If there is a way, I don't know about it.

The issue seems to be the seasonal change, so the only way I can think of to approach it is to somehow minimize that change. Keeping them cold throughout the year (assuming you could even do that) might retard flowering, but you wouldn't get any growth either, so that's obviously no good. The only logical alternative would be to grow them in a heated, lighted greenhouse to keep them from going into a winter "rest". I don't know of any chemical that would act like a "reverse Florel".

Devo, I've had the same thoughts from time to time. I think that we are in agreement that it is seasonal changes- probably longer days and warmer temperatures- that trigger blooming in Neos. If a plant has sufficient reserves built up when those triggers hit, the plant blooms whether we think it's "big enough" or not. I suspect Lisa's on the right track, but depending on the location of one's greenhouse, even that might not be enough. Day/night temperature fluctuations might even be enough of a trigger for blooming. The answer more likly lies with the people who complain that their plants never bloom. I suspect that those plants are grown in the most static conditions possible- indoors- heated in the winter to a near constant 68-72F, and air conditioned in summer to nearly the same temps. Then place the plant in an inadequate lighting situation so proper food reserves are never built up. Withhold all fertilizer for good measure. LOL
As an expiriment, I would suggest giving supplemental artificial lighting- from the end of summer until the end of winter- to equal 12-13 hours of daylight. This would mimic a neutral day length- neither long nor short. Perhaps (fingers crossed :) this would be enough to trick your plants into skipping a year of bloom. Growing indoors (less temperature fluctuation) should enhance your chances of reduced flowering, although it's a lot more challenging to grow Neos. with great conformation when they're grown only with artificial light.
To answer your final challenge... yes, I think it is possible to trick the plants into being less precocious.
Paul

Devo / Paul,
I agree with eveything Paul has stated,as I've experianced similar growth problems due to mostly in-home growing conditions most of the months of a year.I try to maintain good humidity and air circulation as best I can,and am able to close off the plant room to help adjust temperatures.But what seems to prove Paul's points,is when I donate plants to our Bot.Gdns.,that are 2-4 years old and not doing much for me,invariably they look much healthier,and pop a bloom spike in a few months.They seem to be just waiting for the right conditions to blossom,and they have them at the bbg. And this seems to be true no matter what the genera.
Bob

Yes , its very easy , just shift to a tropical area , most Neos here grow on trunks to 1m high and hardly ever flower . Though with record cold weather this winter some may flower in spring .

While improving on my brom knowledge I stumbled on this older post. I have to comment.

First some quotes:

"They seem to wake up from their winter rest, to find the days are getting longer, the temperature is warmer, so they burst into flower."

"Though with record cold weather this winter some may flower in spring"

"is seasonal changes- probably longer days and warmer temperatures- that trigger blooming in Neos"

Interesting stuff cause in my climate it is completely the other way around! My Neo's flower in the winter.

When the temperature outside drops at the end of summer and the days get shorter and cooler my Neo's start to produce their inflorescence. That is weeks before I take em in the house. They usualy go in during the last week of september at that time the first few flowers have opened.

That is not just this year that is every year. I have my old plants, spectabilis, fireball, and ampullacea, flowering at the same time each year. Hot and dry summers, cool and wet summers, no difference.

That's not all, the spectabilis and fireball in my terrarium flower at the same time. The temperature is pretty much constant and 14hrs of light all year. In wintertime the temperature drops a lot more at night. The terrarium gets some morning sun in the summertime, nothing in the winter.

So the only seasonal changes both situations get is a bigger nighttime temperature drop and a change in daylight colour. One of those two must be the trigger in my case.

Is it possible that it has something to do with warm days and cool nights in your case?
That confirms bromaddict's remark: "Day/night temperature fluctuations might even be enough of a trigger for blooming.".

No big nighttime temp drop in Malaysia = no flowers and big Neo's??

Does the temperature in the BBG greenhouse drop at night? Bob?

Does that make sense?
Anyone up for a nighttime fridge experiment next summer??

Sander

Hi Sander, Interesting comments.
The bbg temps stay pretty constant all year, around the mid 70's by heating pipes during the winter months,and the normal summer temps which can go much higher with the stronger sunlight. So there really is no temperature changes to speak of. Bromeliad blooming at he bbg seems to go on all year,with each species taking its turn,and seems to increase during the winter months.
So,I'm thinking (perhaps wrongly)the only 'trigger' is in their own species dna time clock,based on when they would naturally bloom in their original tropic habitat.
But I guess a brom can respond to a new stimulant such as a large temperature change,a dry or wet season,even damage.
I've had the thought that when its life is threatened,it will produce a bloom cycle before it dies, to continue on the species.I've had some chewed on by deer and squirrels,that would then produce a bloom. This,of course,is just my own theory,not anything that can be backed up.

