my yard. I have been watching this white stuff on the palms for months and it didn't register as to what it was. A combination of mealy bug, white fly and soft bodied scale. I am guessing that this was the breeding ground.
Overcrowding could have been part of the problem also. When I take out a plant for Group functions or buy 1 from outside it goes straight into quarrantine area. I cannot take any chances at the moment, probibly that will be a good rule for me to follow. Sometimes I win a plant either in the raffle or at our auction and mix it with mine in the back of the car. possible spread of disease.
I will have to look again at the basics of growing Crypts, thanks for the link.
My pics load quicker form where I have filed them than just saved to desktop because I have to resize them to save them in file. Makes sense to me. Why didn't I think of it.
Sue, thanks for naming the Canistrum. I like the idea of using coconut fibre to start the Til seeds, just as a decorative thought I wonder how it would look if a coconut with the hard skin removed would look and go, I have a few tills growing on coconuts. I have no ladybugs here only green ants and they farm aphids and other sap suckers to get the honeydew as food. I could get rid of the ants with a dog flea killer/repellant but they would be back unless all my neighbours did the same.If I take away their food then they may go elswhere to get some.
D G didn't stuff up I did, I just got my pics mixed up. As for losing plants I think it is a side effect of growing broms. I found it today, the lazy plant was just lying around after I dropped a tree branch on it. I cleaned up the branch from the opposite end to where the plant was. Plant is ok, not hurt.
Wendy, i hope things work out ok for Max
Great looking pics from all
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 N Mini ampullacea red
Pic 2 N mini ampullacea
Pic 3 N mini NZ Ampullacea
Pic 4 N mini Carolinea X painted lady

1. must be Blushing Tiger. 2. Fairytale. 3. I think red ribbons is getting to much sun. 4. My marbled throat in flower.

Hi everyone, not much happening here at the moment, we didn’t win lotto or anything … maybe next week.

Sue, I bought neo Justins Song as a fairly large pup in March, so about 8 months ago.

Wendy, that’s good news about Max, lets just hope it’s good news tomorrow about the tests taken today. Maybe you should encourage Johnny to go fishing to keep him calm.

Hi Ian, Bree, Nev (great to have you back) and everyone else looking in.

Just the one pic tonight … I would be interested to know what you think this neo might be, thanks.

Shirley

good morning all.
Shirley, I am not familiar with your plant, but its a beauty! It sort of reminds me of 'Gee Whizz' (I seem to say that alot these days) Is it quite large? It looks large. We didn't win lotto either, but you would have had to get at least six numbers to get more than a few hundred dollars.
Bree, Your Neoregelia 'Fairy Tale' is awesome. I'm sure I have one, but doesn't look at all like yours.
Ian, sometimes its nice to have a break from the garden, and read a book. I usually do that on rainy days, but we haven't had many of those recently. I hope you give the coconut growing Tillandsia seed idea a try. I'll be interested to see how it goes? Do you have some seed to try? I have a few pods of Tillandsia utriculata, recently collected, if anyone would like to have a go. This particluar Till. only grows from seed, it doesn't pup.
I like your ampullacea collection. The first one looks alot like N. 'Tar Baby' or N. 'Little Black'.the pictures look a little dark though.
Wendy, sorry to hear you didn't find out anything definitive, and have another day of worrying ahead of you. Lets hope the tests come back quickly with the best possible outcome.
Fishing sounds like a good distraction.
Nev, wouldn't that be good if the fertiliser rep takes notice of our growing requirements and they make a fertiliser especially for broms? I'm sure you will tell us when it becomes available. Lets hope they keep it with in our price range.
I am glad you are able to post again, as I was concerned when there was no Email awaiting me this morning. It has been no trouble to do, and I learned some things about my computer along the way.
My poor Alcantarea. It hasn't even flowered yet and you're talking about cutting it off! Wash your mouth out! heh heh. I will let it go to seed before that happens. I have a few small seedling of the same plant, from seed that Wendy sent me ages ago, but not enough to have a good supply should anyone be interested in purchasing some.
My trolley is a metal one, with drop down sides, and pneumatic tyres. I have to check the nuts and bolts in the wheels from time to time, as they do work loose from bumping over the yard. A couple of sales back I had a young customer with three small children that were making it difficult for her to shop, so I loaded them in the trolley and we went walking around the garden. That sale made enough to buy another trolley, so it has paid for itself in more ways than one. I like your idea with the movers trolley. They come on special from time to time, at Supercheap Autos for around $20. Great for moving heavy bags of potting mix, or big potted plants!

