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quaching

New to Broms....any advice?

Quaching
9 years ago

Ok so I'm really good at growing plumeria's but I just purchased my first Brom. I bought the Bromeliad Aechmea Blue Tango. It already has a bloom stalk (not sure what the official name is for the stalk). I put it in a clay pot and used Nature's Earth soil. The soil has a decent amount of bark. So my questions are:
1) what is the best soil to use?
2) I plan on keeping it outdoor so should I put it in full sun or partial sun?
3) it already has two small pups so can I go ahead and remove those and grow them separately? Pups are about 3 inches long.
Here are some picks.

Comments (8)

  • Quaching
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Second pic, sorry they are sideways.

  • sunshine_qld
    9 years ago

    Hi Quaching, any soil that is free draining will be fine. Bark is good in the mix,
    Morning sun until 9/10am will be good then dappled sunlight in the heat of the day but slowly get it there if you are in summer.

    Leave your pups until they are at least 1/3 the size of mum. They are way too small to take off now.

    Mum will slowly die down the track after flowering so if you like, when the pups grow bigger you can cut her out or you can take the pups off and she will produce more.

  • Quaching
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Awesome, thanks Sunshine. I really appreciate your input. Really glad I asked and didn't remove the pups already.

  • hotdiggetydam
    9 years ago

    Another thing that should be mentioned about removing pups....depending on your climate...winter is a not a good time to remove pups...spring is always best. Aechmea in general dont like cold weather. Removing pups at the wrong time or the wrong size usually cause that plant to abort the bloom.

  • Quaching
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's good information.....Thank you. I have a greenhouse that I keep around 75 degrees during the winter so maybe if the pups are big enough I might still be able to remove them.

  • gosalsk
    9 years ago

    You can add ground pine bark to regular potting soil to make a mix bromeliads will like. Around here you can buy ground pine bark (called "soil amendment" or something like that) at the big box stores for $1.50 a cubic foot.

    But in my experience most bromeliads do fine in regular potting soil unless it's a very soggy mix.

  • gosalsk
    9 years ago

    Oh, also, it's not just temperature that kills pups in winter. Low light and short days can weaken them severely. In my experience they do better outside and in cold (but above freezing) temperatures than they do in the house. Many will survive freezing temperatures at night as long as they're covered, though some aechmeas are not as tolerant.

    It's also been said that pups won't root in the cold. I'm not sure how true that is.

    This post was edited by gosalsk on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 15:17

  • splinter1804
    9 years ago

    Hi everyone.

    Quaching - One last word of advice, don't over water; more plants are killed by over watering than under watering, and this goes for standing the pot in a saucer of water, definitely a NO NO

    All the best, Nev.