Bromeliads for novices and addicts - Jan 2013

Hi eveyone. just a quick one tonight as that flu is making a return run. the throat is killing me again and my voice is getting very croaky again.

Trish I think your pic 1 is actually neo kiku. it's a lovely good sized neo. love those large spots. will get a pic of mine tomorrow. Your hula girl is looking really great also.

Ian in my last post pic 4 & 5 were actually the same plant. If I went by the infloresence alone I would have said fendleri too but the mottled plant says it is not.

I have another couple of those neo little africa x strawberry like SHirley's if anyone wants one. If you get a spot with just the right amount of sun you get some lovely colour. I've had them in too much sun and they bleach and not enough sun and you get a really pale washed out colour. I think I've worked out the best spots for just that right amount of afternoon pure sun and get that brilliant chocolate patches.

We are planning another sale for the Australia Day long weekend. Johnny is keen to do all 3 days so hope Monday is not too busy so Jen can rest up for school again next week.
I'm off to bed now to rest this throat again.
Night all
Wendy

Hi all, it’s a bit cooler here tonight, thank heavens … just wish we would get some rain.

Sounds like just about everyone is crook, lots of bugs going about.

Trish, love your neo Nikiko / Kiku, it’s unusual and very pretty.

Wendy, sorry to hear you are losing the flu battle. I am actually on the mend, not that I was really sick anyway … still a bit of a cough and sore throat. Hopefully, we will get over to see you when you have your sale.

Just some vriesea pics tonight and I’ve probably posted them before. Anyway, pic 1 is Highway Beauty, pic 2 is Galaxy, pic 3 is Sunset … all the stripey ones … luv ‘em.

Does anyone have a variegated Vriesea Philippo Coburgii for sale or swap. I saw a lovely big one for sale not so long ago and at a very reasonable price. I didn’t buy it as there were so many others I wanted … have been kicking myself ever since.

Has anyone heard from Sue

Anyway, it’s getting late so I’m off, bye for now

Shirley

here I am, here I am.
Sorry everyone I've had a busy weekend and still more business to come so forgive me if I am a bit lax on my replies.
Shirley, your variegated Vrieseas are gorgeous! I saw a very large V. 'Rafael' at the Chandler markets some time ago, on a visit to Qld, and it was $50! I am kicking myself that I didn't buy it either. Unfortunately I don't have one to share with you :(
Sorry to hear you are under the weather, along with Trish, Wendy and Johnny (with his falls) but glad to hear you feel as though you are on the mend.
Bree, I would love to see some of your garden as it gets its bromeliad makeover. I love those Tiger stripe Neos, but must admit, the hannibal series look too similar for me to warrant buying the lot. I have my N. 'Hannibal Lector' F2 seedlings, which are all slightly different, so they keep me happy.
Nev, I hope you are getting enough time off from the joys of bromeliad growing, to spend quality time with your family? thanks for all the info on the nastines of pesticides. There is alot of info to be found on the internet, and no excuse for not reading the label. I don't even use fly spray in the house (outside for paper wasps and mossie havens) and prefer the insects to the poison. less damaging? There are some good organic methods of control for insect pests, but you have to be pretty dedicated as they are hands on and often time consuming. I am lucky enough to have alot of Assasin bugs and preying mantis, as well as huntsman spiders and frogs, so most other insects are taken care of, but scale gets by. This year we had swarms of lady birds, and these, coupled with my monitoring have helped to keep the scale from the citrus and the aphids off the cordylines. I was rescuing up to 200 a day out of the pool and relocating them to affected plants. have I told everyone all this before? If so, sorry to repeat!
Ian, I hope you don't suffer any ill effects from the exposure you have had. I have this horrible feeling that we have all been exposed to bad chemicals, through produce that has been grown with carcenogenic chemicals in the distant past. I try not to think about it too much, and enjoy eating what I like, and get the most out of life now. I tried the whole organic lifestyle a few years back and found I was getting mentally stressed by worry, which I think was more damaging to my health than anything previous. Its nice to grow your own produce, but who has the time?
Wendy, that must have been annoying to have left the important bag behind! That sort of thing goes on here too, but I have learned to check that the mediction is on board before we leave, as well as the wallet and spectacles! Hubby is notorious for leaving the important things behind, so
I always ask before we drive. I'm glad you enjoyed your quick trip anyway, and hope Johnny doesn't repeat too many more of those falls. Good luck with your Australia day sales.
Jean, you're not a bromelid addict.........nooooooo! heh heh. Its nice to know you are enjoying your broms, even though you are tied up with all your other plant loves. How has your weather been? Isn't your hubby part of the bush fire brigade team? Has he been busy down your way?
Trish, I am glad you managed to save your broms from the palm frond. Now to put them all back. I hope you start to recover from your chest infection soon. Summer sickness is the worst.
Hello to anyone else lurking out there. Don't be shy. Tell us where you are from, what broms you have and a few photos wouldn't go astray.
Speaking of photos, i think my camera is still out in the car, so none to add today. Seems a bit cheeky to make you read this big long post and have no prize at the end! Sorry about that.
I'll check back in when i can and pop a few pics on then.
Later
Sue

I havent finished potting up all my pups as yet or the new broms I just bought.
Here are a couple of pics of the pups and 2 of the new ones.

pic 1 ....some of the pups which are sitting in spaghnum moss until I get to potting them during the week.

pi 2....more pups, the 2 large ones are bill Kyoto. this lot are sitting in florist foam until they are potted up.

pic 3 ...some of the old mums.

pic 4 .. vr. erithrodactylon

pic 5... vr. platynema

Jean.

Hi all, just another hot dry day here. It is good to see a few famiar faces here and some very nice pics also.I recieved seeds from Sue today and have already planted some of them. Thanks Sue.
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 CCrypt Fosters lace
Pic 2 Crypt green ice

Hi Sue, I thought you must have gone on another holiday … sorry to hear its work keeping you away.

I managed to do a bit in the garden today but not as much as I would have liked. I spent about an hour searching for my camera. I remembered taking photos in the shade house and I thought I must have put it down somewhere. I searched the house, the back patio and shade houses … no camera. Finally I remembered taking some photos out the front of the house and there it was sitting on the table on the front patio. I should use the camera in my mobile phone, then at least I could ring it to find it.

It turned out to be quite a hot day again. This morning it was cooler and even looked like rain, then cleared up and got hot. We actually did get about 2 minutes of rain this afternoon , just enough to wet the washing that I should have taken in earlier. I rushed to get it in and it stopped raining about the same time I finished ripping the clothes off the line.

Jean, some lovely broms you have there, I especially like your bill Kyoto. I have bid on one a couple of times on eBay but haven’t yet been successful.

Hi to everyone else looking in.

I have a couple of pics of an Ananas, not sure of its’ name, maybe it’s Ananas Nanus as it’s a miniature and so cute. The fruit is about one inch in height at the moment on a tall stem and it has little blue flowers on it. If anyone can give me an ID, that would be great.

Nothing much else happening so I’ll say bye for now,

Shirley




This message was edited Jan 15, 2013 11:24 PM

Shirley. I bought my bil. Kyoto as a small pup a few years ago. If you look closely, the long leaves at the back of the pic is that original, now an old mum with a hail grown pup pup still attached plus a new one forming. .
The two in front are her pups, just removed from her.
If you would like one, Dmail me your details and I'll post one up to you.
Jean.

Hi everyone - Well it's everything back to normal today as my son and grandson have just left on their way back to Bali after a lovely seven day visit with us to celebrate my wife's birthday.