Plants at the bbg(not broms) that require cool dark rest periods are put in the basement 'cold rooms'to develop next years growth. Again,this is done to simulate their habitat conditions.
Bob

Hi Sander, here are some observation I got from the hot tropics

General conditions are day temperature 32C, night temperature 26C. Humidity > 70% (I'm guessing).

1. No obvious season for bromeliads to bloom.

2. Neoregelia of the same species and of about the same age will flower at about the same time.

3. Some particular species of Neoregelia is simply difficult to flower and keep growing even after many years but they do produce pups from time to time.

4. For some extreme case, no pups, no flower, and keep growing after many years.

5. If the 'cup' of the Neoregelia is kept dry for a certain period, it will be triggered to flower when there is constant supplier of water in the 'cup'

6. Just thinking humidity and daylight duration that the bromeliads are exposed to are interdependent, an optimum point is always possible by increasing or reducing one of the factors provided the other one is fairly constant.

Bob, leaving aside other genera for the moment, if you're seeing more Neos blooming during the winter at the BBG, they're not following any innate species time clock, unless they are remembering that it's summer south of the equator! In our comparatively even climate, we get the most Neo flowering during summer, although there will usually be a few going off at odd times. N. correia-araujoi is one of the earliest bloomers, usually sometime in March, but the bulk of them start coming in a couple of months later, and by this time of year there's not that much going on. I definitely have a hybridizing season, and it peaks from about May to August. Neo. Fireball rarely blooms in this climate at all, although occasionally you'll get one.

Billbergias, on the other hand, tend to be winter bloomers. Their main flush is generally in January and February, and to a lesser extent October and November. You can always depend on Ae. recurvata and gamosepala to be blooming around Christmas, but other species have different timetables, and many are summer bloomers. I'm not sure what the trigger is, but I'm leaning towards day length.

That's the normal cycle, but I think some of what we're talking about here are abnormal cycles. Your ideas about blooming as a result of sudden change or stress, as a survival mechanism, make sense and might explain why Sander's Neos pop into bloom during the winter months. To really understand what's going on, though, you have to look at what was happening when the bloom was first initiated, which can be 2 to 4 months before the flowers actually open. So it may not be that they're blooming in NZ as a response to spring, but rather that the winter cold a few months earlier initiated an "I'd better produce some seeds in case I don't make it" response. Just a thought.

Hi again Lisa,(and all)
Yes,what you said above sounds very logical to me. I did'nt really think about "bloom initiation happens 2-4 months before flowering" That seems to explain something that I had said in an earlier(summertime)thread.["I'm not seeing any of my billbergias blooming this year"].
Well,since bringing them inside for winter a week before Extravaganza,three are now in spike,B.paramidalis, B.'Fantasia',and B.'Hallelujah...And I was thinking it was the sudden change in location and conditions,when it most likely was the extra long days in bright light and the heat of summer. Duh ! And too,you mentioning it,reminded me that most of my Bils have bloomed in the October to March time frame. Especially B.nutans,very reliable winter month bloomer.
I've noticed that the blooming at the bbg is mostly (usually) by genera/species,with each taking its turn.Ex:
If there are half a dozen pots of Quesnelia liboniana clumps,they all pop a bloom at the same time. Same goes for Aechmeas fasciata and blanchetiana,which there are many of there. Seems each species of a genera knows when to bloom.
I liked hanwc's observations too.Very interesting,and I'm thinking that with broms being so adaptable to varying growing conditions,that finding a way to survive and propagate,is what may cause different 'triggers' for many of our growers located in different parts of the world.
This is a really interesting topic.
Any more ideas out there ??
Bob

I personally don't want to stop the flowering process. I need them to bloom for hybrids. I do however tend to pick plants that stack nicely in my growing conditions like N.Royal Hawaiian and still bloom.

I was hoping for a discussion like this.
I'm not saying we're cracking the code but we are getting somewhere. (at least I am learning something here)

I guess it is not this or that, but it is this AND that. You're right there Hanwc. Wich obviously makes it very hard to control the flowering.

But still it amazes me that my broms flower at the same time, while they have very different growing conditions. The only thing I can think of now (in my case) is they're triggered by the few weeks of warm summer nights where the temperature hardly drops in my terrarium and in the garden. My house can be pretty warm at night.
The length of daylight in my terrarium is constant, so I rule out that one. The only stress they get in there is extremely acidic water flowing through the root system but that is also constant. The morning sunlight shining in does not reach the spectabilis and that one is on time too.

You are right Lisa I did not realise that the inflorescence is induced months before I take them in.
In Hawaii the temperature goes up at the beginning of summer but stays up for much longer. (is that correct?)
So saying that when the day/night difference get smaller is the moment Neo's 'initiate' sounds right to me.

