Alcantarea Bromeliad Species, Imperial Bromeliad

V imperialis is more cold hardy than listed. A few winters ago it saw temperatures down to the low 20s, well below freezing overnight. It...Read More sustained a significant amount of damage, but recovered nicely and looks none the worse for wear. I think the fact that it was very large helped it shrug off the freezerburn. A very impressive bromeliad, one that is very nearly my favorite bromeliad.

This is a wonderful plant. I live in SoCal and have two. I have them in large pots on pedestals made of concrete blocks (aka cinder block...Read Mores) that are stacked three high. This keeps the dogs and even the ants away from them. I will post photos. They are growing pretty much in full sun. I live in an area were they do get a sea breeze which I think helps. I flush them every day or so and water them with the flushed (nasty smelling) water from the bases of the leaves since I suspect it contains nutrients that they would receive were not growing in pots. I don't use any commercial fertilizer, only the flushed water. I do mist or shower them just about every day as the climate here is extremely dry. They do stand up well to cold. They have never been exposed to frost and once when there was a rare threat of the temperature falling below 32F/0C during the night, I covered them with old cotton bed sheets. The birds use them to bathe and drink. My only caveat, if you have one, is beware of the spiders that nest in them. The spiders do catch the mosquitos that hatch from the larvae that escape the flushing out, so I let them be. One plant has pupped but not yet flowered and it also has a very odd-looking (for me, at least) forked growth from its base, of which I am posting a photo. If anybody has ever encountered a similar growth on one of these plants, I'd appreciate the feedback.

im from philippines living in one of the coldest part of the contry.
I have this in my garden. they do best in bright but filtered...Read More sun. mine already produced 5 pups, by the way the easiest way to propagate this plant is to get the pups that grows just beside the mother plant and planting them in a pots of fern chips. the larger the pot, the bigger it will get. the best fertilizer to use is a weak solution of fish emulsion.

This is a magnificent giant bromeliad, reaching up to 1,2m tall, but can grow up to 2m when blooming, It has large leaves, with a dark gr...Read Moreeen superior page, and a purple inferior page. The spineless leaves form a rosette that acumulates water. It´s not only important ecologically, but it´s also necessary to keep it constantly full of water. It´s one of the largest bromeliads of the world, losing to species of the Andine genus Puya and maybe a very few isolated others from other genera (though I doubt they can grow that tall).

The inflorescence is huge for a bromeliad. White flowers protected by large bracts. The color of the bracts may vary from purple to dark green. The flowers atract a profusion of flying animals, from bees, butterflies, to bats and birds.

It´s a living ecossystem that vegetates on the southeastern mountains of Brazil, mostly on cracks on the rocks with little organic, moist soil, but it will tolerate moderately moist soils, as long as you keep the tank full of water. Likes full sun and subtropical climates. It can be propagated from seeds that will float long distances if you don´t bag the seed heads. I´m not sure if it will produce any buds or can be propagated by any other way.