Today's job is to tidy up the floor of the Neo shade house and put some fine mulch on the floor to hold a bit of moisture during the hot days. I've now got the “wind shutters” finally finished and it seems they are doing the job they were designed to do when they are closed and don't detract from the plants too much when they are open.

It seems as though I've been very lucky with the very hot day we had here as it caused very little damage. The only plants to suffer were the ones in full sun which I couldn't remove as they were planted in the ground and which I didn't worry too much about as I had spares under cover anyhow. One was a large Vr Phillipo-cobergii with three flower spikes coming and which suffered a bit of burning and the others were a few Neo's in an exposed part of the garden; so all in all I got off pretty lightly compared to others in our area.

I definitely put my low level of sun damage down to the fact that I “Seasolled” every two weeks leading up to the hot weather and also during the late afternoons on the day before and after the heatwave. I also had a similar result after using it during a previous heatwave which was on a New Years Day a few years back and I can definitely recommend it as a good product.

As well as helping with heat stress it is also good at providing extra protection against the cold during the winter months; all this as well as the fact that it's a great tonic to build up plants strength, "well being" and resistance to disease. I know I sound like a “Seasol Salesman” but I'm not; I just like to “spread the word” to my friends if I find a good product, and likewise if I find a “dud” as well.

I'll get off the old soap box now and post a few more pic's of the Vrieseas and Guzmanias to finish with.

All the best, Nev.

Hello everyone,
I had a giggle at some of the posts, especially your comment Nev about us still being into prickly ones, ha ha ha.
I have read way too much to address everyone individually, so I'll just say, that the photos of everyone broms are fantastic. You have all been very busy it seems and sounds like we have all been dealing with this shocking heat. Not just up north. Nev so glad you don't seem to have had too much damage, your temps were just crazy! I have never actually taken the temp outside in the shade, so I'll have to do that on a hot day just out of curiosity. Inside here gets very hot here as we are not in a 'normal' house, so often it's far cooler to sit outside under the palms by the brom house and play with the hose to cool down. It is raining this morning so it's a bit cooler... I just hope the humidity isn't too bad later when the rain stops and the sun comes out...uggghhhh.
Well we have been selling off quite a few broms in the last week or two, well.... a lot for us..... not even a drop in the ocean compared to some peoples sales, lol. We have a little garden trolley and have sold 3 full trolleys full locally, (cheaply) and sold a few on ebay too. I can see some space... but then I take some pups off and space gone! But we have come to a decision that although we love them all and can never decide what to get rid of, that some just have to go, completely. Unfortunately we don't own where we live so it's a very real fact that we will have to move them one day, and the more crowded they are... it seems to be the more expensive ones that suffer, the cheapies seem more robust. So it's that constant balancing act, the cheaper ones are good and some of them are my favourites, easy to sell as average non brom obsessed gardeners will buy them, easy to look after and pup well. But then I have some other favourites that have cost a lot of money and they need room and air flow so they don't get sick or overheated as it's upsetting when you loose one that has cost a lot of money. So I can't crowd the brom house up too much. So we make these decisions.... some have to go for the benefit of the rest.... but then you walk through the brom house and can't pick which ones have to go. But we have done well to get rid of about 40 recently and that has made a bit of a difference.
Grasshoppers. I noticed it was mentioned earlier. Is there a spray you can use? Or is it just a manual seek and destroy type scenario. Our little brom house we made for pups and old mums has been getting attacked, I am always hunting for them, but they are just chewing holes in everything. the idea is to put pups in that little brom house to get roots and be able to sell them, or for the old mums to grow their pups out ready to be removed.... but then they are full of holes!
Well I don't know what's going on, but a few of the pups we brought in the last 2 months are now coming into flower! They are really big growers, but have probably only just started getting their roots, and now have flowers, bugger. Wait for pups now and try to grow them to full size.
Well not much else to say right now, the rain has stopped and it's getting warm now. Better get a move on.
Just a couple of shots in the brom house, so nice to how big they are now, they were all once little pups with not a lot of colour :)
Cheers Tash

WOW NICE Tash! is that 12 Carcharodon types in the 2nd picture? Are some Governors Plea?
Picture 1. Concentrica and 2. Veil. Is this what happens when its to hot? or to much sun?

This message was edited Jan 16, 2013 3:58 AM

Anyone have any Cee Bee pups for swap/sale?

Hi all, another hot one here today and still no rain. While we have been having these extreme temperatures I go around the gardens around 11.00 am and throw pieces of shadecloth over a few plants that I want to make sure don't get burnt and then uncover them again around 4.00 pm when it cools down a bit. Everything is in dire need of a good drink.

Jean, I would love one of your bill Kyoto pups and have sent you a Dmail, thanks heaps.

Nev, glad you had a lovely visit from your son and grandson for your wife’s birthday and it’s good to hear your plants didn’t suffer too much burn during the heatwave.

Tash, great to hear from you. I have seen some of your lovely broms on eBay. I love the Ae Samurai you have listed at the moment ... stunning. It will probably be a few years before I cross that off my wish list though, LOL. I am still having problems with the grasshoppers here, I’ve never seen so many of the little buggers. Let me know if you find a way of dealing with them.

Tash, I remember a little while back that Sue mentioned that pups which were removed when it’s very warm often flower prematurely … at least I think that was what she said. Maybe Sue can help you more with that one. Your brom house looks great.

Bree, what a shame your neos got burnt like that, hope they recover. I’m with you, neo Cee Bee is a real beauty.

Wendy, is it OK with you if we do the usual pre sale visit to you on the Friday before the long weekend of the sale … just to miss the weekend traffic snarl, mind you :o)

Wish I had some new photos to share, I’ll see what I can find …

Pic 1 is a large NOID neo, pic 2 is an unnamed vriesea hybrid, pic 3 is of some broms I tied to the Euodia tree above the new brom garden. I tied them on with nylon stockings but a couple of them were still a bit wobbly so I used cable ties to make them secure. Check out the brown and dying grass.

Might have a early one tonight, bye for now,

Shirley

Hi everyone - Looks like another nice day today although they are forecasting extreme heat (although not as bad as the heatwave day) for the remainder of the week so some early morning damping down to be done this this morning.

Tash – It's great to see you posting again and those Neo's in your first pic with the “breathtaking” colours are magnificent although I can't say I'm so fond of the “bench of prickles” in the second pic.Ha! Ha!

That's really good info about thinning out your brom's; it's something we never think about when we are first starting off as all we can think of is getting more to add to the collection. There is however a time when we all will have to start to cull a few plants and the number culled depends on the size of our collections.

As you say, if theses plants aren't thinned out, it leads to overcrowding and loss of valuable air circulation around plants which eventually leads to disease and eventually losses; but have you ever noticed that when plants die from this cause, it's always the good ones and never the “cheapies” that suffer? I guess the better ones have a more complex genetic make up and are not as strong as the more common ones which are obviously more robust hence the reason for them becoming so common. Some of these common plants can still have a purpose as parents in breeding programmes though as they can sometimes be used to pass on their vigor to the hybrid seedlings and “inject some new blood into the strain” so to speak.

I will cull plants from the benches in the shade house and these will go into the garden to replace some of the plants of lesser quality in there, and as I continue to cull, the quality of the plants in the garden improves as well as those in the main collection.

I think “culling” is the most difficult part of brom growing and something I never think I'll get used to doing. It's even harder with young seedlings as I continually ask myself if maybe some of these culled plants wouldn't have grown to maturity and been "outstanding" plants. But space in the shade house will dictate how many plants you can comfortably accommodate and the rest have to go by some means, either culling or giving to growers just starting out.

