How do you get them to flower again? I have one that is 4 years old, stays green, outdoors in summer, but has never flowered again.
bromeliads
Most only flower once. The exception to that rule are some of the xerics, like Puya and Dyckia.
gothqueen, could you tell us why they won't bloom again? Are they just for foliage or what?
most broms only flower once, then produce a pup or two, or more. Then the original broms dies, leaving the pups to grow and take its place. Usually, you end up with a nice clump that looks great when it overflows the pot! Kaytucci, has your brom ever produced pups?
Sue
Thanks weed_woman. Now one other question. How long does a bloom last on the brom? I bought one about a month ago and it was in bloom then and still has the flower as of today.
That depends totally on the specific bromeliad. Some have blooms that last a month or more, some have blooms that last only a few days or a week at the longest.
You have to understand that bromeliads are an extremely diverse group of plants. They aren't like, say. roses, where almost every plant behaves the same. There are many different genera and species of bromeliads, and many different cultivars and intergeneric hybrids.
Do you even know what type you have? That would be helpful for us to know.
A good resource for bromeliads is the Florida Council for Bromeliad Societies website, fcbs.org
Check it out, lots of info and photos
Well I went to the site you informed me of and the only thing that even looks similar to mine is the billbergia pyramidalis, but mine it still a flat ruby colored flower without the litle flowers budding out of it.
Hi flowefantasy, If your bloom is still looking good, it probly isn't a Bilbergia as the flowers are quite short lived.
You know, a photo would be extremely helpful, any chance of one?
Nidularium fulgens.
I'll try to get one but I am not sure I know how to get it on here.
I agree, especially b. pyramidalis, those only last a few days. Beautiful, then...gone!
Do you have a digital camera FF? plug it into the computer and save the pics to a file that you can access easily. sometimes the pictures need to be resized smaller, so they upload quicker. When you click on browse in the box next to 'image' you look for where your files are, i.e 'my pictures' or 'desktop' e.t.c. Then you click on the pic you want and choose preview instead of send. This allows you to see if it has worked.
Let me know if you get stuck. Don't be scared to have a go, its easy when you've had a little practise.
Good luck
Sue
sorry the pic is so big, forgot to resize-doh!
Aechmea recurvata
This message was edited Dec 12, 2008 4:37 PM
I have a billbergia pyromidalis "Fosters Striate" coming . I have to wait on the pic, hubbys Mom in hospital and he is there and I don't know where the camera is. Yes it is digital.Actually have 2 of them, so when he gets home I'll have him to get the small one out and I'll give i a shot.
Hope this comes thru. It is the brom that I have that I don't know which one it is.
It's a Vreisea
Ok so we know what it is now WOOOOHOOOO !!!!
Can you tell me a little about it?
Thats a good one Flowerfantasy. It prefers medium to dense shade, no direct sun as it has soft leaves right? The flower should last at least 6 months, but may fade and look a bit daggy. When it is totally dried out, you might check the flower for seeds, but it does take a long time, I heard. In the early spring, fertilise it with a small ammount of slow release granules (3-6 month type) making sure none get amongst the leaves or too close to the plant. The warmth and fertiliser should stimulate the growth of new pups which will appear amidst the lower leaves. These can be removed when they are 1-2 thirds the size of the parent.
To remove the pups, it is best to take the plant out of the pot and remove the soil. Peel away the lower leaves to reveal where the pup is attached. You can remove the pup using a knife, trying to get as close to the mother plant as possible. Sometimes they break to high up and may not survive, but if successful, re-plant the pup in a free draining mix. Do not fertilise it until it has become stable, which indicates it has grown roots. ( you can use bamboo stakes to secure it when first potted) As for the mother plant, re-pot, fertilise again, and you MIGHT get another pup or two. Try and do all this when the weather is warm, because that is when the plants are growing actively. In the winter, all leaf and root growth die down, so it will take alot longer to establish a new plant, although it is not impossible.
I don't know the name of your Vriesea, because there are numerous cultivars about, bred all over the world for sale in nurseries. But its a lovely plant anyway. I like Vrieseas, as you can probably tell. http://www.derooseplants.com/en/select_plant_search.asp . Click on the arrow at 'Genus' and choose 'Vriesea' to look at some pics.
Sue
The one I have is a fosteriana hybrid. I went in an googled Vriesea and it came up with 6 different kinds of Vriesea and there is one picture that looks exactly like mine that is the fostreiana.
Sue The way you told me to post the pic didn't work with my computer. We had to do it entirely different to even get it to post. We don't have a regular store bought computer. We had ours special built so some things that normally work doesn't on ours, and then sometimes it does.
I greatly appreciate the help you have given though. It is nice to have someone that can help .
Hi flowerfantasy, sorry my way of posting pics didn't work for you, but you manged to get one up there anyway. Well done! I am happy to try to help you anytime, especially if it gets me a pic of a brom to look at! LOL. I am surprised when you googled that you only got 6 types(species) of Vrieseas! there are heaps more than that!
http://fcbs.org/pictures.htm Try this sight, just click on vriesea down the left hand side, you will see what I mean!
It might take you some time, but at least most are beautiful to look at!
Sue
Vriesea splendens
Sue
thats' the same exact one I have as you know now but yours is SOOOOOO much bigger !!!!!!!!!!!!
It said a fosteriana hybrid but since I seen yours mine is exactly the same. I do have a fosters striate now too I will have to see if I can find it now so I will know what one I have exactly. I am hoping it makes it though cause when I got it, it looked almost like it was half frozen. The person that sent it had it wrapped in soaking paper and in a plastic bag and for as cold as it has been I would never had sent it out that wet, and to know that they don't need that much water to start with.
Don't be sorry about the picture thing. My computer it specificially built. We had it built the way we wanted it set up so things that would work on a normally built computer doesn't quite work the same way on this one. This is just more compilcated to get things to work on it.