The internal clock thing seems unlikely if you look at the different times Neo's bloom wordwide.

Still this can be explained both ways. It could also be a temperature drop at night before the warm season. I choose the warm nights as the trigger in my case, that lasts only a few weeks and is exactly four months before the flowers pop up. The big high/low difference starts about six weeks before they go in, so too late.

Bob said that during summer, temps can go much higher and they get the most flowers in wintertime. Could that be four months in between?

Sudden stress, like damage or low humidity, can be a trigger.
Years ago I left a big spectabilis pup outdoors in winter in a sheltered corner to see what it could take. (I get loads of pups each year) When it looked completely dead I noticed it died with a starting inflorescence, that was in february -8C (17,6F). It even gave me one pup in april wich grew up to be the clump in my terrarium. So I don't think it completely froze.

But I don't like forcing them into bloom at gunpoint.

So, no way I can stop them but maybe some of you can start them by keeping them cool for a while.

Hi Sander,
One last comment,yes,I think I can say that there is at least 2-3 months time frame between summer sun and heat,and the start of a blooming cycle for the broms at the bbg.
I commented in another thread some time ago,that the Alcan.imperialis that was there was grown for many years in only shade in an area of constant temp. Due to renovations,it was moved to an area of bright light and some direct sun,and within about 2 years,it colored up from all green to purple-ish red,and sent up a really tall bloom stalk.Seems that was what it needed to trigger it.
I have some pics of it if interested.
Looks like we have discussed some possibilites here,and lets see If Lisa,or anyone else can add to this.
Bob

As already discussed in home extravaganza, we've decided that the way to get stacked leaves may not be to stop them flowering but to pick plants that have stacked leaves in temperate climates, like N. Royal Hawaiian, N. Coolbaugh etc & maybe use these as crossess to create the super hybrid that will have large no of leaves in our temperate conditions- maybe that's the challenge!
We also find that when we buy hothouse plants & transfer them to our garden , it tends to trigger flowering. The opposite also applies, we've put a N. Lambert's Pride into a light box for winter (to prolong growth) & it made it flower! Our neos flower from spring to summer with spring being the most unsettled time - it can be cold one day, hot the next, hail in the morning & bright sunshine in the afternoon. No wonder they flower! Vrieseas & alcantareas are still the best for us.

I read about the Alcantarea they moved Bob, that is one of the things that got me thinking about triggers.

All of the 'triggers' mentioned above seem possible and they probably apply to different species in different situations. In my case the summer heat looks like the culprit.
I'm not trying to stop my broms from flowering like Devo, I was wondering why they flower now.

I'm definitly going in the Vriesea direction Jaga but I'm not tossing out my Neos.......yet. Not as long as there is room left. ;-)

LOL Sanders, no we're not tossing any neos either- we're just as nuts about them, but like Devo we've tried & failed to stop them from flowering prematurely. Some growers here are quite successful- they grow beautiful big plants that seduces us all & makes us try harder- BTW all you Kiwi Lurkers, come on ,join in & let us in on your secrets- the trick is 5 digits postcode if you're having difficulty registering!

Jaga, you know how long it took me to figure that 5 digit code out? They should prompt for 5 digits in the registration form!

Japie

I don't mind much if they flower, I'm allready happy when I can keep em alive up here. It even looks like my ampullacaea is forming beries! Thanks to you GW'ers!

I copied the postcode from FCBS!

Sander

Devo,

One of our members was talking about Neo pup removal, I remove pups all year round they said they would leave pups on over winter as the pup wouldn't develop over winter anyway. Another downsize about removing the pup during winter was that the plant would flower next season, delaying pup removal to the spring pushed the flowering along one season giving a fuller/larger plant.

The latest Bromeliaceae has a good article about stopping blooms on Guzmanias, I'll dig it out tomorrow and put the details up here.

Rick

Devo,

There is a good article from Peter Paroz in the latest Bromeliaceae May/Jun 2010 on Flower induction/inibition.
It quotes a study paper by DeProft which conducted a test on one year old Guz. lingulata var minor seedlings and using a product called AVG, if ten mls was pored into the cup most plants flowered - if 100ml of AVG was pored into the cup the test showed complete flower inhibition which could be again induced by poring 10 mls of AVG into the cup.

Another cause for premature flowering was discussed at a recent BSQ meeting, the grower said that they wouldn't take pups off Neos during the colder months Autumn and through most of winter because they found that the pups stuggled over winter off pup and would then try and grow in spring and flower next season - leaving pups on and taking them off in late winter early spring caused the Neos to flower a year later producing fuller and healthier looking plants.

Rick