Quite often a plant which is destined for the bin will be admired by someone else for some feature in it that appeals to them personally and instantly you have found it a home, so maybe we should just put our “culls”out the front with a “free to a good home” sign on them.

Grasshoppers have always been and always will be a problem in this country and I have found that insecticides (which also poison the environment) are rarely effective as a control. I find that early morning during watering (especially under the leaves where these pests will hide) will flush them out and at this stage they are very sluggish and easy to catch. I can also guarantee that a grasshopper can do no more damage after you have caught it and pulled off its head; so there's your answer.

As for the correct time to remove pups, well yes there is a right and a wrong time, but when you have a large collection like I have, you have to remove them all through the year just to keep on top of them. I now tend to let my pups grow to almost adult size before removing them as I simple don't have the space to accommodate continued production of masses of pups and I find this doesn't disrupt the growing cycle and you get a better stronger pup. The down side is that if you're looking at increasing numbers, you won't get as many so the decision on when to take them is yours.

Breeindy – The plant in your fist pic looks just like some of my plants did after our first heat wave. This was caused by the water in the cup getting so hot that it scalded the tender new young leaves. If the damage has gone right down to the bottom of the well, the centre growing tip will die and the plant will start to rot. If this happens, cut out the rotten part, allow the damaged centre of the plant to dry out for a few days and then re-pot it and it will eventually give you some pups.

Although “unsightly”, the damage to the plant in the second pic is not so severe. This is often caused by a large droplet of water lying on the area of a leaf which causes it to act like a magnifying glass when the sun shines onto it. In your case it looks like the water was trapped between the two leaves but the end result was the same, scalds to both leaves. It works in much the same way as a magnifying glass does when the light is concentrated from it onto a piece of paper which eventually will start it burning. To treat the problem, just trim back the dead part of the leaves to the same shape as the ends of the other leaves and it will look instantly much better.

Shirley – It's surprising just how much damage can be prevented by just throwing scraps of shade cloth over plants to protect them from the sun. I once went to a friends place during a very hot day and he had done the same to his vegetable garden. As well as shade cloth scraps, he had newspaper and palm branches strategically placed all around the garden to protect his plants. I must say it looked terribly untidy, but it did prevent any damage from the sun.

Once again you've shown that even plants without names can still look attractive with pic's 1 and 2 being fine examples. As for tying plants to trees, it doesn't really matter what you use as long as the most important step in mounting plants is carried out and that is THEY MUST NOT BE ABLE TO MOVE ONCE MOUNTED. While ever they can move, their roots won't attach to the host tree and consequently they are forever dependent on what ever is used as a tie. Another thing growers often over look when mounting plants on trees, is the fact that due to better air circulation, they will dry out much quicker and consequently need more watering. To improve slightly on natural growing methods, they will also appreciate occasional foliar fertilising to give them that “extra boost”. Just be aware that in extreme cases where the plant and the tree grow quickly, the cable ties can cut into the plant and cause damage, so as soon as it's attached, remove the cable tie to prevent this.

Just a few random pic's to finish with, Pic.1 shows some Ae Foster's Favourite just after mounting. "Old Man's Whiskers" has been used to hide the ties. Pic.2 shows the same mounting (approx) nine months later when things had started to grow. Pic.3 shows another mounting on a Paper Bark branch. In this case it's necessary to remove part of the bark so the plant can attach directly onto the wood and not the papery bark as this will gradually peel off and doesn't make a good attaching point. Pic.4 is a hybrid from two of the larger growing Aechmea species Ae. Blanchetiana x Ae. Eurycorymbus and Pic.5 is my favourite Ae Recurvata type Ae Recurvata 'Blushing Pineapple' (unregistered)

All the best, Nev.

Hi Everyone!

Just a very quick look in tonight as still feel like crap with this chest infection which I just can't seem to shake (week 2) drugs doctor perscribed don't appear to be working, managing to get though this week at work but as soon as I get home I crash and burn bigtime and all I want to do is sleep but hold off as long as I can in the hope of getting a good nights sleep as I normally cough myself awake often during the night.

Anyway I managed to read everyone's wonderful threads and had a look at everyone's beautiful brom pictures and hopefully over the weekend I can chat with you all and respond to messages read but needing response.

We got some nice rain yesterday and today which was nice and I think the weather man is predicting more for the weekend. It looks close to being the start of the wet season for us, it just has that feel about it?

Hanging out big time for some time with my broms!

Sorry no pics tonight...

Speak soon and Happy Gardening!

Trish

P.s - Nev do you rip the heads off Grasshoppers like I do? I find them easy to catch in the mornings as they move slower. My friend catches them and freezes them and then like me ends up putting them in the compost bin. LOL

Nev, your shade house looks sooo good, your plants so healthy and happy. What size does the Ae Recurvata in your pic 5 grow to.

Trish, sorry to hear you are still feeling so bad ... chin up, just one more day till the weekend. I have been a day ahead of myself all week, I was so sure today was Friday.

Jean, could you please Dmail me with your postal address, thanks.

Pic 1 is neo Fiesta, 2 is a NOID, maybe neo Lady Leonie, what do you all think, 3 is a neo I bought as neo Panda

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi everyone – It's starting to warm up here this morning and they have forecast another “hot one” expected to be in the high thirties or low forties, let's hope they've got it wrong.

Trish – Sorry to hear you still haven't shaken that rotten “wog”. Maybe you're overworking yourself and are a bit “run down” and that's the reason. Maybe a dose of “Seasol” would perk you up a bit, Ha! Ha!. I shouldn't laugh though as there's nothing can make you feel more miserable than a summer cold or worse still, the flu.

Like you I catch my grasshoppers in the mornings when they are slower particularly while I am watering as they like to hide beneath the leaves and this seems to flush them out. I just pull off the heads and toss them out on the grass and either the Magpies or Seagulls will get rid of the rest of them for me.

Shirley – the Ae. Recurvata 'Blushing Pineapple' (unreg.) is a pretty good grower and pupper and for me reaches a height of around 8 – 9 inches. The one in the pic was a pup growing off the side of another which was in a 5 inch pot.

Your plant in Pic.2 looks very much like Neo 'Glorious' which is one of the many “Aussie Dream” grex bred by Bob Larnach.

I don't know where everyone is but I hope you're all back soon and as usual a big “cherrio” to anyone on the sick list and get well soon.

I'll finish with firstly some pic's of my now finished “wind shutters” in the open position (Pic's. 1,2 and 3); notice the cooked tree fern compliments of the heatwave last Thursday week. Pic 4 shows a bit more heat damage, this time to a Vr. Phillipo Cobergii, however not as bad as it looks, Pic 5 shows a group of Portea Petropolitana Extensa flowering in the front garden and which weren't damaged by the heat at all.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone – Remember when I said at least I wouldn't be around for the next 100 year heatwave? Well I was wrong; very wrong as this afternoon was even hotter than the last one the previous week. It was then 47 degrees C out in the yard in the shade and today it was 50 + degrees in the same spot. It was so unbelievably hot that I couldn't even move my ute into the yard as the door handle was so hot I couldn't open it.

The same thermometer I used last week went off the scale (50 degrees C) (see pic 1) and the red liquid is still stuck at the very top and has now left it looking like a dotted line – in other words it's “buggered.”

It was 47 in the main shade house even after I had previously soaked all the plants and damped down the floor and under the benches this morning so I'm just dreading what I'll see in a week or two when the damage becomes more evident.

