Hi everyone, pj - In Australia where I live, most of the commercially grown Guzmanias are grown just for the flower trade. You can take them inside the house and enjoy them instead of a bunch of flowers and they will last for about three months. When they're finished flowering I just cut off the old flower spike and put the plant out in the garden in a shady area free of wind. I find that they usually produce offsets (commonly called pups) which will flower when they mature. If you like, when these offsets are 1/2 as big as the mother plant, they can be removed and planted in a pot of their own and eventually they will flower and the process starts all over again. The following is a short article I wrote about my experiences growing Guzmanias on the South East Coast of Australia. I apologise for taking up so much space but I don't know any other way of posting it other than "cut and past" ~ HOW I IMPROVED MY GUZMANIAS ~ Neville Wood - 2009 Up until recently I had about six or more Guzmanias in my shade house which I had accumulated over a few years having previously purchased them in flower at markets. I really never saw myself as a Guzmania grower, but thought of them more as a substitute for a bunch of flowers to brighten up the inside of the home. When you consider that a reasonable bunch of flowers costs a minimum of $30 these days, and any I've ever bought seldom lasted more than a week; a flowering Guzmania which could be bought for around $20 and often lasted in flower for 2-3 months was a much better financial proposition, don't you think? After they had finished flowering and the old inflorescence was removed, they were relegated to an unused corner of the shade-house and allowed to just do "their own thing", as I really didn't have much interest in them as a plant. They were never fed and only watered when I watered the other brom's. They continued to grow and occasionally would put up a pretty ordinary looking inflorescence which was never anywhere near as spectacular as the one on the original plant had been. I simply put this down to a couple of things, either I just couldn't grow them or my conditions didn't suit them or maybe it was a combination of both. 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 in the US and gave details of his methods of culture and included a picture of him standing up to his waist in the centre of a group of beautiful flowering Guzmanias. 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, give them a warm environment with good air circulation, and the bit that really caught my attention, FEED THEM AS OFTEN AS YOU FEED YOURSELF! This man 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 my few Guzmanias in a similar manner to my Neo's. The plants never really looked "happy" and I only ever got the occasional inflorescence of average quality. My success was such that I threatened to toss the plants out if they didn't perform better the following year. The plants were moved to another area on the southern, shadier side of our house beneath 75% green shade cloth. This area is in a higher part of the yard and is protected from winds by the house on the north side and re-cycled charcoal coloured Laser Light on the walls of the other three sides. Because it is so protected from the elements and is a bit higher than their previous location it also appears to be slightly warmer in the cold weather. After being moved to their new location, all were re-potted using a mix of six parts of Brunnings Cymbidium Orchid Mix to one part of fine Coco Peat. During re-potting when the pot was about 3/4 full of mix, I added Osmocote at the rate of 1 level teaspoon to a 5" pot, plus some Blood and Bone at the same rate, making sure the fertilizers didn't directly contact any part of the plants. Sufficient mix was then added to come up almost to the top of the pot and they were then thoroughly watered until the water flowed from the bottom of the pot. I foliar fed these plants each two weeks, alternating between Manutec and Phostrogen right throughout the whole year along with a monthly application of Seasol. The results were amazing; the plants picked up and grew beautifully and this 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 dramatic improvement; and that was the new location with extra fertilizer or the threat to "bin them" if they didn't perform better. As I don't think the Guzmanias heard the threat "to bin them", I think it had to be the change of location and the increase in feeding. I hope this helps in some way All the best, Nev.

A larger pot would be a good idea. They're probably very root-bound, so try to gently tease out the outer roots before repotting. Basil will grow well in a window box and needs pretty good humidity and plenty of sun. Fluorescent lights won't help much for plants that are beyond the seedling (up to 6-8" / 15-20 cm) stage. Cooler night than day temps will help keep it from getting leggy. If your place is really dark, you might want to just harvest the basil, get some low-light plants, and maybe buy some basil oil for potpourri.

Purchased at a grocery store, my money would be on "Stargazer", a very popular Oriental lily. The Orienpet hybrid type "Anastasia" could be what it is as the flowers do look somewhat similar - but without any identification tag included with it, it could be whatever the supplier wanted it to be??? However, the short and sweet - if you bought it in bloom, each bloom usually lasts for under a week and the petals simply fall off leaving what is called a "candelabra" of spent blooms. This candelabra can be cut off. The lily only blooms once per season, oftentimes for a long time as each individual bud opens in succession - no amount of care will give you a second bloom, however. Don't think you did much with the self-pollination idea. Need an expert, but I think most lily cultivars are self sterile - they can't use their own pollen. Lilies are self contained units growing up from a bulb - the bulb pretty much has what it needs to grow, bloom, set seeds (if you let it), and the main stem to turn yellow/brown and woody. This dying back process is needed to replenish the bulb for next season. Watering heavily and often will pretty well insure the potted bulb will rot - they like well drained soil. Unlike here in cold climates where lilies can be left in the ground year 'round, in southern Florida lilies would need to be given a cold period called vernalization if you don't get long periods of sustained cold temps. Probably dug up and refrigerated for a period of 6 weeks or so. Lots of info on the internet by searching Orienpet lily Anastasia or just simply how to grow lilies in southern Florida.

These plants are tougher than Vriesea and Guzmania, and most can take some direct sun. Those with stiff, leathery leaves can take more sun than those with soft leaves. Keep the soil moist but not soggy.