Hello, I have had a small, red Guzmania for a few months now. I have to leave my house for three weeks and couldn't leave it with anybody. It's quite cold where I live. When I came back, the leaves where stiff, curled up and a little dry and the brackets were brown at the tips. Could you please tell me what to do to heal it...
Sounds like it needs watered. I heard also that they need to be kept alittle humid so misting it alittle should help and not letting the soil dry out.
Bromeliad species need to have the cone filled with clean water all the time with moderately warm conditions. They do not have roots but instead have "hold fasts" which do nothing other than hold the plant in place so watering the soil does nothing. In Nature they occasionally grow in soil but most of the time are found growing on a tree branch in bright light as epiphytes (epi-FITS). They need humid conditions and will only produce one inflorescence before the plant will die. However, don't panic and throw it away! These plants produce pups from the base of the plant (sometimes on stolons) which are fairly easy to grow into an adult specimen which will produce another inflorescence. Just keep the water in the cone clean and prune off any dead leaves. If the inflorescence has already died look for new growth around the base. Bright indirect light will cause it to produce more colorful inflorescences but the plant will likely not reproduce itself if kept in dim light.
Hello. Thank you for your replies, I am watering it and keeping it in a warm place but honestly it does not look any better. Somebody recommended I use Seasol, a fertilizer. I think I will try that, if I can find it here. I hope it works. Have a nice evening!
If you are watering the soil the plant will not gather any water. The water must be placed inside the cone of the plant, not in the potting medium. Dilute fertilizer will not harm the plant but don't use anything full strength. These plants do not gather water through a root system as typical house plants do. It is quite common for the parent plant to die once the inflorescence dies. Can you see anything that appears to be a "baby plant" at the base? Please post a photo of the plant showing as much detail as possible.
Hi, I've attached a photo to this post, it's not very good quality, sorry about that. There is something at the base of the plant, a small white dot, I don't know if that could be a baby plant. The leaves are starting to curl up, you can see it on the photo, it doesn't seem to be any better.
I see nothing wrong with the specimen other than the soil appears very soggy. Soggy soil can cause the hold fasts to rot. Since the hold fasts serve no purpose other than to hold the plant in place I would suggest moving it to a mixture which contains at least 50% orchid bark with the balance being your soil mix. Just make sure the plant has clean water inside the cone. There is no need to water the soil. The leaves are reflexing (turn back) which is common in some species. Not all Bromeliad specimens look alike since there are many species involved in the hybridization process used to tissue culture plants that are commonly sold. You may be trying to compare this plant to completely different hybrids which won't look the same.