The plants I was so proud of having saved from last week's effort will no doubt die this time as they would have already been under stress and even though I watered and damped down this morning and did the same again late this afternoon and will hit them all with Seasol in the morning, I expect I'm flogging a dead horse as there's just so much you can do, and I feel that I've done all I can.

As usual I'll finish with some pictures, but this time they tell the story of the heatwave. First is Pic 1 showing the thermometer stuck above 50. The next four show what happened to some Neo's in the garden, almost completely cooked. Fortunately they were just seedling culls so no real value, but more work to replace them nevertheless.

All the best, Nev.

P.S. On a positive note, my computer is still working OK in this heat.

Hi all, just another hot and dry day today, only high 30s. i am lucky as I watered yesterday and gave them a light seasol spray today. I have not noticed any heat damage as yet.
I have noticed 2 Ananas tricolour seeds germinated so far. I wonder if they will carry the colour or even if they may be albinos. Time will tell. I was thinking of potting up some more seedlings tomorrow but I will have to wait and see what the weather does.
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 Ae primera flower not as yet fully open but showing elongated central stripe.
Pic 2 Pitcairnia spicata in flower

Hello all, another very hot day here but nothing like the 50 degree temp that Nev experienced today. I can’t even imagine it being that hot … must be like stepping into an oven almost.

Nev, your shutters look great but what a shame so many of your broms were cooked today. Even though you say most of the damaged neos were seedling culls and of little value, they looked pretty good to me, showing some lovely colour.

Glad to hear your computer is still working OK … that’s some consolation, I guess.

Ian, sounds like the same story everywhere, hot and dry. Like you, we had temps of mid to high thirties and we sure could use some rain.

I hope everyone else is keeping well and will soon be back posting again.

Pic 1 is neo Cherry Tart, 2 is neo Red Snapper, 3 is bill Hallelujah

Catch up tomorrow, bye for now

Shirley

Hi everyone, nice Broms. Windy and hot here.
pic 1. Ever heard of Fruitcake? 2. I got a big Blanchy thats slightly Varigated to go with my oranges ones.
3. Marmorata Gold

This message was edited Jan 18, 2013 8:42 PM

hello, here I am. Still reading all the posts and catching up.
Ian, I am glad the seeds arrived. I hope you get some good growing weather so you can sow some more and repot seedlings. I have a Pitcairnia that was labelled paniculata, and it isn't, but seeing your pic of Pit. spicata, I'm wondering if that might be it? If i can find a photo, I will attach it.
Nev, that heat sounds atrocious. I have been keeping cool with regular swims and cold showers. Theres not much else that I can do, no air con! All your photos are lovely, and I am glad you have been getting some good time in with your son. I hope you don't get a return of the hot weather, and that there isn't too much damage to your plants.
Hi Bree, I've not heard of Neo. 'Fruitcake' where did you get it? There is a trick with your variegated A. blanchettiana, and that is to keep it slightly shaded, and well fed (fertilised) They seem to lose the variegation in too much light. You have been posting lots of lovely pictures lately
Shirley, I grew alot of seed from Neo. 'Fiesta' (F2s) and most are pretty wishy washy, but have nice shape. I think they need crossing with something more colourful? Imagine an N. 'jewellery shop' with the N. 'Fiesta' shape! that would be nice. Your NOID Neo looks familiar, but once again, i cannot put my finger on it. I love your Ananas photos!
Trish, I hope you get well soon! Seems you've been sick for way too long! Are you taking enough time off work to kick it? Maybe some cooler weather would help!
Tash, nice to see you dropping in to post now and then. I keep my eyey on you on FB and can see you are a busy little vegemite, so fully understand the time factor. I hope you do well with your Ebay sales.
Jean, new broms? Did i read right? oh dear! I like your idea of florist foam to put the new pups in. I've not heard of or thought of that as an idea for pups, but it makes sense. thanks for all the photos.
Hello to Wendy, Jen and Kristi (if you look in)
Well, I had better see what photos I have for you.
photo one is some hanging minis and xNeophytum 'Galactic Warrior' from Nev
photo two is the Pitcairnia. It has the same foliage as yours Ian, what do you think?
photo three is not technically of bromeliads, although I did get an Aehmea blanchettiana in there. It is mostly about the heliconia rostratas. The best flowering I've had yet, although the leaves are very wind damaged.
talk again soon
Sue
Sue

Hi Everyone!

Managed to sneak in some time with my broms today mainly splitting up pups like I really needed to as some pups were well established, open and colouring up well and needed their own pot. I popped some of the mums into the retirement village as I had taken at least two or three pups off them so are near their used by date but reckon I might get a couple more off them before they have had it.

It’s been over cast and raining today which has really cooled things off, all you can hear ringing in your ears are the frogs and cicadas, they both nearly block out the bird noises you would normally hear throughout the day. It’s like they heard me the frogs are getting louder, more rain must be near.

Hi Wendy hope you’re over that dreaded flue of yours and that Johnny has recovered from his falls. Finally replying to your post from the 14th Jan where you say you think my Pic 1 posted on 14th Jan of Neo ‘Nikiko’ is actually Neo ‘Kiku’. Thanks Wendy would be great if you could post a pic of yours for comparison as I brought Nikiko from a seller in Far North Qld and that what they had it labelled? I have tried googling info on both but can find nothing? Yeah Neo ‘Hula Girl’ is doing great and I just discovered some pups on her today which is great because I really want a few more of her around the garden as she is nice, big and colourful.

Wendy when you get a chance could you please post pic of how Johnny cuts Golden Canes to display specimen plant as I might give it a go for that big one out front you commented about last time - thanks.

Hi Shirley pleased to hear you are feeling much better, also pleased to hear your liked Neo ‘Nikiko / Kiku??? I too think that it is unusual and very pretty. Shirley luved those stripey vriesea pics you posted on 14th Jan, I only have Sunset and one similar to Highway Beauty which is called RoRo but Highway Beauty far nicer and is on my wish list along with Galaxy. Unfortunately I don’t have a variegated Vriesea Philippo Coburgii only the plain type one. Did you end up finding one? Shirley sorry to hear you are having a great deal of grasshopper trouble, off with their head I say, works for me and Nev but you have to catch them early when they are sluggish.

Shirley luved all the broms pics you posted on 17 Jan, real nice and full of great colour.

Hi Sue thanks still feel like crap but have more energy now since I had a good night sleep (slept till 9am) which is not like me at all as I am an early riser normally, I think I could have slept longer but decided to get up and take the girls for a walk on the beach instead and we grabbed a takeaway coffee and read the paper there for a couple of hours and it was really pleasant because it was overcast and there was a nice breeze blowing.

Sue we too get a lot of lady birds, huntsman spiders, frogs, preying mantis, they really do help with the pests and I tread them with the utmost respect apart from the grasshoppers that I am unkind too.

Rain is coming down hard now and our house is filled with the smell because we have all the doors and windows opened and the air-con off.

Hi Jean, nice brom pics you posted on 14 Jan, you’re definitely addicted to broms now we just need to hear you admit it LOL. Sue said similar the other day and made me laugh. You know we are just going to keep annoying you now until you admit it.

Jean also good to see that like me you too keep your old mum broms. I took a couple of pups of some very, very old mums a couple of weeks ago and was thinking about throwing the mums out because they have nearly had it but decided to throw them both in an empty pot and checked on them today and found 4 pups on each of them, so it just goes to show it is worth keeping them if you have the room, I just spray my old mums to keep disease away best I can and keep them in quarantine, then usually cut the mum away when the pups are big enough to survive on their own I split and pot them up.

Hi Nev glad to hear you had a great time with your son and grandson. It would have been great having them there to help celebrate your wife’s birthday. Wish her a Happy belated Birthday from us.

