I just picked this up noid, I have never been much of a Bromeliad fan but I am a lover of variegated plants and when I saw this one it was just to pretty to ignore, any guesses?
The plant itself certainly does resemble Neoregelia carolinae but the inflorescence is more common to some Guzmania hybrids. I'd think this is very highly likely to be a hybridized cross.
Sunrize, just a word about keeping your bromeliad healthy. I have a friend who works with botanists on bromeliad species in French Guiana. I have also been to South America several times to see them in the rain forest. These species grow in very bright light up near the top of the tree canopy. They are epiphytes and grow on the limbs of trees, not in the ground. They do not have roots but instead have hold fasts which simply attach the plant to the host. A few species live in soil, but very few compared to the majority. The plant needs a fresh supply of water so be sure and dump the water out of the cone on a regular basis. Fill it again with clean water and occasionally give it a dilute fertilizer. I have been growing about 20 or more in my atrium for 6 years and they produce new plants around the base of the old ones on a regular basis. Once a plant spends the inflorescence the plant will die. But don't throw it out! Keep it in as bright light as possible and it will produce new plants at the base which will mature and grow new inflorescences. I've had them do it year after year. I grow most of mine attached to cork logs as you can see in the photo below. The plant prefers that to soil but will do OK in soil provided you don't keep the medium soaking wet. There is actually no need to water the medium since the plant will pick up no moisture via the hold fasts. They only take in water through the cone.
Thank you so very much! You must have been reading my mind I was just going to ask on its care and what to do with it once it stops flowering? I had read that the plant starts to die after flowering (which is one reason why I never bothered to get one). I was thinking to try and mount it? Space reasons... Should I go ahead and pull it out of that nursery dirt its growing in? Can I treat it like an orchid and remove the dirt and just sit it in a open clay pot roots exposed until I can give it a permanent location? Rain can be an issue here and I grow everything outside. (I live by the thrive or die rule here..lol) The last thing I want it to do is get root rot. Thanks again.. : )
We lived in Miami for over 20 years and I had a bunch of bromeliads literally glued in my backyard trees. I used Liquid Nails (still do) to attach them to the branches. Try to situate them so they get good bright light but with just a bit of diffused light. If it rains a lot you don't need to do anything but during the dry season just water them good with a garden hose. When you mount them avoid putting glue on the bottom of the plant. Put it directly on the hold fasts and then tie it in place for a few months until the plant grows new hold fasts. It will eventually attach itself. I have a cluster in a small tree inside my atrium and when they die they just fall off the tree. But new ones are always growing and putting out a new inflorescence. I think I have a total of 6 now with new a new inflorescence. For the time being you can either leave it in the soil or just remove it and sit it in anything that will keep it upright. The plant really doesn't care as long as it has water in the cone. In South and Central America rain forest animals use the cone as a water supply. Birds drink from them all the time and many tree frogs including Dendrobates use them as a place to lay their eggs. Many tree frog species never venture far from their home Bromeliad! These are one of the most interesting of all rain forest species and there are many more species never recorded by science than the ones we grow. Almost all of the plants we now buy are cultured by a tissue culture lab and few are naturally grown. Still, they are great plants. Just give them plenty of light and water!
The mother plant does die after flowering, however it usually produces some "pups" which continue to grow and produce flowers and other pups an so the cycle continues Ed
Can I ask could I use a treefern log I have to attach them instead of the cork one. Also would a rotting log be ok as an other medium. I have just aquired a few more thanks to what I am learning on list. Liz
Either should work Liz. I have found that the cork only has a life span of 5 to 7 years and will eventually begin to fall apart. I'm not sure what Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden does in Miami to keep their's intact but I was there when they built them around 2000 and they still look great. They may have simply replaced some of the cork as it fell apart, I really don't know. But I do plan on asking when I attend a conference at the garden in September. I've got all sorts of plants growing on the three logs I've created and many of them just grew on them by themselves. It does look very impressive though. Don't know if you saw my photo of Fairchild's display, but here it is again. The logs in the air are simply PVC pipe covered with cork bark suspended by wire.
I am right that I saw maiden hair ferns as in grow wild down by the creek here variety in the pic? Might look into that as well. I am thinking of re doing the pond and bank behind it. There is dappled shade from tree ferns and above that a birch. I will also check the cork polly pipe idea out. I could also use one of my old sturdy rose arches to hang stuff from. Thanks for the ideas. Liz
I had originally planned on hanging my fake logs but never could get my son-in-laws to do it for me! But someday I'm going to get it done! I love to walk (well, I roll) through the Fairchild display and go there every chance we get! It's as close to a walk in a rain forest as you can get!
Steve, I don't think you can cross Neo's with Guz's or any other brom that is in a different genre (?) [insert correct taxanomical term]. I think Mick confirmed this in a previous post, when we were discussing a Tillandsia. However I could be wrong as I am just going off memory : / LOL Ed
Certainly not with live plants. But Agri Starts appears to do it all the time in their lab in Florida as tissue cultured specimens. I was quite confused to read this some years ago but take a look at some of the pictures on their website. I believe the site is Agri Starts IV. They appear to be doing it all the time. How? I'm not sure. But either their photos are wrong or their names or wrong on their website. And they have some pretty smart people doing the tissue culture down there.
Shoot, I have no idea! I have meant several times to visit the AgriStarts lab when I was in the area but never made it. I really don't care for tissue cultured specimens but they seem to do some strange things. I have traded a fair amount of emails with the owner of the company, Bruce, but never get a lot of real useable information. They seem to guard their technology.
