never have bought a bromeliad before so I hope I don't kill it, of course no cultivar name other than the vriesea. But I love any interseting foliage and this just had to come home with me, those stripes are so striking.
Another Home Depot find
Beautiful find!
Your plants Id is commonly called a Flaming Sword, Vriesea splendens 'Major'.
Don't over water it in the center just or it will rot. Water just moist in the soil. It doen't need really bright light, maybe just some mornig sun and lots of humidity.
It will make 1 small baby in the center cose to where the flower stalk is, then the rest of the mother plant will die off. They live for a really long time though so you will have it to enjoy for many months.
Enjoy!
MsC
oh, thanks for that tip, dumping out the water right now!
Theyare beautiful plants.
BTW- I looked at the pic again and it looks like you already have a baby forming in the center on the left.???
MsC
Wow MsC, good eyes, I hadn't even noticed it. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Haha... every once in a while my bi focals line up just right...gosh I hate getting older ...:)
Take good care of your baby!
MsC
So MsC, do you mean no watering in the center part as most recomend for bromeliads? Just the soil?
Found my answer on the bromeliads website. "If the plant is supplied with moisture by wetting the soil around its roots, it is not necessary to keep the cup filled with water. Most bromeliads adapt so well to culture in a pot that they absorb the needed moisture and nutrients through their root systems. Keeping the cup filled with water under low light conditions that exist in most homes encourages bacteria and fungus problems. If the cup is kept filled with water, it should be flushed out with plenty of water periodically to prevent possible stagnation. "
That's great info!
Yours looks like you placed it in the bathroom and it will love the humidity in there.
A small amount of water in the center is fine but more times than not we forget to empty & flush that water.
In their natural habitat , small animals would drink that water, debre would fall in and absorbs some to, and it would naturally evaporate over time with the heat.
In our homes they seldom get hot enough to cause the evaporation before the water would evaporate.
The Bromeliad sites have tons of great info on how to care for them and beautiful pics. You did great searching for the information.
MsC