Photo one shows that 31 seconds is too long for a small container of Sphagnum in the microwave
Photo two....why I hate gum trees
Photo three, it didn't damage anything as even the Cliveas stood back up when it was removed. It must have been slowed by the palm trees.
Photo four is Billbergia rosea in flower. Gosh its big, Nev!
Photo five is my hand for comparison.
We are supposed to get some good rain this weekend, but I am still going to water, just in case!
Sue

Good morning everyone – More showers over night down here and if that's the pattern of things to come, then bring it on, everything looks so lovely and fresh every morning,(except me of course).

Wendy – That's great that you have Max home and like I've said on previous occasions, I have the greatest admiration for vets and I sometimes think they are more skilled than doctors who treat humans. I'm sure the medical profession could learn a lot from veterinary methods which could benefit humans. I know for a fact that our vet reckons the medical profession has it all wrong when it comes to prescribing medications. He says they wrongly advise doses based on age and average weight of e.g. babies, children and adults where they should be prescribing on individual patient weight the same as is done by a vet. To explain more fully, he gives the example that if you give the required does to two men, one weighing 65 kg and another weighing 110kg, you will get two very different results as the lighter man will possibly be “over-dosed” and the larger man “under-dosed” and in both cases the medications are not being used to their full advantage. As for bringing in a “donor dog”, well I hadn't heard of that before, but it does make a lot of sense as I suppose that's easier and cheaper than having animal blood banks all over the country.

Ian – I certainly don't consider the “Kahoona” with a NPK of 6.4, 1.95, 8.2 to be high in Nitrogen; I have found that pretty well all fertilisers where the Potassium is higher than the Nitrogen is OK for brom's, in fact a lot of the ones commonly used have a Nitrogen rating as high as 13 to15 and the potassium less and only 8 to 10 in comparison . It's not so much the number of the particular ingredient but more importantly the ratio of that ingredient compared to the others we should be considering. As for your concerns about copper and zinc which you advise are both poisonous to brom's, I agree; but these chemicals are in most fertilisers, and in such “tiny” amounts which make up the necessary mixture of “trace elements” and in these quantities are harmless. When you compare them with the other ingredients they really are very, very small quantities, and to use the popular Osmocote for example which is used safely by many brom growers all over the world, the amount of copper and zinc is only 0.05% and 0.015% respectively.

Breeindy – I love the Neo 'Fairytale' in fact I love any brom's with those nice wide leaves and nice rounded shape and I agree that your Ae. Red Ribbons is getting too much sun as the bleaching is very obvious. Last year I took two plants of Red Ribbons and grew them in two different locations, high light and low light. The one in high light looked very much like yours with the effects of sun bleaching very obvious. The one grown in low light had much richer colours although the leaves were a bit linger where they had been reaching out for the light, so where you grow them I think is a matter of personal taste, like it is with all brom's.

I must congratulate you on your wonderful “study of nature” in pic 5 with the ant on his way to do a bit of flower pollinating. (keep your eyes open for possible seed pods in a few months time). I think this clearly demonstrates that a lot of the plants that we think we as humans have pollinated, have in fact been done by ants before or after us, and consequently the credit we take for producing nice hybrids should possibly be given to the ants and not us at all.

Shirley – Sorry I can't help you with a name for your plant except to say that it's a Neoregelia hybrid of some sort. However, I must say the collection of NOIDS you are accumulating are much better quality plants than a lot of the popular registered and named ones and I wish plants like this were available don here.

Sue – You sure made a bit of a mess with the microwave didn't you? Did you know that Bunnings now have N.Z. Sphagnum Moss in a compressed block. (It says “fush un chups” when you microwave it) Ha! Ha!

