Bromeliads are very easy care when in Harmony with nature..Problems with growing rarely exist when plants are happy and healthy in a balanced environment.
Providing your Bromeliad has adequate drainage and lighting is the key.
Providing your Bromeliad has adequate drainage and lighting is the key.
Problems will rarely occur if your plants are happily growing in a good free draining mix and have been lightly fed when young.
A healthy initial up bringing ensures a good strong health start.
It is virtually impossible to over water a Bromeliad and like many plants prevention is better than cure.
Good potting medium is essential as like Orchids your plants are actually feeding on the composting nutrients in the bark & other added goodies.
More details on potting mixes can be found in growing tips on this site on the lower part of the home page.
In the rare event that a plant has suffered the consequences of rot here are some simple procedures to help prevent, even cure further problems.
When resorting to the use of fungicides firstly one needs to Please Note; Under no circumstances should any copper based products be used on any bromeliads. Copper & other certain chemicals are toxic to Bromeliads can also be found seeping from other unexpected areas on to your lovely plants.
Some of the most common instances of this problem can come from the most unexpected places. Water dripping off a roof or veranda via an old style copper drainpipe, treated timber, coppers logs in shade houses & even some older style of paints can prove to be the nasty culprit.
Following are two helpful solutions that are quite safe.
Condies crystals- [Potassium permanganate] available at Chemists.
Dilute the potassium at a rate of approx 1/4 teaspoon into 1 bucket water 9-10.litre bucket. Mixture should be a very dark purple.
You can water that all over the plant + pot mix or if rot is very bad, tip out the potting mixture & put the whole pre-washed plant in the bucket for a few minutes & then re-pot it in a fresh mix.
After 1/2 hour or so, you should then add fresh water to the centre of the plant.
Spraying
There is also another good tried & proven fungicide product made by Yates/ Australia you can spray on- it comes in a nice handy, hand pump yellow 750ml spray bottle with a red rose on the label. It is simply called Fungus Gun –Systemic Disease spray.
Goes a long way- for around $15AU.
Like anything it is best to treat plants & isolate the effected plant when the weather it is not too hot, until they recover significantly.
If your plant is badly damaged it often helps a lot to add a pinch of slow release fertilizer like Osmocote for roses [1/4 teaspoon] & some sulphate of potash to help bring back vigour in the plant…..
All is not lost- as with this treatment in most cases you will be assured of being later gifted with nice strong pups.
As previously mentioned problems with bromeliads will rarely occur if your plants are happily growing & many growers may never need to resort to such things.
With a happy & balanced environment, in harmony with nature most problems become a thing of the past.
The most ironic part of this solution is that it is also the easiest & simplest solution to care for your plants.
Coming here soon- in harmony with Nature-
 | |
| "I Love munching scales, the trouble with my garden is they are hard to find these days with all the competition around here" |
**Tips on how to creating the perfect trouble free environment and more.
 | |||||||||||||||||
| Bromeliads are very easy care when in harmony with Nature Regular Flushing Plants out with a hose helps keep your plants Happy & healthy.
Lots of wonderful rain came our way- enough to flush out the
plants with lovely crystal clean water. A rather laborious job with a hand hose
these days- none the less needs to be done now & then to keep the plants
happy & healthy. Contrary to general belief, many growers & scientists
remain adamant that mozzies that manage to breed in Bromeliads, rarely survive
beyond larval stage. If you are experiencing a lot of these biting critters, it
is more than likely they are breeding in nearby areas of water instead.
Fortunately they go in cycles which generally don't last long if you manage to
break the cycle. However do be beware of using certain sprays around your
plants, even pyrethrum & any oil based products near many of your plants as
they can cause serious damage even kill, both to plants, frogs & other
friendly creatures. Billbergia seem especially prone to even the non-oil based
Pyrethrum - a sad discovery I made many years ago. These days I simply avoid
leaving water lying around, let the frogs & mosquito fish in the dam do
their thing. Opting for the personal insect protection spray & allowing
nature to take care of itself seems to be the friendliest alternate.
Grass hoppers - Confidor is okay to spray, available in
hand pump or tiny tubes. Best to do late afternoon + not in the heat of the
day.
Keep pets away by the way, I do.. it is systemic it works
for 4 weeks or so goes in the actual leaf- so you can lightly hose it off the
day after spraying if you have pets.
Also they say, fine white pepper helps and chilli
juice...but don't fancy handling the chilli bit myself & doubt if pets like
either.
Confidor will clean up any scale as well as an added
bonus if you have any.
Expensive but goes a long way, especially the tubes.
SCALE- However one must consider that Bromeliads growing in an a happy environment with good airflow & good free draining potting mix- the incidence of scale is quite minimal if any & often there is no need to resort to any thing other than let the frogs & nature take care of itself. It is always good practice, if you buy plants from unknown sources to check them, isolate them & spray just the new comers if needed before introducing them to your collection.  |