Nev sounds like your copping some shocking heat there; I hope you don’t lose any broms and that if any did get damaged that they produce some lovely pups for you. That’s what I truly admire about broms how tough they are, if it was any other plant in the garden there would be no coming back but a brom in shock, flattened or dying has that survival mechanism that kick’s in so quickly and before you know it you’re blessed with more pups than you could have possibly imagined it could have produced and the cycle continues – and that’s why I am addicted to broms.

Nev you’re shade house’s looks fantastic along with those wonderful shutters. I would luv to have that type of setup here but our garden is the wrong shape for that (long) which would make it look like one big long nursery which we are trying to avoid given the amount of shade cloth we already have up here and there temporarily to protect some of the broms that need it.

Yeah Nev I reckon your right I need a dose of “Seasole” to perk me up a bit LOL – thanks I needed a good laugh. Yeah I reckon your right maybe I’m a bit run down, that’s exactly how I feel, no energy and work has been pretty hectic but that’s the type of industry I’m in and normally I get a buzz out of being so busy and my brain getting a real good work out but I think a lot of it has to do with me (admitting) that I am getting older and I seem to be feeling the heat a lot more than I used to out on the job site and those stairs when I have to climb them LOL. After the small break we had I am still craving holiday’s big time and regretting I went back so soon, so I am really looking forward to the up and coming long weekend and maybe another sleep in might do me the world of good.

Hi Tash awesome brom pics “all of them” I want LOL. I have some of them but when you see them looking that fantastic you just want more of them don’t you in the nursery and garden because they really do make a statement. They look so healthy and full of colour, you are doing a fantastic job with them. Pleased to see you are selling some locally and on EBay, I saw Ae. Samurai you had on EBay the other day, very nice brom indeed.

Hi Bree never heard of your Pic 1 Neo ‘Fruit Cake’ it looks like it’s going to get a lot of purple markings – nice. Apologies I still have to get a parcel in the mail to you, will do as soon as I am feeling better promise.

Hi Ian nice broms pics you have posted this past week, sounds like you have been busy in the garden, it’s never ended but I really enjoy getting things done and having things in some sort of manageable order so as to not loose total control after all the hard work that goes in to keeping on top of everything.

Hi to anyone else looking in or on the Sick List.

Time to get dinner on.

Take care and Happy Gardening Everyone!

Trish

Pic 1 and Pic 2 – Ones just split and potted up today of Neo ‘Purple Sand’, Neo ‘Maona’s Beauty, Neo ‘Olens’ (large form), Neo ‘Little Rosita’ and Ae’ Nudicaulis var. Alqualis.

Pic 3, 4 & 5 – A. Freeman Hybrid I was told by Seller yet to be Registered and they gave me it’s number which is 2799522 - what do I do now with looking it up?

Hi Sue

We posted just about at the same time, yeah I have been sick for way too long, more time off would be nice as feel burnt out. Luved all your pics and how nice are those flowering Heliconia Rostratas you have growing beautifully. What do you feed them?

Trish

Trish, you might find this link helpful for identifying your Allan Freeman hybrid. Will catch up soon. Jen

http://www.bromagic.com/a.html

Hi everyone, bloody hot here again today … when will it end. Even though I was up early this morning watering the gardens, by late this afternoon quite a few plants, particularly the crotons (which are tough as) were looking very wilted.

Bree, nice plants in your pics.

Sue, good to hear from you. If you do manage to cross neo Fiesta with neo Jewellery Shop, please put me down for one LOL. Love your heliconia rostratas.

Trish, lucky you getting some rain … if you have any excess, just send it off to Brissie, please. Your neo Hula Girl looks quite different to mine and much larger also, I will post a pic. Love your Alan Freeman hybrid 2799522, very nice neo. Hope you find it has a pretty name, I tried to look it up from Jen’s link but wasn’t able to find it.

Anyway, time has slipped away again … it’s already tomorrow.

Pic 1 is neo Hula Girl, pic 2 is neo High Hopes, Pic 3 is labelled as neo Jasper Pink ?? (note the grasshopper, and the little bugger got away too)

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi all
sorry to have been absent for so many days. finally over that darn flu. up to Monday of this week I still have the croaky voice and very sore throat and slight cough. I think the key was to sleep without the air con on for a few nights and get over it. also found that I needed to rest a bit so Trish you probably need a few nanna naps during the day and plenty of rest.
We are late starting to set up for our sale. we only have 3 tables ready at the moment. a lot of the full grown plants we would have put our are looking stressed and dry even though we are trying to keep the water up to them. our tanks ran dry again yesterday so last night we dragged the hose up the front stairs and onto the carport roof and poked the nozzle down into the downpipe so it went into the tank. we ran it from tea time when we came upstairs until we were going to bed. we got about 2 and a bit rims in the tank. Then tonight we had a pretty good shower of rain. I think Johnny said 12ml but we got another rim of water in the tank. that sould keep us going for a few days. we now have a sprnkler misting system set up to keep the broms happy. it's the best place to be on a hot day too. we have to walk through the water to switch the taps to stop one section and turn on another. each tap now has a 4 way brass splitter attached ... 1 with a hose and 3 for sprinkler hoses. so its just a flick of a swich and change to another set of pipe. there's only another couple of sections to do and they'll all be covered. I think Johnny said we've used 500 metres of pipe so far. after 2 weeks of using the misting system we are just starting to see which ones are missing out on water and we just have to move them elsewhere. we have a birdbath down the back which the birds rarely use so we have filled it with water and stand the stressed out plants in it for a few days. boy they drink that water up too.

I just checked and I haven't downloaded my pics yet to show the golden canes with the feature pot in the middle. I'll do it tomorrow night I promise. I discovered the program to write the name of the plant on my pics so have been doing that at night instead of getting on the internet. I sat here last night till 2am putting names on photos. can't wait to print some out and laminate them to use at the sales. Shirley you don't have to wait for a sale to come over you know. anytime you want to come just ring me and we can work out a time that suits. because we are late getting into the setting up this week and we have medical appointments as well Johnny is really stressing that we won't be ready in time. today it was so hot in middle of the day we went to visit Phyllis Hobbs just to get out of the heat. He can't just sit upstairs knowing he has things to do downstairs. we had no breeze at all getting into the patio area where we pot up.

Jen and I had a lovely day off on Thursday and after a very early start for me, awake at 5am and downstairs watering by 6am, then off with Jen at 8am to visit Del a friend recovering from hip replacement. we did a bit of dead leafing for her and removed a few pups for her to put on ebay then we were off to Olive's (Olive Branch) to see her new stuff out of quarantine. we got some very nice new plants. I had a lady over on Wedneday who spent $100 so I used that to buy some fairly new releases from Olive. It was pretty hot walking through the shadehouses all day and I couldn't even stay awake to go to the brom meeting in town. I think I was sound asleep by 8pm or shortly after.

better be off to bed now. it's almost 1am. night all.
Wendy

Hi everyone!!!
Sue- i got fruitcake from ebay so really who knows what it might be it looks good. Im glad you told me about keeping varigated Blanchie in shade as i would have gave it more light and bleached it out.
Trish- no hurry on the broms.
What sort of bark does everyone use on there Broms? do you buy it in big bags? do you add things to it?
My new Broms are 1. Whiteout and 2. Piper (does anyone know this one?)

This message was edited Jan 20, 2013 3:16 AM

Hi Everyone

Thanks to Jen, just found picture of Alan Freeman hybrid 279952 I posted yesterday (not yet named), I luv it and am pleased to now know what the pups are going to turn out like. I popped the pups mother into retirement yesterday as the large pups had sucked the life nearly out of her but hopefully she may produce some more now that she is free and in her own pot.

