Hi Linda,
I would leave them outside as the neo's ususally colour up during winter. They grow best with warm days and cool nights. As long as it is not going to snow where you are i would leave them where they are.
Dooley.

Unfortunately it does snow where I live and I cannot leave them outside.:(

Linda

Linda,
What state do you live in?
Here in Michigan, I'll be bringing the plants in late September- early October. A large south- facing window would probably make Neos. the happiest during the winter months. We often have extended periods of cloudy weather here. That can be quite challenging to growing Neos well.

I do grow a few of my Neos. under flourescent lights (4-tube fixtures and close to the lights). That seems to keep their color pretty nicely.

Paul

Hi Paul, I live in northern Utah which is also zone 6. I do have a couple of nice south facing windows where I can put them for the winter, although I also have several other tropical plants and palms that need to come inside too. I may try putting the pups under the lights and the bigger plants near the windows. I got addicted to the neo's last summer and got a dozen or so and brought them all in and then when the pups were large enough I potted them up. They seem to be doing well now that they have been outside for several months. The leaves were kinda strappy and I figured they needed more light inside to develop better. They were in a south facing room but not right next to the window. Guess I need a greenhouse because I am just getting way too many plants to bring inside!

Thanks :)

Linda

Also I was wondering how low can the nights temps get before you bring them in?

Linda

Linda,
You're probably right about "strappy" leaves being caused by inadequate light. The other possible cause would be fertilizing with too much nitrogen, especially during the indoor growing season. A greenhouse is certainly very helpful! The amount and quality of light is even better than "just" a south- facing window. I suspect that you have a sunnier climate in Utah than here in MI. You might find a greenhouse to be quite practical!
I typically start bringing plants inside during the last week of September (especially the more cold sensitive ones). Our average low temp is 50F on Sep 25, and first frosts start to threaten during about the 3rd week of October. A lot of broms, and certainly most Neos, will tolerate temps in the upper 30s. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. The light quality is still so much better outside, but at a certain point you can arrest the plant's growth with excessive exposure to cold.
Hope this helps.
Paul

Hi Paul, Thanks for the great info! I did give the pups some osmocote fertilizer when they were inside early this year. I guess next time I won't do that. Do you fertilize yours at all? If you do, what do you use?

I think we do get quite a few sunny days here in the winter except maybe in January...that month can be quite gloomy. And our average low temp in September is 52 degrees and Oct is 41 degrees. I think I will leave them out as long as I can. I guess if the days are still warm I could throw a blanket over them at night but I will definetly bring them in if it is going to get belong 40 degrees. I also have a couple of Guzmania and Aechmea. Do you know if they are more cold sensitive?

Thanks so much!

Linda

Two separate subjects here....
First, the fertilizer issue- if you type "fertilizer bromeliads" in the search box above, you'll find about 20 pages of results, so it's been a hot topic of discussion. Through trial and error, I think everyone comes to a solution that works for their particular situation. Osmocote works well for those who can grow outside year round. I know that many growers just throw it in the pot when with new pups. I might even try it up here for some of my flowering Vrieseas and Guzmanias, but it proves to be way too much nitrogen (for too long a time as well) for my Neos. I started using Algoflash for Geraniums and Container plants (4N-6P-8K) last year. I was pretty happy with the results, although I think I even overdid with the number of applications on some of my Neos this year. I've also used Shultz Cactus fertilizer (2N-7P-7K) and been happy with the results.
There's a great resource for cold sensitive bromeliads on the fcbs.org web page. Go to the "Bromeliad Information" tab, and then "Culture" and you'll see a listing for a couple of articles on cold sensitivity. It's impossible to generalize based simply on genus. Aechmea chantinii doesn't like temps below 40F, while Aechmea recurvata will survive 20 degrees.
My recommendation to you would be "better safe than sorry". Do you trust the weather prognosticators to give you the "correct" forecast low on any given night?!

Paul

Hey Paul, thanks for responding! I am going to look for some different fertilizer and will use very sparingly.

And your right about the weather forecasts. Seems like they are always wrong. Hopefully we both have a nice warm fall.

Linda