Bargain Bromeliads from Lidl

[Dave Brown]

These Bromeliads are tougher than I thought. I just covered them with upturned plant tubs during the freezing weather. and they have shown no signs of damage.... so far.

[grub]

Which Broms were they Dave? The Guzmania?

[Dave Brown]

Which Broms were they Dave? The Guzmania?

That rings a bell Grub. The only one looking sick is the striped one

[Andrew Smith]

So Dave, did you leave your Bromeliads out for the rest of the winter and did any of them survive? Were they actually planted in the ground or just left outside in pots?

I have just bought one from Morrisons. I will post a photo later. As usual for supermarkets it does not say what type of Bromeliads it is, but I think it is a Guzmania.

[Dave Brown]

Yes and No Andrew

Yes they were left out planted, and No none survived

but with the coldest winter for 30 years in terms of length of cold it was not really a fair test

[Andrew Smith]

Here are some photos of my Bromeliad from Morrisons - I think it is a Guzmania.

When I bought it the soil was bone dry, but there is water round the bottom of the leaf base. How should the Guzmania be watered? Should the soil in the pot be moist AND/OR should there be water stored around the leaf base, see the following photo:

There are 2 small pups growing at the side of the main plant. Here is one of them:

[tenchy]

thats the dogs danglies mate, love it really really exotic loking.

im going to have to find some of these, full on jungle look

[grub]

Water them with rainwater Andrew in the crown, it doesn't matter about keeping the soil very wet as long as you don't let the 'cup' empty

[The Codfather]

can I ask......would these over winter in a greenhouse ?

[Adrian]

Yes easy to keep wintered in a greenhouse but getting them to flower again is another matter.

[cannondale28]

I have heard about putting a Bromliad in a plastic bag with an apple of two for about 2 weeks. The ethanol produced by the apple encourages flowering. I put a lazy household Orchid in the same bag and now it's suddenly developing a flower bud for the first time in many years; could be luck, who knows??

Jerry

[cannondale28]

Just giving you folks the scores on the doors. One stubborn Bromliad looking as though it's going to flower.

One stubborn Orchid which refused to flower for years and yes! it is going to Flower.

As far as I'm concerned it's a 100% success! Yehah!

-Jerry