Hi Moccasin , The fate of Bromeliads ( well 99% of them ) is to die after flowering ,but it depends on your idea of death ,if they truly died you would not get pups now would you ? only the flowered part dies ,but the plant reproduces by making ofsets and the processes are slow ,in a clump you never notice as you just remove an old leave here and there ,the pink flowered plant does not self seed in cultivation ( not that i have heard of ) and if the light is to low ? yes the pup(s) will be strappy ,as for the Neo Carolinea type , they blush in the centre when flowering but the actual flowers are low down in the centre , the colour remains for the most of the life of that part of the plant ,people are far to paranoid about " broms dying after flowering " they just DONT DIE , only the flowered part does ,but that happens to many plants in the world , plants pay a big price for flowering ,but they go on in seeds,ofsets ,little bulblets and so on ,very few plants die completely after flowering ,they have to do something to perpetuate the species ,so dont panic ,you will still have the plants pups ,wich will grow and flower and start the whole cycle again , Jack

For large size: Alcanteria (Vriesea) imperialis, Aechmea blanchetiana, A. bromeliifolia, Tillandsia australis and rauhii. Porteas tend to(IMO)get too rangy and unkept looking. Mid-range might be Aechmea triangularis, distichanta, nudicaulis, 'Bert', 'Frederike', and of course fasciata. Also, the Aechmea recurvata forms are great. Throw in just about any Billbergias for color and form if they can be protected from direct sun. Neoregelias for the more diffused light situations. Small critters would include the stolonizing forms of Aechmea like ampullacea, lilliputiana and the Fireball forms.This would be a fairly good start.

Stitz / Lisa....Your post above reminded me of the article in 'Blooming Bromeliads',[Baensch] which I consider to be the most comprehensive that I've read. It starts on pg.239,and concludes on pg.240. The 'highlight' of it is as you said Lisa,[quoting it] "considering relevant literature,the authors undertook systematic long-term experiments with fertilizing bromeliads in the most important genera in Nassau/Bahamas.The following ratios have proved to be optimal. N=1 ,P=1.5 ,K=2.0. For bromeliads,the ratio of N to K should be not less than 1 : 2 " It goes on to explain differences in fertilizing the different genera that alters the above ratios for best results. We've had this discussion on GW in the past,and I think I ended one of mine by saying that by experimentation,you will end up using the fertilizer that best suits your growing and lighting conditions,with lighting being very important to good results. As for myself,with the limited lighting we get in the Northeast,I use Schultz Catus plus 2-7-7,mostly because of the low Nitrogen,and because it has the N split into 0.5 ammoniacal,0.5 nitrate,1.0 urea.,giving the plant a chance to utilize it,even in low light. Any stronger N,and I'd have long strappy leaved plants instead of compact structures. The P contributes to the development of the green in leaves,and the K enhances the developement of tissue and organ,giving the structure they need. I do not fertilize in the winter months,except for the 2-7-7 in small doses perhaps once a month,and when the broms go outdoors in the Spring,they get a feeding of Osmocote 8-8-8,or,14-14-14,which will last them until Fall,when they come back indoors. So,in my opinion,the fertilizer you use is the one that works best for the growing conditions,and that can vary,depending on where you live. No 'magic bullet' here,but the N1,P1.5,K2.0 ratio is a good starting point. I recommend reading the Baensch article. Bob

Hi everyone. Carol – The plant you speak of as ‘Martin’ is a Neoregelia whereas the ”matchstick plants” I mentioned are Aechmeas and there is a vast difference in the inflorescence of each, that’s why I said, “You will know for certain when it flowers”. By this I meant firstly, you will know for certain whether it’s an Aechmea or a Neoregelia as well as (secondly) possibly knowing if it’s one of the Ae. gamosepala cultivated varieties. In my final comment above I said, "There are other variegated bromeliads as well but as this is one of the most commonly grown garden brom's, this would be my guess."; and a “guess” is all that it is at this stage. Before I answer your other questions you say the leaves are 2.5cm wide; but I would also like to know how long they are in (cm. or inches) Secondly; what are the leaf edges like, are they smooth or do they have small or large spines on edges? You say, "The leaves are very long and narrow and don't vary with sunlight or time". This rules out my other theory that it may have been grown in too much shade. Another thing that will make leaves long and thin is too much Nitrogen, what if any fertiliser does it get? Normally if it were the nitrogen, the foliage would be more darkish/green, but as your foliage is almost albino, maybe this result doesn't apply here. Now for your other question where you ask, “when IDing a variegated, does it matter if the white is on the outside and the green on the inside, or vice-versa?”, and the short answer is "yes" it does matter. The one with the white margins is known as “marginata” and in your case is albo-marginated because the margins are white. The one with the green margins is simply called “variegata”. To complicate things even further, because many variegated plants are sometimes unstable you can have an albo-marginated plant which can produce pups which have reverted back to variegated plants and vice versa. Here is an example of an unstable little variegated Neo Meyendorffii with several different types of leaf markings all originating from the one plant. The nine most common types of leaf patterns are listed in the book “Growing Bromeliads” third edition By The Bromeliad Society of Australia Inc., the subject of variegation is explained in great detail with line drawings of the various leaf variegations. This is a great little book and full of useful information; if you don’t already have it, it is a “must” for all keen bromeliad growers. http://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Growing-Bromeliads/Bromeliad-Society-of-Austr/9780731812509 The names of the leaf types are as follows with illustrations below: 1 Marginata 2 Variegata 3 Striata 4 Lineatum 5 Medio picta 6 Paxianum 7 Bivittatus 8 Tricolor 9 Quadricolor I hope this information hasn’t confused you too much Finally, is there any chance of a picture of your big patch of ‘Martin’, I’ve never seen pictures of garden grown clumps of it before and would be very interested to see one. Carol, I like the questions you ask very much as they keep “the grey matter” in this old head active as I research info for answers – please keep them coming. All the best, Nev