I can only tell you what I do. I live where we have short winters and long hot/humid summers.
GUZMANIA: Low light, warm air, plenty of plant food and moist pot space. Guzmanias are truly tropical plants. Neglect of any sort will cause them to look less than attractive. Feed heavily and keep in a constant, stable environment. The Guzmania hybrids are easier to grow than the species and usually more spectacular. Grow outdoors in beds only where no freeze occurs.
Bone meal in small amounts should be ok once in the spring time with a small amount of time release balanced fertilizer like nutricote pellets. I feed the few (guzmania)that I grow with a good liquid fertilzer every 2 weeks in the growing season.

Hi everyone,

A couple of years back I read an article in (I think) a back issue of a BSI journal. It was by a Guzmania grower somewhere in the US and gave details of his methods of culture and included a picture of him standing in the centre of a group of beautiful flowering Guzmanias which came almost up to his waist. These beautiful plants were the best looking Guzmanias I had ever seen with their healthy green leaves and beautiful large inflorescences.

What he said was basically, never let them dry out completely, grow them in lower light to Neo's, Aechmeas etc, a warm environment with good air circulation and FEED THEM AS OFTEN AS YOU FEED YOURSELF ! This grower only grew Guzmanias and was known by local growers as somewhat of an expert with a nickname of "Mr. Guzmania".

Until I read that article I treated the few Guzmanias I had in a similar manner to my Neo's. The plants never looked "happy" and I only ever got the occasional flower of average quality. My success was such that I threatened to toss the plants out if they didn't do better.

The next time I repotted, I added a 1/6 part of Coco Peat to my usual Neo mix to hold more moisture, When the pot was 3/4 full of mix I added Osmocote (1 teaspoon to a 5" pot) and Blood and Bone (1 teaspoon to a 5" pot) and then covered it with the remaining mix.

I foliar fed each two weeks, alternating with Manutec and Phostrogen right throughout the year. The results were amazing; the plants picked up and grew beautifully and that year I had a better show of flowers than I could have ever imagined.

There's only two things which could have caused such a drastic improvement and that was the extra fertilizer or the threat to "bin them" if they didn't perform better. As I don't think Guzmanias can hear, I think it had to be the increase in feeding.

All the best, Nev

Thanks to both the replies. In both the cases, you mixed bone meal as well as another fertilizer feed. Given this, how can one ascertain which method worked?

As mentioned earlier, my concern is that I am trying to keep them away from chemical fertilizers. Is this even possible? I know in the wild that's how they survive but I do not intend to create a similar environment at home!Does this mean that a Guz growing in home garden is destined to a chemical feed to produce blooms?

Thanks again for sharing the experience!

If you want good looking beautiful plants you will have to feed something. Super Thrive works as a pick me up but does not give the plants the nutrients necessary for bloom. This is especially true for hybrids. Guzmania are popular because they grow fast and bloom quick in low light conditions, a must for commercial growers to sell to box stores and set office building displays

Hi Homey Bird,

If you want a natural non-chemical feeding programme for your plants, it is still possible to a degree; you don't have to use chemical fertilizers, it's just that I've found the ones I mentioned in my previous answer have worked for me, give good results and they're convenient, chemically balanced and consistant in quality whereas animal and other natural manures are not.

True, Guzmanias and other bromeliads grown in the wild, rely on natural fertilizers such as bird and small animal droppings falling into the plant as well as the broken down leaf litter which eventually forms into a soup (liquid manure) in the plants vases. These are all natural products without any chemical content introduced by man.

I would imagine to copy this natural process in the home garden, you could apply a small amount of some type of old animal manure, cow, chicken, turkey, rabbit or sheep are the most popular ones. This would take the place of the bird and animal droppings in the wild. Sheep manure is said to be very good as it doesn't tend to be as hot as poultry manure and some of the others and besides, it comes ready made in a handy size pellet. I have applied this as a topping for orchids and other plants with good results.

If desired, these can be supplemented with a liquid manure also, which can be made from any of the above manures by just mixing with water and allowing to stand for a week or two and then diluting with more water before applying. This would then take the place of the natural "soup" made from decaying litter in the wild.

Likewise one of the many good liquid seaweed fertilizers now available on the market could also be used. This is also a natural product which is usually made from kelp, a type of seaweed which is also a renewable resource. In Australia we have a wonderful product called Seasol which is not so much a fertilizer but more like a "tonic". If you just Google "Seasol" you can read all about it. It is exported to other major countries so I imagine you should be able to get it.

In summary, to take the natural route, you can mix any one or a combination of the various animal manures in your mix initially and when growth appears to have slowed down, add a topping of one of the manures decribed. This can be supplemented with feeds of liquid fertilizer made from animal manure throughout the growing period along with a seaweed preparation which can be applied right throughout the whole year if desired. You just have to work out what works best for you.

The rule is to start off with little and increase gradually until you find the right balance.

As a final question, is natural really chemical free?

Remember even some animal manures contain chemicals as the animals are often fed on chemical supplements, growth hormones and/or antibiotics. It then stand to follow that the manure and animal parts used to make products such as Bone Meal, Blood and Bone or Hoof and Horn Meal may still contain traces of chemicals, so how do you guarantee something is absolutely chemically free?

I don't know the answer.

All the best, Nev.

Nev, I agree in that nothing is chemical free anymore. Not even us. As for manure I avoid these especially chicken because when its dry and flaky you can pick up a lung ailment that will scar your lungs from breathing it.

Containers are tough to fertilize naturally. They simply don't have enough of the soil food web to break things down into plant usable form. I avoid synthetic ferts in my garden, but for containers I make the concession and use synthetics.

tj