Smelly Painted Fingernail....What's up with that?!

Before my brother in Tampa passed way before his years several months ago, he gave me one of his gorgeous painted fingernail broms...this was one of his favorite ones. I do have several other broms here in NY that I have been growing very successfully over the years....broms are a love that we both shared when he was alive.

Anyway, he gave me the brom in August (it flowered earlier this year). He had it planted in the ground at his house...I dug the plant up in Tampa, put it in one of his large terra cotta pots (with the sandy soil) and brought it up north. In September, I repotted the brom in the same pot, but in 3 parts peat moss, 2 parts potting bark and 1 part pearlite. I kept it under my pool deck in the shade and brought it indoors mid-Sept where it lives on a pebble tray.

The problem is that I have been noticing the thing inside the mother central cup that the flowers grow on is smelling like decay...rotting something or other. The little things that stick up have an odd appearance, also, could this be what is rotting?

How do I stop this, or is this normal (?). I do keep the cups full of water at all times. I don't want to lose this plant as this was the only one my brother gave me before he passed. It does have (or at least had) two pups...one is still on the mother plant and one I took off to repot for my mother to remember him by. So, if I do lose the motherplant, I still have on pup left, but I would love to selvage the whole thing!

Thanx in advance....Lisa

Oh, one more thing that might help give a clue:

Last week I had to pull out a new leaf from inside the main cup because it was dying...it was about 3" long, had turned brown and was sorta mushy. It was hard to remove, but I took it out thinking that might be what the problem is. The problem never went away.

Lisa

It is completely normal for the mother plant to die after producing pups- nothing you can do to stop it as that is just the way it is. You can either leave it there to rot naturally, or cut the mother away leaving all of the root structure for the remaining pup, or remove the pup and discard the mother.

The smell is vile isn't it?
Occasionally when I am dividing clumps I will spill a whole buttload of that rotwater on myself and it nearly makes me gag. You haven't lived until you have grabbed a handful of stinko/rotting mush.
I can now find the dead ones by smell alone.

Wouldn't it be beneficial to leave the mother to rot as Iong as it doesn't stink up the house...isn't the rotting mother providing nutrients for the pup?

The pup does have a good root system (at least the one I cut for my mother does) so I can sacrifice the mother if I have to.

Lisa

IMO if the pup has roots then there is no way I would be tolerating that smell! I believe that once they are in the "rotting and stinking" category all function has ceased, anyway- as far as nourishing the pup.

Don't look at it as a "sacrifice"- look at it as a "decent burial".
She's done her thing and her time is simply over.

Thanks for all your help and input...I will be separating the mommy and the baby!

Lisa

Kimi,
I can add a few suggestions to what Lisa has offered.
I grow many broms too and one thing you can do to help ward off the mother plant from rotting is to empty the cup more frequently and flush with fresh water. Let it dry a day or two and then refill it with water. It is amazing how long they will last this way. Tthis is the way they grow in nature as well. Since the mother has already started dieing off you can cut off the rotten part and leave as much firm green leaves as possible. Don't continue putting water in the mother plant but just mist it every day or so. She can still continue to put off another pup or two even though she is finishing her life cycle.
I have many bromeliads that I manage this way and it is really amazing how many pups you can get off of what appears to be just a dead stalk.

Hope that helps some, too.

MsC

I will confirm what MsCritterkeeper says about them contiuing to throw pups long after you think they have gone by the wayside.

MotherNature4