I haven't used it yet but some of the overseas growers use a similar product and just re-hydrate it without microwaving it and find it works OK. Maybe sufficient heat is used in the de-hydration process to kill all the “nasties”.

I'm sure there will be no shortage of seed from your Alcantarea (as long as a branch from the Gum Tree doesn't fall on it) I have grown Alcantareas from seed in the past and found that because the seed is large, they grow very quickly and easily so I imagine you'll have enough to sow all over the lawn and then you won't have to mow.

You've certainly done a good job with your Bill. 'Rosea', it's a beautiful plant but unfortunately, like all Bill's, the flowers are short lived. I particularly find the “watch-spring” type flowers fascinating and very appropriately named, as they do look like a coiled up watch spring.

That's it for this morning and I'll finish of with an interesting group of pic's showing the progressive colour changes of the very popular Nidularium 'Litmus 'Pic's 1- 4. (It will still show more blue as it matures even more and I'll post a pic of the “finished product” at a later date). Pic 5 shows what's left of last years flowering.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone.
Thanks for all the messages of support re Max and his health problems. we waited for the call from the vet this morning with the results but it didn't come. Instead we had a call from Chris (our son getting married) to say that his battery had died and Jess was going to Sunshine Coast today via airport to pick up her bridesmaids (sister & best friend). so that was the last bit of stress that Johnny needed. anway after the money we've paid out for Max Chris is driving around with the battery out of Johnny's boat. anyway after sorting him out we decided to see what was in our wardrobes to wear to the wedding. Johnny had 2 good black slacks .... alas 1 too big and 1 too small. So we had to dash off to the shopping centre for new ones. Luckily the first shop we went to we found a lovely black pin striped pair that fitted him perfectly and while he was in trying them on I browsed and pulled out a lovely dress for me which he really loved also. so we both have new outfits. (and i had just washed all my good corporate bling that I'd kept and tried on .... they smelled a bit dusty hence the wash). anyway we'd only just gone into Big W to see all of the lovely things from Olive Branch when the vet rang. Yesterday's tests were again showing nothing so the vet had rung the UQ vet school for advice and they jumped at the chance to take on Max as a training patient. So the rest of the day was spent up in St Lucia at vet school. again first thing said was "we do think there is a tumour there somewhere we just haven't found it yet". every vet we've seen has believed it to be cancer but the tests have not backed up their diagnosis. this vet really checked him over much more than any of the others and found swollen lymph glands on left side so everything is on left. he also has no air flow from left nostril which points to a blockage there somewhere. they wanted to keep him oernight toight and do some procedures in the morning and then keep him tomorrow night also for observation. she said we could pick him up Saturday morning but with the wedding that was impossible for us. so he goes in Tuesday morning. Jen has kindly agreed to check on him a couple of times Saturday for us. The reason for the checks is that the vets all believe there is a possibility that he could have another bleed from the nose and bleed to death so he is to be kept calm with sedatives and we have spray to shrink the blood vessels in that L nostril. hopefully that will keep the bleeding to a minimum. So it still looks like we will eventually have a cancer diagnosis. oh and another bill of $1500 on Tuesday. We probably should just say put him to sleep but he is not sick or in pain and Johnny is not ready to say that until we hear that confirmation of cancer. I guess until there is positive proof there is a hope it is something else. so we have fingers crossed for a few more days.

