Dream on, Andy. There is a registry listing for xNeomea Hotch Potch, does anyone have this plant? I could find no picture of it, but here's the description: "cv. of Neoregelia ampullacea x Aechmea nudicaulis - Paterson said, 'Small upright rosette - leaves yellow-green w/brown-maroon spotting - inflorescence does not exsert past the leaves'." It doesn't say which cvs. of ampullacea and nudicaulis were used, though. As for pauciflora, from what I've seen it tends to lose both its scurfy bands and its long stolons in a cross, although if you reinforced it with something that had both, you might have a better shot. I agree with what Jack said about bigenerics. The vast majority of them are not as attractive as either parent. I do get the appeal of the "mad scientist" experiment, having done a fair amount of them myself, but if you want to make something with any real potential you really have to choose parents that have traits that will either reinforce each other or at least harmonize well. Most of the time what you consider to be the most striking feature of a particular plant will be completely obliterated if you try to cross it with something too different from it. No matter how showy an inflorescence an Aechmea may have, cross it with a Neo and it will be pulled back into a tight little cluster. The markings and color of the Neo will likely get washed out too. Take a look at the link below for a good example of this. Here is a link that might be useful: xNeomea Black Snow

Thank you both for your feed back. Catkim, I love the colour in the leaves of your U. tuitensis. Oh dear, its now on my wishlist. he he. How big do you think it will get? (Macvaughii) Your climate sounds alot like mine. We usually have dry winters, sporadic rain in spring through to Autumn (but usually torrential when it does), no frost as such, and high humidity in Summer. Our average to hot temps in summer would be about 90 degrees. So, I could plant in full sun? (or maybe keep in a pot and slowly move till it shows tolerance) and keep it in well drained mix so it doesn't drown! Thanks Andy. I kinda thought the Fosterella might like high light, because it reminds me of a tillandsia, with the grey, narrow scurfy leaves. It has a flower spike forming and a small pup at the base. I guess, both plants being bromeliads, the usual well drained mix, and a slow acclimatisation into sun is probably the best bet. Its difficult when you aquire a plant with no former knowledge of how they might cope in your environment. I haven't seen either of these plants in any collections I have visited, and deduced they might be a bit tender. If there is any more information to be had about either one of these, please chime in! B_A

So, will you keep your dry-loving tills out there permanently, or is it a seasonal thing? My Victoria and Caput get "direct" sun almost all day long at my south-facing window, which is open day and night this time of year, though the window screen blocks a bit of light, though how much I am not certain. It can't be too terribly much because my light meter still maxes out at that window (5,000 f.c.). It blocks just enough light to keep my tills from frying, though I have had a few singed leaf-tips. The moving shadows of the plants above the tills break up the intensity somewhat as well. Mine are mounted, with small wire hooks attached to the mountings so I can hang them off of other plants (Rhipsalis, Selenicereus, etc) I have hanging in the window. Once in a while, especially nights when the temp inside does not drop much, I stick my tills outside the window on a DIY window ledge shelf I built so they can get the moving and cooler air of the night. I wouldn't do it if I had to move 80 different species (!), but I just have a handful. I would love to keep my tills outside but I think the sun is too strong out on that window ledge - the only plants I keep out there all season are some succulents and cacti. This is somewhat unrelated, but I dropped by a local orchid greenhouse recently, and they had the largest Tillandsia I have ever seen - according to someone who works there, it is the largest species in the genus. This fellow also said that they had about 30 of these monsters that pupped off from the original plant. They have so many they don't know what to do with them! They offered me what I can only assume was a very good price to take one, but I live in an apartment so it is kind of out of the question, my guess is the thing was not full grown yet and 3.5' tall by 2 or 3' wide(?). Have any idea what it might have been? It was definitely a shade and moisture-loving till, whatever it was. Needless to say, I was impressed.

Hell HDD,Jack, Lisa and Nick, Thank for the comments. HDD. I also have the same though. Bigeneric plant is weak. There is only some seeds got and a few seedlings can survive. It's hard to select the best plant from very few plant. Jack. Everything could happen in our world. In my experience pollens from bigeneric plants are almost sterile but some pistil can except other pollens. The results are not so good. I think chantinii 'Black' is one of my fevorite plants in my breeding program. Lisa. I have to wait and hold them until bloomed. Select only the best to register. I also think that bigeneric usually have no commercial value. How to fill the gap? In the second and third I used Ae.chantinii'Black' as a pollen plant. This was my first time to cross N.mooreana with other genera. I didn't expect the result. It was surprising about seedlings from the cross. I also tried to cross N.pendula x eleutheropetala with some Neo. The result was not so good. I have very seedling left and still very young to guess. Nick.I always have fun to do the experiment and eager to see the result eventhough I get only hints. I think that we are like-minded. ;-) Cheers Yong