My advice is to concentrate on keeping the pups growing. The original plant (let's call it mom), has bloomed and made pups. Mom is on her way out because the plant only blooms once, then dies. That is not uncommon in the plant world. As the pups grow, the outer leaves on the mom plant die. This is because the plant uses the meristem to bloom. The meristem is the only place a Brom grows from, and once the meristem is used to make a flower, it is used up. Same thing happens on bananas and other plants. At any rate, as the outer leaves die, you can easily detach them. No need to repot for years if you keep the cups damp enough and add a dilute fertilizer from time to time. Many Bromeliads do fine with little dirt. Guzmanias mostly use their roots for staying upright, much of their nutrients are absorbed by their trichomes.

Hi sevrel, Although I'm not an expert in these matters, I have a couple of suggestions for you to consider. Is it standing in a saucer where it always has contact with water? If this is the case then it probably has 'wet feet' which will possibley lead to rot. Has it possibly been exposed to CCA treated wood? i.e. drips from overhead CCA treated timber beams, leaves touching a CCA treated wood product or perhaps a mulch of wood shavings or chips from CCA treated wood. Is it or has it been in contact with any other copper products (copper is very bad for broms) Have you sprayed it with a fungicide containing copper? If so it will have a similar effect, unless the copper component of the spray is very low. Has it been over fertilized? Sometimes this can manifest itself with leaf dieback. I can't think of anything else at the moment but these are all things to consider, but it would be easier for the experts on this site to help if you posted a picture of the plant in question. All the best, Nev.

Hi dirtygardener, I'm from Australia and I'm not familiar with your growing conditions so all I can tell you is what I do over here. I have some Guzmanias growing in the garden and I find that they grow best if I mound up the place where they are to grow with a good quality free draining cymbidium orchid mix and plant them in this, not in the natural garden soil. Guzmanias in general like it a bit more shady than other bromeliads and they also like a bit more fertilizer. They will burn easily if given too much sun and they are easily damaged by the wind. Before I plant them in the garden, while they are still in the pot I try them in different locations and when I find the spot they like, that's where I plant them. In summary, under a tree or 75% shade cloth, out of the wind should see them grow happily. As for the ID of your plant, I don't think it's Guzmania lingulata which is a species. We don't have Lowe's stores in Australia but I'm assuming it is a department type store like our Bunnings, Big W, K-Mart etc. In Australia Guzmanias and Vrieseas sold by these stores are really aimed at the flower market rather than the hobbiest grower and usually just identified by a generic label saying "Bromeliad". That's why I think your plant is probably one of the many thousands of commercial type un-named hybrids sold every year in these types of stores. All the best, Nev.

hi,they have no direct frost tolerance as such,but can take temps into the 30s easily. i have many here in CA,all do fine,but if you think you will get a frost/freeze,just cover them with a sheet of plastic,or a cloth. gary