Sue, I was surprised at the explosion in your microwave. My first thought was that I use 30 sec as we have a button that sets 30 sec increments of time. but then I realised the microwave downstairs has the old dial so I just spin it round. I think it usually clicks to around 10 - 20 secs. I'm going to try using the milton to sterilise the mix now. I also keep the mix in a bucket with a twist seal lid so no exposure to bugs. Oh and that technique of wrapping the coconut fibre around the foam was at Barry Genn's place not Barry Kable. too many Barry's around isn't there?
Pic 1. I sometimes grow my till seed on fibre fllled balls made of fishing net as in pic 1. I tuck the seed in behind the net and then just dunk the ball into the bird bath every other day. you will notice that the bottom half of the ball has germinated better than the top half and I believe that is because the bottom is wetter for longer. This ball contains seed of till gardneri.
Pic 2 is a ball of till hayley's comet that has almost disappeared beneath the tillandsias.
Pic 3 is another way that I grow tills. I glued a very small ionantha seedling onto this little gnome statue a couple years ago. it is now almost overgrowing the gnome and looks great when it flowers. but I've never been successful at pollinating any of these and obtaining seed. and the ionantha seed I purchased from Brom-L hasn't sprouted at all so maybe I cooked them beside the heater over winter. If anyone knows of a source of ionantha seed please think of me. I'd love to have another go with them. I have a contact overseas who says that they have tillandsias growing on everything that doesn't move in his neighbourhood including the power lines. he is going to collect some next seed collecting season and will send me some. not sure what I'll get if anything but fingers crossed there'll be some ionantha and stricta.
Pic 4 is some seedlings Johnny tied up on a length of fishing line and hung from the shadcloth roof to the shelf below. they were all little seedlings like this we plucked off the shadecloth where the seed had blown and attached and grew. we didn't know what they were but the last couple months they flowered and turned out to be schiediana I think. the wire is now almost completely covered so Johnny did another one that is strung just below the shadecloth from post to post. I'll download a pic soon of the first one and the new one so you can see how they have grown.

Oh Sue when we went to Barry Genn's did you get a piece of his schiediana yellow form? If you did that has now been proven to be a species as the seed produces the exact same plant with yellow flower spike. these have been named as tillandsia shy and the minor form is t. little shy or shy too. (can't remember but it gives you a starting point to check BCR or FCBS.)

Anyway I'm off to bed soon. havea big day tomorrow again. I'll be glad when it is this time next week and one way or another all our stresses will be over (hopefully all of them). We're actually thinking about jumping in the motorhome and taking off to Coffs Harbour to laze on the beach and fish for a couple of days. not sure if it will be park on north or south side of Coffs but it is only a wish at the moment.

Might watch a bit of TV before going to bed so I'll wish you all goodnight.
Wendy

Evening everyone, almost the weekend again.

Sue, the NOID in my last post is a large neo but not as large as Gee Whizz, though as you say, similar. I thought it might be neo Tossed Salad, there is one pic that looks similar on the BCR.

I have been ‘cooking’ my coco peat in the microwave for 5 minutes. So far no explosions but I’m guessing it doesn’t take that long to sterilize the mix.

Sue, that bill Rosea flower is unreal, so BIG.

Bree, I think your neo Fairy Tale is awesome too. I have one which doesn’t look like yours either though it is just a pup and still mostly green. If it turns out like yours, I’ll be very happy.

Wendy, sounds like your day started out really crappy but improved with a little retail therapy and Max will be in really good hands and he’ll be just fine … think positive, relax and enjoy the wedding.

Love those little till Ionantha. They are very pretty, are they always coloured or only when in bloom.

Well, it’s nearing midnight so I’m off to bed, G’night

Shirley

Fri 9th

G'day everyone – It's just gone 5.00 am as I start this so I can't see what the day's going to be like, but although we had a little rain overnight, we didn't end up getting the deluge they had predicted but a little further north they copped some really violent storms with hail the size of golf balls.

Wendy – Hopefully the vets will find a way through all of the puzzles troubling Max and at least you now know he's getting the best possible treatment so fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

Although “Tillies” aren't my thing, I really find the way you are growing them on those balls most attractive, I think they look great! I read somewhere once that they grow like grass in Brisbane and all points north is this true? I have a friend in Townsville who has them growing on the side of an old wooden garden shed where the seed has blown and the only care they get is an occasional spray with the hose. Another friend who is a member of our local brom society has Till. seedlings growing profusely on the branches of a Bottle Brush tree in his front yard. They haven't been planted by him but the seed has just dropped from the adult plants above and self sown.

Shirley - Like you, I always cook my Coco Peat in the microwave for 5 minutes on high and always have with never any problems, so maybe it's something in the Sphagnum that's giving Sue the unexpected results. I always put a lid on my containers so maybe it's this which keeps everything within the container.

