What broms do I have here?

13 years ago

The first one I need to identify has a bloom like the plant used by the forum home page. The gorgeous pink spiky thing was short, nesting down in the crown of the plant, and then just grew and grew longer, opened up, showed its purple and red like seeds in a Doctor Zeuss garden plant. Now it is fading. There is a green young pup growing on one side of the plant, much more delicate looking with narrow strappy curved leaves, no gray frosting or stripes at all, totally unlike the mother plant. What is this guy? It is fantastic:

{{gwi:478090}}

This photo shows the aging bloom. Do I have any seeds here that I should try to save? Can you tell if this plant is male or female, or is sex not an issue to this plant?

{{gwi:478091}}

And here is another brom I do not know the identity. The part on the left with the red leaved crown was the older portion, and the right crown was much smaller when I got it last fall. Now it is as big as the first one, but without any colored crown. Should I separate the two, who are in the same pot currently. Will separating them allow the new one to turn colors? Also, is the red crown the bloom for this variety? Or do they have a center which grows up and out (like the pineapple does, and like the previous plant I asked to identify), or will the red crown be all this guy does before it dies off?

Any help is appreciated.

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Comments (3)

matt15
13 years ago
moccasinlanding,

The first brom is Aechmea fasciata. There is no sex and I don't know it if will self pollinate.

The second is certainly a Neoregelia but i'm not sure on the name. My guess would be Neo 'debbie' but there are alot of simular neo's out there.
Seperating them won't induce colouring, this is bought on by there environmental conditions and also maturity to flowering. I personally like to see them in clumps and would leave them together. The only reason you should seperate is to enduce them to pup again.

HTH Matt
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Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you, Matt15.
Would it do me any good--or the plant any good--to trim off the fading top? I've read that after they bloom, they will die. Must I lose this plant, or is there any way to keep it looking as good as it does now?

I've seen the huge century plants, which bloom once every 40 years or so, and then they die. Around their base will be the pups succeeding them. Is that the same kind of fate in store for the Aechmea fasciata? How long might it take for this to happen?
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vriesea
13 years ago
Hi Moccasin ,

The fate of Bromeliads ( well 99% of them ) is to die after flowering ,but it depends on your idea of death ,if they truly died you would not get pups now would you ? only the flowered part dies ,but the plant reproduces by making ofsets and the processes are slow ,in a clump you never notice as you just remove an old leave here and there ,the pink flowered plant does not self seed in cultivation ( not that i have heard of ) and if the light is to low ? yes the pup(s) will be strappy ,as for the Neo Carolinea type , they blush in the centre when flowering but the actual flowers are low down in the centre , the colour remains for the most of the life of that part of the plant ,people are far to paranoid about " broms dying after flowering " they just DONT DIE , only the flowered part does ,but that happens to many plants in the world , plants pay a big price for flowering ,but they go on in seeds,ofsets ,little bulblets and so on ,very few plants die completely after flowering ,they have to do something to perpetuate the species ,so dont panic ,you will still have the plants pups ,wich will grow and flower and start the whole cycle again ,
Jack