Hi krwor2, Welcome to our friendly forum. It's good to see another member from the UK contingent coming on board to share knowledge about our favourite plants. As HDD says, when trying to get ID, it helps a lot if you are able to post a picture of the plant. I tend to agree with Andy from your description, and from what you say your plant seems to be doing just fine with the treatment your are providing. I've found that if a plant is doing well, don't change your cultural methods. In other words, follow the old adage that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". All the best, Nev.

hotdiggety- so do I really. (seen some pics, haven't done it myself yet, this being my first one) I heard that if I don't take the pups from mom, the whole plant will die. I really don't want that. I have tried looking it up, I think I have the basic idea, but what I found was very vague. So, do I take them off and plant all in the same pot? Or leave it as is? Someone said I could plant them next to the mom, (not sure this pot is big enough for that) How much room do they need? What will happen to the mom plant? does she just die? or will I have to cut her off at some point? I can't seem to find the answers to my questions, believe me, I've looked! I love this plant, want to do right by it and its babies. Yes- questions again. Lol. Thanks for any info Marjie :)

Hi Andreas, Bryan69Âs result also impressed me and I also thought about trying it myself. The good news is Osmocote is available in Germany. There is a product called Osmocote Exact Tablets and are available in 5g or 7.5g sizes per tablet with a useful life of 5-6 months or 8-9 months. Prices are as follows: Tablets 5-6 Monate (5-g): 70,62-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 8-9 Monate (5-g): 75,10-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 5-6 Monate (7,5-g): 56,95-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 8-9 Monate (7,5-g): 59,40-Euro/7,5-kg Add 3.5 for handling and about 6 euro shipment costs. Delivery time was about 3 weeks because it was not on stock. Well, I did not consider worthwhile buying 7.5 kg (!) for those few bromeliads I have. Seller said he does not break up a package. Its NPK value is 14+8+11 and a few other elements that I just skip now. Tablets sold there are available only with this NPK value. There are off course several other NPK time-release fertilizers which are not in tablet form. Nutricote, which is claimed by some on this forum to be better, is also available in Europe but not in tablet form. The min. quantity I have found was "only" 5 kg, and available in NPK forms of 13+13+13, 18+6+8, and 15+9+10. The advertizing sheet said other Nutricote products were also available but in fact they were not. I did try one local product but it burned some of the leaves of my Vriesea ospinae var. gruberi. I bought this product b/c it was available in manageable quantities and was the only one it did not say on the package it could not get in contact with plants and I explicitly asked about it in the store and they said all was fine. All other time-release fertilizers had written on the package direct contact with plants should be avoided. The one I tried was not in tablet form, it contained small balls. They swam out of the plant easily at watering. I believe tablets could be handled easier. They are bigger and could be placed more controlled to target areas by pressing those down to the leave axis. The balls broke up easily when I was using my forceps. I tried it one more time, this time used one of those no-name, small rod-like fertilizer bars broken it into pieces and added to a Billbergia (in the cup only) and it worked very well with no problems whatsoever. Go figure! Give it a try and let us know how it goes! Sheila

All I can tell from your photo is that it's a Vriesea. There are hundreds of species and hybrids, but the culture on the green-leafed ones is all about the same. Fairly low light-- not total shade, but better suited as an indoor plant near a sunny window than in full outdoor sun. Twice a week watering is probably plenty, and I imagine it likes the aquarium water. Broms generally benefit from having water in the center cup as well as the roots. Just make sure the potting mix drains well and it's not sitting in a saucer full of water. Your plant looks fairly healthy, and as long as it does I'm guessing that whatever you're doing is fine.