Hi Xuan,
Sorry to hear your brom is not flourishing. Given that the Kiwi series comes from NZ, and they have similar temps as your cool garden (in spring to summer, in Auckland at least) one would assume your climate to be ideal, but perth has just been through summer, with much higher temps, so i'm guessing your plants are acclimatised to that? Maybe your hot climate garden might be better. I am no expert in this, but having bought bromeliads to my cooler climate, from warmer climates, I have found them to be very slow and having no vigour for at least a year or two. On the other hand, plants bought from the cooler climates have flourished in the warmth here.
Did you only get the one Vriesea from the Kiwi series? It would be a good experiment to try one in each garden.
BA

Brom adorer: I bought three plants from Mitia Bromeliad in WA last January; one Predator, one Hieroglyphica, and a Kiwi Sunset. Here's their photo when first arrive.

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Since you have been through similar situation in having grown warm-climate broms in cooler climate, I trust your advice to leave them alone to adjust themselves for the time being. I'm afraid, however, that if I move them back down to my "hot" garden, they might have to re-adjust again, which might take time.

Here's a photo, also, of the brom setting in my garden.

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Thanks again for your advice.

Xuan

Hi Xuan ,For me I find that when the Vrieseas get to hot (as it does here in summer ) they slow down and most colours fade a bit ,some get very tired looking ,in spring and autumn they do the best ,most foliage Vr, do not like extreme heat /glare ,cooler side is better ,The Kiwi series have proved a bit temperamental for a number of growers,the seed came from Hawaii originally ,and the mix contains ,Platynema ,Fosteriana and Gigantea Seideliana ( ex Nova), in cooler months they colour up really well ,I would keep them in your cool garden ,wich would still be warm and humid where you live Xuan ,the biggest enemy of Vr,is a dry root system ,moist is what they like , all the best my friend
Jack

Hi Xuan,

Can you post a photo of what it looks like now ? What exactly is wrong with it ? The Kiwi Vrieseas should do fine in your cool garden, are you keeping the roots moist ? If it gets too dry and hot that will be the main cause of it looking sad.

These Kiwi's should ideally have some dappled sun/strong light (for cooler parts of the day where you are), otherwise it will likely lose it's colour and go a bit greener...a lot like a neo will.

Hope that helps, but do let us know what the problem is, as I'm sure you don't want a dying Kiwi on your hands ! ;-)

Cheers
Graeme

Hi Guys

Xuan, I have had quite a few reports of rotting in the Kiwi series over our East Coast of Aust. summer, one of mine also rotted, so maybe the cooler garden might be best. They need very bright light to colour up & need good air circulation, mine are now out in the garden with little protection from the elements & will only get watered when it rains. The rotted one I have dried it out & tossed in the garden & I hope it pups.

Pinkbroms

PS luckily it wasn't my pink one that rotted.

Thank you very much, Oz friends. I'm so glad I asked about this Vriesea.

Here's a photo of the plant, taken a month ago. But I realize it doesn't tell much since I didn't focus on the "problematic" part when taking the photo. (I cannot take another one showing the "problems" because I'm now back in Saigon, the "hot" garden.)

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The plant, I feel, is looking "tired". Some of the middle leaves dried up at where they meet the "stem". Actually I worried that the plant would rot and I kept "pulling" at it lightly to test if it still "clings" on to the medium... sort like you test if some cutting of plants have taken roots :-)
And it didn't come up, it stayed firmly in the pot.

I'm using chopped tree fern as the planting medium for all my epiphytic plants like hoyas, epicactus... etc. All of them are happy in the mix. I make sure the broms cups are filled with water. We are at the end of the dry season and rains are approaching.

This Kiwi is such a beauty (and costly, too) that I really don't want to lose it. I hope, if anything happens, it would produce a pup before bidding farewell!

Xuan

Hi Xuan, i am intrueged that you use the chopped tree fern for the Vriesea ,if i was to do that my plants would die from having the root system to dry , your plant does look tired ,it must be remembered that the bulk of the species wich make up the hybrid complex of foliage vrieseas are not epiphetic ,they are more terestrial in their habits , Hieroglyphica does get on trees mostly not far of the ground ,for me i would not grow in them in the tree fern fibre ,I have not had any of the three varieties rot on me , i would check the root system and see how wet or dry it is my friend , Jack

Hi Jack

Thanks for the advice. I will check to see if the roots are dry or wet and will remedy the situation as need be.

As for air-circulation, our site is rather windy and the humidity is very high, too.

Xuan (brom Mom)

I have the Kiwi series and as they get older they have their own set of challenges...the biggest is drying out. If the soil is to heavy they do rot. While my John Arden plants are thriving and putting on bloom spikes. They are very happy in Texas as they do tolerate a little dry spell and our high humidity makes for a good balance.

Xuan, I agree with Jack, check the roots and soil first and foremost. But looking at your photo, I think the plant is just going through it's normal acclimatisation process (from Perth to where you are). It is looking tired and you can see the middle leaves have some spots and burning. This would suggest it didnt like the temperature change between countries or the shock from being dried out in transit, to watered again in your humid climate. There could also be a difference in the type/quality of water used and probably type of media too that it didn't quite enjoy ? Or maybe it was just in full or semi shade and quite dry in Perth and is now in hotter, more humid conditions ??? I have found these plants do take time to adapt to their new homes (like most tender broms), but I wouldn't worry, just keep it moist, feed it lightly and give it bright light once established and it should survive...after all, Kiwis are a pretty tough breed!! ;-)
Cheers
Graeme

Hi all, Time to chime in here, When the Tissue culture Kiwi's were released 3 yrs ago here we brought 4 of each, Sunset, Dusk & Cream. Up untill that point all the kiwi's had been grown inside and looked spectacular under high light and warm conditions. Out of the 3 Cream and dusk have done much better for us in our outside garden. Like you Haxuan the sunset which we placed in 4 different locations did struggle and certainly did not like our high UV here durring the summer months, eg seems to burn very easly and the colour fades out. Also the root system struggled to hold the plant in the pot - serveral times ours got blown out. Ours looked much like yours Haxuan in your latter pic. But after persevering for 3 yrs they have become much stronger but need to be grown in a warm condition under dappled light as have had the dusk and cream in full sun. Also maybe the tissued plant is not as strong as the next generation will be. All our pups are doing very well so feel its a matter of nursing this plant along and you will have success with the off spring. Incidently we took a Sunset to Malaysia 3 yrs ago and it has really strugled. just has not adjusted to the high heat and humidity and is very stunted.Its certainly not a tropical plant. We also have the Vriesea 'Ming Dawn' A cross between Sunset and Dawn. This was a seed grown plant not a tissued plant and has done much better for us. Jack not sure you have the parents correct on this one, you can check out one of our previous posts for some answers.

Thank you very much for all your valuable advice. I shall do as suggested and will keep you posted of development.

Again, many thanks for your time.

Xuan