Anna, as far as I know it is only Alcantareas and some Vrieseas that produce grass pups. They are very small pups looking like grass. They have to be removed and grown on almost like seedlings. I've never seen, or heard, of Billbergias and small neos giving grass pups. Unless of coarse you are talking about neo wilsoniana - those pups look very much like grass pups when they are come out, but they are normal pups.

Japie

Anna,

You might be talking about offsets growing on stolons, if so they can be left on or removed and grown the same as a normal pup.

I'll try and put a photo of a grass pup and stolon down the track.

Cheers,

Rick

Some Tillandsias can also have grass pups, krukoffiana is one that does.

Here in the tropics some of the larger Neos never flower .
They just get fat tall trunks , and sometimes many tiny pups will form down low on these trunks . They are just like Alcantarea 'hair' pups , and need similar care . I got dozens from a 'Silverado' once . A few of the Werauhias will have hair pups when young as well .

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your responses. It's not a stolon, because I have one of those and I can see the difference. I'll try to send a photo, but it may be a while because I'm not very computer savvy.

All I can say right now is that other neos growing beside the one in question, which is neo Charm, in the same terrarium, are producing normal pups looking like the parent, and the neo Charm has so far made 4 pups that look like the grass pups of an Alcantarea that I saw in a photo - tall thin green leaves. The bilbergia has produced a similar pup - tall thin green leaves - that is now quite a bit taller than the parent.

Maybe it's a cultural problem. Thanks again.

I hate to say it (but I was recently fooled on an Al. imperialis myself...), but are they grass or some seedling of something else? Sounds unlikely in the terrarium, but worth asking.
-andy

I've notice that the pups on my Aechmea recurvata start out with extremely narrow, long leaves that eventually become broader and shorter, thank goodness. For a while there, they look a bit unsightly in my opinion.

Mike

I've had the same experience as aroideana of multiple long, thin, seedling-like pups growing from an old stump/rhizome/basal portion, usually of a Neo. This seems more likely to happen when the mother plant has been cut off and I'm left with just the woody base, but occasionally I see a cluster of them around the base of the mother too.

In the first case, it's kind of a last gasp of the living portion of the plant. Without a leafy mother to produce food, one or two little grassy pups are about all the rhizome can support, and they are EXTREMELY slow growing. I have no explanation for the ones that are produced while the mother is still intact, though. I don't think I've ever seen them on a Bill, but I imagine it's possible.

I have a Guzmania lingulata plant with a yellow flower, and it has produced about 5 grass pups so far. It was bought for me at christmas last year, in flower, and has produced normal pups also. I wondered if it wasn't something to do with the plant being grown through tissue culture? I'm making the assumption that it was, as its very common in the big department store type nurseries.
They are very tiny, and I have been taking them off and potting them up, so far with complete success!
Has anyone else had grass pups on Guzzies?
BA
{{gwi:496669}}

Hi anna_victoria,

Welcome to our friendly forum where I hope you will have a happy association with our members. I'm sorry I didn't welcome you sooner but I've been busy preparing for our little local bromeliad show and just didn't have the time to look at the GW as often as I normally do and the fact that you are a new member slipped by me unnoticed.

I'm sure you'll learn a lot about brom. growing on this forum because there are some very knowledgable growers from all over the world who regularly post here and are always willing to answer questions and share their knowledge.

Have a happy association with us, all the best, Nev.

Hi Anna

You say you're growing in a terrarium, how much light are you giving the plants length/hrs & strength/candles, are they sealed units or open topped, I have had T's with a cork in the top to seal it, smaller table top jar type. Yours are obviously quite large with artificial lighting, is this controlable, how's the humidity level.

Different plants require different light levels, Neo. Charm & the Billbergia require much higher light than the Vriesea's & will grow in a drier environment, lower humidity than the Vr.

It is possible the grass pups are due to high humidity & low light, to rich an environment.

In this artificial environment your lighting should be at least 300 foot-candles & only about 1ft above the plants, the higher above the plants the stronger the light needs to be, run lighting for about 14 - 18 hrs per day. Work your lighting to when you get up in the morning & go to bed at night, those hrs should be sufficient without having to use timers.

Keep terrarium in about the 70 - 80 degree range, but do allow to fluctate from time to time.

Be careful regards fertilizing in terrariums, very, very little.

An indoor hydroponics supplier should be able to assist with the lighting etc.

Pinkbroms

Thanks so much for all the information, especially for the terrarium, pinkbroms. I'm obviously not providing the correct environment for the broms in the terrarium, because most of them have turned green - that includes neo Charm, Olens, popoki, lilliputiana, Fireball, punctatissima and Blueberry Muffin.

I have 4 terrariums - 3 are 3 1/2 ft. long, 1 is 4ft long. All are 1 1/2 ft tall and wide. Lighting is either T5 50 watt or T8 30 watt fluorescents. Lights come on at 7 am to 10 pm. Humidity is usually 60% during the day - up to 90% when lights first come on in the morning. Average temps is 27 degrees C, 80 F.

I've read the fertilizer discussions and at this point, I am too inexperienced to decide how to feed, so I haven't at all. I grow orchids and African Violets in the same terrariums (separately potted) so the broms may accidently get a splash of orchid or A.V. fertilizer once in a while.

I live in a condo with east facing windows where I grow some larger neos, an aechmea correia-araujei, vriesea splendens, and tillandsias. most are recent acquisitions, so I don't know yet how the colours will react. I have had the Splendens for 3 years and it still looks great. Maybe my mini neos would do better in the windows.

As for my so-called grass pups, so far only the 2 plants I mentioned have produced them. Thanks for reading, and offering help to this newbie.

I get "grass pups" on my Vriesea ospinae ospinae.

My Vr ospinae grueberi doesn't get them.

These plants are grown with identical conditions/treatment.

--Stitz--