Stitz, I have no experience with hard winters, so I may not be the best one to give you an answer, but what you describe is normal behavior for most of the foliage Vrieseas. I'll often see 3 pups forming at once after a bloom, and generally they'll all be on the same side of the plant, although once those are taken off they'll pop up elsewhere. I've never found it necessary to "cull" pups, though. The mother plant can support 3 at a time with no problem, although I'm guessing that growth may slow to a standstill during your winter. My instincts are still to leave it alone, though. I don't think a single pup will make it through a cold period any better if the rest are removed, but maybe someone from a similar climate to yours will be able to address that.

It is probably not a coincidence that the pup put on more growth when you cut back the flower spike. John Arden has said that he will cut off a bloom as soon as it emerges if he's trying to increase pup production of that plant.

Hi Stitz, our winters are somewhat colder than Lisa's...but my advice would be the same...just leave all the pups on the mother plant, their growth will slow right down over the winter, but all the pups will be fine, still attached to mum. I would suggest you leave all the pups attached to mum, until they are almost full size, they will grow faster, have a good chance of producing their own roots, be easier to divide, & then able handle winters on their own.

Here is one of my Vriesea's, originally bought as Vr. Red Chestnut, it flowered at the end of last summer, the mother plant was still small, so I was not expecting it to flower so early. I cut off the flower spike before it flowered, allowing the mother to direct its energy into producing pups, it now has 4 nice pups coming away, & they all came thru' our winter OK.

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Hi Lisa & Devo,
I am convinced to leave the plant alone. I expect to see the mother plant and pups cease activity during the darkest days of winter here in Maryland.

Now, I'm getting really excited at the prospect of watching this plant develop next spring/summer!

Lisa, I thought about mentioning that all of the pups were on one side of the plant and thought, naw--it isn't significant. So much for thinking! I know better. I used to work in laboratories. I should report the facts and give the people who know more than I, the chance to interpret them!

Thanks again!

--Stitz--

The one-sided pupping phenomenon is kind of interesting, Stitz, even if not particularly relevant to your question. My interpretation of it is that in a natural setting the pups would emerge on the side opposite the point of attachment of the mother plant to its host (cliffs, tree?) but that's just a guess. In a potted situation the first pup(s) would probably emerge from the side opposite where the mother plant was removed from ITS mother.

You can see this to a greater or lesser degree in a lot of broms. Remove a pup from a clump of Neo Fireball, ampullacea, or some other stoloniferous variety, and I'll guarantee you that the first pup will come out on the opposite side from where its own stolon was.