It's normal. My v. splendens grow pup near the center. Because if only one baby, I did not get off, old rosette leaves of the parent I gradually pulled, they began to die. And now the baby grows in my mother's roots.

Woollady as gartemua said with one pup it is probably better to leave it in place.

I had a splendens cultivar that had about four or five pups in the centre - I stipped off all of the outer leaves and separated all off the pups, smallish pups around 2 inches didn't do that well, pups around 5 inches grew out fine.

The mother plant didn't live through the process, I tried pulling a centre pup off a Fosterianna the other day but didn't want to strip the leaves off the parent - all I managed to do was snap the large pup off above the base - the pup is now regrowing back from the mother.

I hope this is all clear as mud for you.

Cheers,

Rick

thank you both for your quick replies.i guess i will just let it be,maybe start pulling parent leaves off a little at a time.

woollady,

The leaves will come off easily if you start with the outside leaves and work your way in. Splitting the leaf down the middle and removing the leaf left to right usually works well.

Cheers,

Rick

The only Vr,Splendens i have that makes only one pup is variety 'Formosa' the others make from 2 to 4 , the problem with pup removal is that they are high up on the plant and most people will not let them get to a big enough size , i find i let them get around 10 to 12 inch tall then i cut them of the mother plant, there is no point trying to save the mother plant , considering how easy it is to grow from seed i suggest that you self pollinate it and grow the seed , you will get a small amount of variations ,but you must expect that ,as with any Vriesea ,the base of the pups is brittle like a stalk of corn ,so do not pull on them or twist them of ,gently tease the pup a side a bit ,insert a sharp knife and cut downwards and into the mother plant ,as all Vrieseas grow a few roots inside the trunk of the mother plant its useless to try to pull them of ,some plants are easier than others ,and Splendens is a tad more difficult ,
Jack