Hi Shirley I don't blame you being over the dreaded heat and no rain, cross my fingers and toes hopefully you get some soon and everyone else in the Brissie area for that matter.

Shirley pleased to hear you like Alan Freeman hybrid 279952, check out the pic found on the link Jen provided (thanks once again Jen). The pups I took pictures of yesterday have long slender leaves that are quite thick and tough looking.

Shirley thanks for posting Pic 1 of your Neo 'Hula Girl', yeah it has different colouring to mine, your looks like it has smokey apricot tones where mine has more pinkish tones? I really like your one too and you can't mistaken it for anything else other than Hula Girl. How. pretty is that Neo 'High Hopes' in your Pic 2 - luv it. Yeah your Pic 3 looks like Neo 'Jasper Pink' but don't own one for you to compare.

Hi Wendy, pleased to hear you are over that darn flu - finally. Yeah I agree nanna naps are the key to recovering and have managed to sneak some in this weekend so I feel a little re-charged, wish I could do that during the week, I suppose I can just go to bed a little earlier than usual and that may help?

Thanks Wendy whenever you get the chance to post a pic of your golden can with the feature pot in the middle creation that would be great. I look forward to the inspiration.

Hi Bree nice new brom pics! When you say what bark do we use on our broms do you mean as a growing medium or just to put in your garden bed? I don't use bark in my garden beds as I prefer gravel. I buy my brom growing medium from Bunnings which is Searles Cymbidium and Bromeliad Mix that comes in 12Ltr bags for about $6.30. I also add Charcole and Perlite to this mix and all my broms luv it.

Look forward to hopefully chatting with you all during the week.

Hi to anyone looking in, join in by all means - don't be shy!

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Trish

Hi all, another weekend over. Still no rain here and the heat is unrelenting … much as I dislike the cold I am almost looking forward to the cooler months.

Wendy, good to see you posting again and pleased to hear you are over the flu. Sounds like you and Jen had a good day on Thursday, despite the early start.

Trish, nice pic of AF hybrid 279952. Try to take it easy and get over your wog. Mine seems to be making a return visit despite still being on the antibiotics.

Hello to everyone else. Just the one pic tonight, neo Justins Song.

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi all, still hot and dry here.. I potted up some seedlings yesterday and did not much else over the weekend. I see that i have quite a few pups ready to take off and am waiting for the weather to cool down and to put up some more shade area. The seedlings are going mad, growing profusely and are stealing my space for any new plants. I am starting to cull theese so that I may be able to handle what I have..
Sue my Pitcairnia spicata was labelled when i bought it in May last year. I have just trusted the label. I ought to check with fcbs. It looks similar to yours.
Well it is a cloudy day and there is talk of rain this week, but talk is the cheapest commodity of all. When mother nature sends the rain then it will happen, until then I will just have to keep watering.
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 snake cactus in flower

Hi everyone – Well the good news is that the extreme heat has gone for now but the bad news is that it's heading north, so all of you northern growers make sure you have all of your protection in place before it gets to you.

I had plants in the garden which survived serious damage simply because they had an “off-cut” of shade cloth draped over (but not touching them). Other plants were protected by a bit of broken Date Palm frond just stuck in the ground nearby to provide some temporary shade. Other plants were moved and re-located to any area of shade I could find, even beneath benches.

There were of course some plants that were overlooked, but by and large I had all bases covered to the best of my ability. I found these measure plus the damping down of surrounding areas in the early morning and late afternoon combined with the use of Seasol as a proactive and reactive treatment certainly minimised a lot of the potential damage, however the one thing I couldn't adequately guard against was the hot air created by a hot westerly wind in the middle of the day.

I couldn't water or spray the plants which would have cooled them down initially but as the water dried it would have scalded them and probably created even more damage. If I had the whole area covered by sprays or misters and could have left them on all through the day the problem would have been solved; but with a large backyard collection and the resources available to me, this just wasn't an option.

Three times now since 2006 I've been though these nasty heatwave days and the only constructive advice I can give is to watch the weather reports and prepare in advance. Nowadays the weather reports are pretty accurate (not always) but in extreme cases like we have just experienced they have been “spot on”.

Shirley – You've posted nice pic's as usual; I like the bright red “fingernails” on Neo 'Red Snapper' they're quite eye catching and as for the Bill. Hallelujah', well that's always a winner. The pic of Neo 'Jasper Pink' in your second lot of pic's doesn't look like the plant I have by that name, mine has a type of marbled effect in the centre; I'll try and get a pic and post it for comparison, in the mean time go to http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=5081#5081 and check out the pic there.

Breeindy – No Bree, I've never heard of Neo 'Fruitcake' and it's not registered so it's probably a pet name someone has given to it based on its appearance once it has matured, so please post another pic when it's grown up. There is a Neo 'Fruit Salad' which is registered as a hybrid of Neo Gespacho but it looks nothing like your plant at this stage. As for your “Blanchie”, I hope you can maintain the variegation; I had a couple o seedlings showed some variegation but as they grew older it jut grew out of them. As for the sort of bark I use in my potting mix, I just buy the Brunnings (not Bunnings) Orchid mix (About $8 for 25L bag) which is mostly all aged pine bark. I have had good result with this and I am currently trialling a 50/50 mix of this with coir mulch but it's too early to tell how it will go yet.

Sue – It sounds like you and I are in the same situation with no air conditioning; the only difference is that you have a pool. When we first came to live here the kids wanted me to put in a pool but being just two streets back from the sea I couldn't see the purpose of it; besides the neighbours had two enormous Norfolk Island Pines that very often dropped needles and cones and I know who would have had to clean it out all the time so that's why it never eventuated.

Like you say, your Neo 'Fiesta' F2's could prove to be a good parents even though they are “wishy washy” in colour themselves. If they were used as the seed parent and crossed with a nice coloured pollen parent they may produce some nice coloured seedling of good shape. Remember what Jack says he has found, “the seed parent influences shape and size and the pollen parent influences the colour", so a cross with Neo 'Jewellery Shop' mightn't be a bad idea.

You're doing a good job with that 'Galactic Warrior', the colour is great; so whatever you do, don't move it to a different location. I like your Heliconias but the “Blanchie” in the background of the third pic gets my vote for colour; how about a pic of it on its own?

Trish – It's good to hear you're getting some rain up your way, maybe it'll clean the air of some of these flu bugs. I sounds like you are “on the mend” now, although sometimes these “cold type” bugs seems to take forever to get over and they just leave us feeling so drained. This reminds me of a little story I'd like to share with you. Before I retired, I worked as an industrial ambulance officer at the steel works for thirty years and I remember one night shift a young Turkish bloke came into the ambulance station looking pretty crook. Before I could treat him I had to first find out the problem and as he didn't have very good English he was having trouble explaining what was wrong. I said to him, “just tell me what you feel”. He answered, “I feel like my missus stick the vacuum up my bum and such out all my energy”, and I'm yet to hear of a better description of how we feel when we have the flu or a cold.

It's interesting you mention Vr. 'Highway Beauty' and Vr. 'Ro Ro'. There was for some time a lot of confusion about the names of these plants which were very much alike and from the same parents Vr. Bitumenosa x Vr. Saundersii (The name Vr. Bitumenosa has since been changed to Vr. Platynema). Add also into the equation another called Vr 'Shiraz' and another non-variegated plant from the same cross called Vr. 'Highway' which complicates things even further. To read the whole story and see the pic's, go to:
http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=VRIESEA&id=8684#8684

Regarding the number of your Freeman hybrid, it doesn't seem to have been registered as yet. The closest I can find on the Bromagic list is one before it, 279-95-21 and called Neo. 'Well Wisher' but as yet it doesn't even appear on the BCR so maybe these names are pending registration.

