5 replies to this topic

[Bill]

Hi
My three year old Brocchinia reducta is now flowering and judging by the colour of the leaves the plant may well now be dieing. I know this is normal but had assumed that new plants would develop which could be separated and grown on. Should these appear before the main plant dies as there is no sign of any new growth?

cheers

bill

[Mad]

On my B. reducta there are 4 new plants growing from the base since the flower some month ago. Two of them are now over 10cm tall while the mother plant is still alive. No new leaves, and the oldest have dryed out but still living.

[ada]

Hi Bill,  i can't say anything about flowering or dieing,but the plant mine came from had loads of offsets about 9-12 inches tall and no sign of any flowers
ada

[Sheila]

I thought all Bromeliads flowered before producing offsets and dieing. Mine has offsets but it flowered at the end of last summer.

[Steve Stewart]

Hello,

I've grown and flowered many Brocchinia reducta for more than a decade, and in my conditions here in Florida, it is important to keep this species drier when they are flowering. Most bromeliads can become dry in the roots, and stay that way, for several days if not weeks. I pour the water out of the vase of my plants when they finish flowering to encourage more pup (offset) formation. You can fill the pups, but keep the mother plant empty.
It is a fun challenge for me to keep plants that have flowered living for as long as possible, (sometimes years) so I can share more plants of this species with other growers. They can produce large amounts of roots, and not succumb to fungal attack, if kept in a drier growing media after flowering.
I have sold large flowering plants to growers only to hear that their plant "fell apart and rotted" a few months after the sale.

Good luck,
Steven Stewart

Edited by Steve Stewart, 10 January 2009 - 11:46 PM.

[Bill]

Thanks for your replies. I can only feel that perhaps I have kept the plant a bit wetter than I should have. Particulary if it gets fussier when its flowering. The flower stalk started to develop late last summer and although a good height the flower buds have not yet opened. And the leaves are going yellow/brown and curling. And there are patches of brown amongst the flower buds so don't feel too hopeful about its survival  

bill