This has been a fun thread. I don't think I'd have the stomach to assault one of my plants with a stake or screwdriver! I am glad it works! As for seeds, i've never tired growing any bromeliads from seed, but my guess is pollinating is pretty easy. As long as you can locate the appropriate flower parts, a soft paintbrush should do the trick. if you have lots of bees, providing the plant is outdoors, they should do the job too. Good luck! P.S. Beware what you wish for! I got this crazy idea to grow cacti (cleistocactus and trichocereus) from seeds, and have thousands of babies. now what do I do? Let's see, there Christmas, and.....

Hi Rick, sorry to see that sad sight of your young Alc. IÂve grown a number of alc from seed & grass pups, & I canÂt say IÂve ever seen this type of problem, so I really cannot say for sure what it is. But, reading thru your explanation, IÂd guess that they may have been planted a little too deep in the mix to begin with, & youÂre keeping them way too wet, which has been compounded by watering at night, and in your summer temps seems to have resulted in a fungal attack on the base of the plants. Does the rotted base have a foul smell? If so itÂs bound to be a type of fungal disease. To try & save the remaining plants IÂd first take them out of their pots, water off all the potting mix, flush them out, & spray them with a half strength water soluble fungicide, then let this drain out so there is no solution left in the cups. Then IÂd put them together in a community pot, with just a layer of perlite over the roots. Keep them out of direct sunlight, keep the plants on the dry side, & the roots just moist, applying a few more doses of fungicide over the next couple of weeks. If they survive the next month, and you see no signs of any rot around the base, then they could be potted up into Ânormal potting mix, with good drainage, & hopefully grow into majestic plants for you. As I said, this is just Âmy guess on a course of treatment, so I hope you get some more precise answers. Please let us know how you get on. Cheers, Andrew.

no luckly i havnt yet i now am busy having fun with our new 20 ton excelvator hmm which dam needs to be bigger. thanks rick that sounds good i was thinking of taking in my alcantarea extancia it has 3 grass pups but would they look difernt to the alcantarea imperialis 'rubra' pups. Not sure how the picture would come out with my printer last time i printed a realy nice pick it came out ordanary. maybe thats just me. aroideana the reason i am asking is that i have never seen an alcantarea in flower and of the pictures that i have found i cant get a good look of it if i had a close up of a pick i could most probly name it as i have couple sheets on flower shapes. so if any one has a close up of an alcantarea flower ill like it if you could share it with me.

Hi all Kerry, thanks for the b'day wishes! My wife and I celebrated well! It doubled as a retirement celebration as well as I am now officially retired - and a full time nurseryman! The nahoumiis from Brazil seed are propagating nicely and, yes, Nahoum's garden was a good source for a variety of species but, seriously, until they bloom who knows what many will be? Hi Yong, the article will appear in the Aussie journals hopefully within a year! Biotech's nahoumiis aren't but most of their stuff seems correct. Look up www.fcbs.org or www.bromeliad.org.au for Aussie contentand there is a bit on Alcantareas. Also re Silver Plum, Dillings sold most before they names it so there are various names around like Discolor and Claret. I have never seen an adventitious pup on one even when tiny plants so it's a seed propagator. Don't worry, more will be around very soon as they have been flowered by a few commercial growers. Richard, most will grow best in full sun but not necessarily if you get severe frost or over 40C too often. Where are you situated? Cheers, Pedro