Wendy – It's good to hear you're getting over the “Brisbane Bug” as well; don't go over working yourself and Johnny at your sale or you may find it returns and knocks you over again. Seems like you could do with a lot more rain to fill the tanks but like down here, it just won't fall out of the clouds.

That's it for today but unfortunately no pic's, as I took a heap this morning after a bit of overnight drizzle and when I went to load them onto the computer my camera's battery is flat, so maybe tomorrow.

All the best, Nev.

Love that one you posted Trish. Thanks for telling me what bark you use and Nev thanks also. Ive been using orchid bark but its getting hard to come by and the postage is getting expensive. Might have to buy something different for my broms.
Dont mind the weeds. hehe! All my Ach. Orland. are sending out pups at the same time.

Hi all, had a drop of moisture falling from the sky. It lasted about 10 minutes I ought have taken myself out back with a cake of soap, probibly would have had to come inside to finish my shower though. I am potting on some of my seedlings, some singly and some in clumps to see which does best.
Bree, I like your pups, are they registered yet,he he. I use Brunnings pine bark and Searles potting mix 50/50. I try to weather the mix for a couple of weeks. When I mix it I also use a bit of Dolomite to reduce the acidity of the pine bark. I used to use Brunnings Orchid mix but Bunnings have decided not to supply it any more here, this is only in Mackay that i know about. Bromalong "Mike" wrote about the acidity of fresh pine bark in about July ,August.
Fruitcake what a name for a plant, I've been called that.
Pic 1 Noid similar to Bob and grace. I potted up seedlings today
Pic 2 Bil Pink Patches seedlings, seed planted 05-10 potted up 29-11-12
Pic 3 Ae Fred on left and Ae Bert
Pic 4 N minis on a palm tree
Pic 5 Neoglaziova starting to flower

Hi Everyone!

It's blowing a gale here with more rain in site for the week, found some of my brom pots blown over but no damage thank goodness.

Hi Shirley what a bugger you suspect you are getting the flue again, hope you feel better real soon. Thanks yes I am trying to rest by going to bed earlier than usual but still trying to exercise as I always find that it makes me feel better and helps me recover sooner.

Shirley luved the pic you posted of Neo 'Justins Song', I have this one too and really admire it for it's size and color. Hopefully it will give me pups soon so I can pop some in my other garden beds.

Hi Nev glad to hear the extreme weather has left you. I can handle the wind but hope the tropical lows dont turn into cyclones. It is very overcast during the day so other than wind my broms outside are couping well for now.

Nev I howled with laughter when I read your story about the Turkish bloke - too funny Nev, that's exactly how I have been feeling these past couple of weeks LOL.

Thanks Nev I look forward to reading the link you provided in relation to Vr. Highway Beauty and Vr. Ro Ro.

Thanks Nev yeah when I purchased the Alan Freeman hybrid the seller said it was yet to be registered and to look it up.and keep checking, at least for now it has a number and I know what it looks like now thanks to Jen so I am very pleased with the current info I have on it for now.

Hi Bree hope you find something more affordable to use as a growing medium for your broms, yeah postage would be a killer getting it that way. Great to see all your beautiful Ae Pups, who cares about the weeds that's just part parcel with having gardens to maintain and if you dont like using sprays for weeds then it is an on going task that we just have to get used to. I do use Round Up on some of my garden beds that give me a hard time but I am very careful to not drown the area in it, I only spray a little on one of the leaves and ensure I don't spray when it's windy or looking like it is going to rain. It works well for me. I also make sure I move my brom pots in case I spray them by accident.as sometimes I get trigger happy LOL. When I move the brom pots I also move the frogs that live in them so no harm comes to my little green friends, and I have never found dead frogs anywhere so I know that I am not going crazy with the stuff - less is more as far as I am concerned when using sprays.

Anyway time for me to head.

Only one pic tonight of Neo 'Purple Sand':

Speak soon and Happy Gardening Everyone!

Trish

Hello everyone, nice to see lots of posts. Same old weather pattern here except for the quickest shower late this afternoon … like I mean, maybe 30 seconds.

Ian, what is your trick to making your seedlings grow like mad. Maybe I look at mine too often and don’t notice they are growing. Bunnings here no longer stock Brunnings orchid mix but Big W here has it.

Nev, it is good news that the heat wave has left you but I’m not too pleased about it heading up here … as if it’s not hot enough here already. I noticed a few broms with rather severe burns today ... the really tough, sun hardened ones that I thought wouldn’t need extra protection, like neos Macho and Tiger … very disappointing.

I don’t think my neo is Jasper Pink, it isn’t marbled and it’s actually more orange than pink … oh well, another NOID.

Trish, your neo Purple Sand is very nice, I have that one and have just recently bought neo Red Sand.

I might give the pics a miss and head off to bed a little earlier tonight.

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi everyone – Has anyone heard from Colleen? She hurt her back toward the end of last year and then a couple of posts but since then nothing? I hope she hasn't overdone it and hurt her back again.

Bree – If you're having trouble getting bark in your area why not ask some other growers where they get theirs or what other materials you could use. I'm a bit reluctant to suggest anything as my climate is very different to yours and you would be better advised to ask someone in your own area. I have heard of Queensland growers in the tropics using Quincan Gravel or Scoria and I had one brom friend up on the hinterland inland from Cairns who grew beautiful brom's in plain river gravel, so you're not just limited to bark.

It's good to see your Ae. Orlandianas putting up pups, you must be doing everything right so don't alter anything that you're doing or change their positions.

Ian – It's a pity you couldn't have got a bit more rain; it's so tormenting when it just rains for a short time like that which seems to promise better things and then nothing!

I like your use of “Tec Screws” to fasten plants to trees, I haven't used that method before although I've used them for many other things and find they are “better than sliced bread”!

I've never used Dolomite in my brom mix so I have no knowledge of what quantities are required so can you help us all out by expanding on what quantities to use e.g. how much Dolomite would you mix in a builders barrow full of bark mix?

I had the same problems trying to get the Brunnings Orchid Mix at Bunnings down here. All of a sudden where there was once pallets of it there was nothing. When I enquired I was told that Brunnings had stopped supplying all of the larger outlets such as Bunnings etc. It seems it was because of some deal that was done between the new Masters Super Store and Brunnings which sounds very much like Masters want to have a monopoly on some of the Brunnings products. This seems ridiculous to me as the alleged new Masters store down here won't be built for another two years, so maybe someone's telling “porkies”. I have managed to track it down at one of the local nurseries,/pet food supply stores and when I asked them about continuing supply they said it was one of their best sellers and they would be continuing to sell it, so I guess the question is, do you have or are you getting a Masters store in your area? Can any of you other growers who do have a Masters store in your area tell me if they sell this product?

Just out of interest, I just copied this off the web:

WOOLWORTHS' hardware chain Masters has attempted to trump the Bunnings sausage sizzle by pairing up with McDonald's to sell Big Mac's and cheeseburgers at its stores.
The eight Masters stores to be built in NSW will include a full McDonalds outlet including a McCafe and play area, the company announced today.

The first Masters stores -- intended to be a more upmarket experience than Bunnings' workmanlike warehouses -- will open at Gregory Hills, near Narellan, and Rutherford, nearMaitland, next year.