Sue – After you posted the pic of your Bill 'Rosea' yesterday, I went looking and found a nice big fat spike just starting to stick its head up out of one of my plants, I can't get to the other plant too easily to have a look at that also but I expect if it is going to flower I will see it eventually. I have found 'Rosea' to be a very easy Bill to grow from seed so I'll self pollinate a few flowers so I'll have a bit of seed to share around.

That's all for today and I'll finish with a few pic's. Pic 1 is Neo xcorreia-araujoi just coming into flower. I'll also have 'Rosy Morn' and a large white flowered 'Cruenta' in flower at the same time so I'll probably try a little hybridising with the aim of getting large Neo's suitable for land scaping. Pic 2 is Ae 'Ruby Red' and shows what happens when you hang your plants up near the roof and don't keep a watch on them. This plant is thought to be a hybrid from Gamosepala x Cylindrata. and was previously known as Gamosepala 'Rubra' but was registered as 'Ruby Red' in 2011 so if you grow this one, change the name on your label. Pic3 is Neo Lambert's Pride (twin pups) Pic 4 and 5 show the vast difference in two plants from the same batch of Neo 'Rosea Striata' x 'Bea Hanson' seed. Pic.4 is heavily striated with red and in the plant in pic 5 the striations are just faintly visible.

All the best, Nev.

good morning all. I have woken to the sound of thunder and the pitter patter of very small rain drops. Yay. We need the rain, but I hope there is a break later this morning, as I want to go and visit a couple of Brom friends and see their collections! I'll take the gumboots and umbrella just in case.
Nev, I love Nidularium litmus, and like the way you have taken the photos of the changes. I thought I had been sold the wrong plant when it first flowered pink,but after the blooms faded, it turned a lovely lilac/blue.
Wendy, how good is it that there is a training school for vets that Max can go to. I think, as most of us are dog owners, we can understand your reluctance to let go of Max just yet. It is lucky you are in a position to pay the bills. I hope the wedding goes off without a .....hitch, thats not quite the right word eh? heh heh.
Well, I was stunned to read it was a different Barry's house we went to, as he was introduced as Barry Cable, and I have been referring to him as that ever since. how embarrassing! I did get both the Tillandsia scheidiana yellow, minor and major, and had a flower on the minor this year. I think the major is throwing a spike now?
Shirley, I usually cook the peat for about 5 minutes also, with the lid on, but the sphagnum, only a couple of minutes. I actually had the timer on for one minute but at 31 seconds I heard it go 'Bang'. All good anyway, and I got my Billbergia 'Estrella' seeds sown. Like you, I hope my Neoregelia 'Fairytale' turns out like Brees, as I have taken a couple of pups off to grow on in the brom house, where they might get a bit more light.
Photo one is a Neo NOID that is green in shade, and takes full sun now hat its been grown here a couple of years. It also grows in a pot with a saucer, and has never suffered rot. It gets a little bit bigger than shown. any ideas?
Photo two is T. fuchsii forma gracillis in flower.
Photo three is Alcantarea brasiliana AGAIN!
Photo four is our bromeliad chandelier hanging from a gum tree branch
Photo five is Billbergia 'Poquito Mas'
Till tomorrow
Sue

This message was edited Nov 9, 2012 6:45 AM

Hi everyone, we had a little bit of rain here late this arvo and hopefully we will get more tonight.

I planted some till seed today on to one of those compressed fibre basket liners. Initially I hung it in the shadehouse but it dried out very quickly so I have now moved it into deeper shade in a more protected area on the back patio. I will mist it a couple of times a day and hopefully I will get some of the seed to germinate ... how long should it take before I see little green bits in the fibre, please.

Tomorrow I plan to sow some neo and some vriesea seed, thanks to both Wendy and Sue for the seed. I have the coco peat prepared and in the containers, sterilized in the microwave and cooled … all set to go.

Nev, nice pics as always, good luck with your hybridising. Loved the jokes you sent too.

Sue, I like your brom chandelier, it looks great.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Wendy, I hope the wedding goes well.

I don’t have any new broms, so I’ll attach a new photo of an old brom … neo enchantment.

Bye for now, Shirley