Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Help for diseased bromeliads, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:


I have some spots like that on some of my broms, too. I'm not treating them with anything, since the plants seem healthy otherwise. They're blooming, making pups and generally healthy. Yours look healthy with nice shine to the leaves, to me, too. I think it's just cosmetic. The older leaf rosettes do get looking ratty eventually, after they've made several new pups. Do the newer leaves on the pups have the same spots? If not, you can just separate the old rosettes and remove them. Once they've bloomed and made a few pups they're pretty much done anyway.

You're more likely to harm the plants (not to mention yourself, your pets, and every living organism in range) spraying them with chemicals, in my opinion. Always start with an informed decision, then the most benign treatment you can, and work up to chemical warfare materials like Daconil as a last resort. You can take a leaf in to your local County Extension and get somebody to look at the spots under a microscope. It's not a good idea to "treat" a plant for something if you're not sure what the affliction is.

I think it's more likely fungal than scale. Try spraying the leaves of unaffected plants with a solution of baking soda and water, 1/2tsp. of soda to a quart of water. It won't take away spots that are already there but it will prevent the spread to clean plants. This is a soluble spray, so you'll need to re-spray at least every week or after it rains.

All the older mother plants in this picture have a few of those spots. The new ones are clean. I'm just going to remove the mama plants next week to give the babies room to grow and bloom.