The next six will come in Ballina, Hoxton Park, St Marys, Warwick Farm, West Gosford andWagga Wagga if rezoning and council approval is successful.

Masters plans to ultimately roll out as many as 45 stores across NSW.
The Masters stores, tipped to cost up to $23 million each to build, will be 40 per cent bigger than the average Bunnings and sell hardware as well as kitchens, lighting, curtains, flooring, gardening equipment and bathroom fixtures.

As well as the above stores in N.S.W., there will also be ten Queensland stores at Rockhampton, Cairns, Morayfield, Toowoomba Sth, North Lakes, Tingalpa, Springfield Central, Upper Coomera, Nerang and Rutherford.

Trish – It looks like you're getting the rain you wanted but with an unwanted accompanying wind as well which really isn't too bad. It will blow the odd plant over and break a few leaves, but it's when the wind is hot that it really does the damage and fortunately you've been spared this.

I don't use Roundup any more mainly due to the fact that the company that makes it (Monsanto) promotes genetically modified crops which I personally don't agree with and this is my way of protesting (Call me a “tree hugger” if you like).

I have since found a good reliable weed killer called “Richgro Beat-A-Weed” that is a natural product which generally won't harm children, pets or the environment as the active ingredients in it are Acetic acid and sodium chloride both harmless to animals and humans.
http://www.richgro.com.au/faqs/beat_a_weed_faq.html

Shirley – What you say about getting Brunnings Orchid Potting Mix at Big W ties in with what I've been told as Masters and Big W are both Woolworths owned.

I really don't think they make the brom's that will withstand the extreme heat we had here the other day without showing some form of burn damage, Even a couple of my Ae Recurvatas which I've always said were “bullet proof” had a bit of burning which is something I never thought I'd ever see. The good thing though is that in most cases, they will survive as they are the most resilient plants I know of.

I'm posting a pic of my Neo 'Jasper Pink' (Pic.1) but it doesn't show the true colours as it has finished flowering and I “bumped up” the fertilizer to encourage more pups and in doing so the extra nitrogen has robbed it of is colour, however you can still see the marbling effect.

I'll finish with some pic's as usual, Pic.1 is Neo 'Jasper Pink' for Shirley, Pic.2 is Nidularium Longiflorum, an old favourite which is easy to grow and flower in those difficult shady areas. Pic's 3, 4 and 5 are random pic's I took around the yard yesterday morning after an overnight drizzle.

All the best, Nev.

Well Ballina is only an hour away from me so i'll let you know when the Masters store gets there.
Yeah i do use Round up around my garden edges but not around my potted broms so if i dont move them all i just pull out the weeds around them by hand.There sitting in a garden full of strawberry plants so i cant really spray round up in it anyway.
I was wondering about using pine bark in a brom mix. (I know id never use it for orchids.)
I bought the brom and cymbidium mix, seems like it has alot of charcol in it. Thanks everyone for letting me know what you use.
1. Jewellery Shop 2. Small World 3. Break of Day

Hi Everyone!

It's been raining constant since I got home, it rained at work but not all day. The weather man is saying we should get about 400ml over the next couple of days and weather should start to clear a little by Friday. Wish we had watertanks to store some of this beautiful rain.

Hi Shirley have you had any more rain since your 30 second shower? Wish we could send some down to everyone who needs so much.

Shirley I have not seen Neo 'Red Sand', can you please post a pic when you get a chance as I am really interested to see what it looks like.

Hi Nev we don't have a Masters store in Townsville, but we do have 2 x Bunnings stores and ADCO Consructions are currently building a 3rd one as foundation works have commenced. So no issues for Joe getting the Orchid Mix he usually buys that comes in large pink bags.

Yeah Nev pleased we have been spared heat with the wind. It's windy and overcast so experiencing no issues. I will just have to keep an eye on the predicted weather for Friday in case the sun comes out as I have some of the temp shades off some of my broms because of the strong gusty wind we are getting.

Thanks Nev I will have to give that weed killer you recommended a go as it sounds like a good natural product.

Nev I just found pups on my Nidularium Longiflorum and I am really pleased as I only have the one plant. I have mine growing under the Avocado tree in dappled shade. Great random pics you posted also, they all look so healthy and happy.

Hi Bree, we know Ballina - what a beautiful place, it's good that it is only an hour away from you for when the Master store arrives.

Yeah Bree I think that Brom & Cymbidium mix has Charcol in it but I add ever more to the mix as well as perlite as I find my bromeliads do even better. The one's I originally had just in the Brom & Cymbidium mix I tipped out and made new mix for them because I was not 100% happy with their growth. I normally pour the Brom & Cymbidium mix into a stock standard everyday bucket 3/4 full and then top the rest up with equal parts of Charcol and Perlite. I have never added pine bark to my brom mix as it already has a lot of bark in it already.

Anyway time to head off and do a bit of exercise.

Speak soon Everyone!

Apologies no pics tonight.

Trish

Hi all, Just another hot day at work and a light shower when I got home. I potted on some more seedlings possibly a bit early but they will grow. I needed to thin out some of my seed trays and maybe cull some now. Before xmas I threw 4 trays of seedlings into the front garden, some are still growing with almost no attention. Hardy little buggers.

Shirley, I show my best results and keep the others hidden. Some plants grow quicker than others. Like my grandson each seedling needs feeding often, small doses and often. I also like to give them a lot of fresh air. I lift the lid every few days and assess the moisture content, if I think they need more I water them with whatever I have mixed up, Seasol or Condys chrystals or just plain water. If they look too wet I leave them to dry out for a day and then reassess again. I have no drainage holes in my seed containers. For the first month I water my seedlings with Miltons only.

Nev I am using 1 gram of dolomite per 1 litre of mix, if I remember Mike suggested 1kg per 1cubic metre of mix There is talk in this town that we are getting a Masters store here soon. I have seen the new building being erected but there are no signs to tell who it belongs to as yet. Soon they will get to a stage where they can paint it and then more will be revealed.One can live in hope. This new store will be a more suitable location than Big W.
Pic 1 N bills gift
Pic 2 N Bantu
Pic 3 N Barbarian
Pic 4

Hello everyone, we have had some patchy showers here today, here’s hoping we get a lot more. It’s still very hot and muggy.

Nev, our nearest Masters (Morayfield) doesn’t stock Brunnings Orchid mix so Big W is probably the best place to try if anyone is looking for it. I love the little neo in the front left of your fourth pic Nev, is that neo Small World … and is that neo Cliff Siverd in the middle of the fifth pic.

Bree, the broms in your pics look lovely too.

I have had a few broms burn the last couple of days and a couple that could be a little overdone as well.

My pics are 1 & 2 neo Macho mum, with a couple of burns and neo Macho pup, who didn’t fare quite so well. Pic 3 is neo Cockabel and 4 is neo Fools Gold, both of which are a bit suss. Quite a few others have burn spots but overall, I guess, not a lot of damage.

Wendy, I guess you are madly trying to organise your broms for the sales tables. We will drop over on Friday morning but won’t hold you up too long if you are busy. Looking forward to seeing you then and getting a few more of your lovelies. Neos Governors Plea, Mister Odean and Luna are three I would like if you have any or all of them.

I also have broms in the post from Jean and from Nev … and Jen has one for me too. Woohoo, this is going to be an incredibly good brom week, I am really looking forward to my new arrivals.

Hi to Jen, Sue, Ian, Jean, Trish and Colleen if you’re looking in .. and Kristi and Karen too, we haven’t heard from you for quite a while now, hope everyone’s OK.

Bye for now, Shirley