New Flower stalk tilted

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

This is the first this plant has bloomed in two years, and the stalk is coming out tilted. Do I need to prop it up in any way, or will it straighten itself out? I believe it is Achmea Blue Tango. Here's how it looked Oct 30, 2013:

I think it is a fairly common bromeliad, but that means that it is easy to grow and to get to bloom. I'm okay with waiting two years between flowering. I think it is considered an indoor plant, and so I keep it inside my pergola, which I covered with redwood slats to block 80-90% of direct sun.

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splinter1804

8 years ago

Hi everyone.

Lars - I think that's a great looking well grown plant, the growth looks so lush and healthy and the inflorescence so overloaded with flowers that its weight is pulling it to one side. I think staking it up will detract from the appearance; after all, in nature they often lean or arch to one side and it's all part of the growth habit.

The leaves don't seem as upright and stiff as similar Aechmea types; could this be a result of being grown in low light, been fed regularly or is it just the natural habit of the plant?

What ever the reason, it's a beautiful plant that I wish was in my garden and not yours........ Well done.

All the best, Nev.

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Comments (9)

splinter1804
8 years ago
Hi everyone.

Lars - I don't know about your conditions, but here in Australia I grow this plant beneath 75% beige shade cloth and it does well for me.

Maybe your plant isn't getting sufficient light and the stalk is bending toward where the light is strongest.

All the best, Nev.
PRO
Lars/J. Robert Scott
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I checked it again today, and the stalk has already started to straighten up. The slats in my pergola are spaced with 20% of width between slats, and there is a lot of light that comes in from the sides unfiltered. When I bought the plant, it was being grown in a lower light condition; i.e., a room with a solid roof and only a few windows plus doors for indirect light. I've had a lot of problems with bromeliad leaves burning, and so I prefer to give them less light rather than more to start, as they seem to recover from low light conditions better than from excessive light conditions. Once leaves have been burned, they seem to be destroyed, and I rarely find that my plants do not get enough light, no matter how much protection I give them. I am always happier when I am able to move them into to brighter conditions.

I have another similar plant that I've had for probably four years and it still has not put out more flowers, but I think that sometimes I get good strong plants, and sometimes I get weaker ones. That's why I buy multiple identical plants - they never perform identically. I generally inspect my plants in the fall (when there is less danger of burning) and then see if they need to be divided and/or repotted.
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Lars
Original Author
8 years ago
Here's how it looks today, and it is straightening up on its own, although I did rotate the plant a bit and move it a bit further from the wall. This photo was taken about 1:30 PM and shows how light comes in from the side - not the direction toward which the plant was tilted. I raised the shade on the SW side of the pergola, since it is September, and I do not need to shade the plants quite so much now. Our house is at a 45 degree angle from N/S, and so I frequently get confused about directions.
splinter1804
8 years ago
Hi everyone.

Larrs - A Bromeliad show judge once told me the best way to get a perfectly symmetrical brom is to give it and its pot a quarter of one turn each few days. That's fine when you only have a few plants, but I'm afraid it's not much help when you have a yard full.

All the best, Nev.
PRO
Lars/J. Robert Scott
8 years ago
I've been rotating it, and that does seem to help, but the flower stalk now has several bends in it. I'm okay with it this time, but next time it starts to bloom, I will start rotating it more often. I moved it slightly so that it would be easier for me to rotate it without getting pricked too much. Here's what it looked like on Sept 9:
Logan L. Johnson
8 years ago
it is ok to stake it if you need to. thats what I did when one of the pups I potted kept leaning over too much
Lars
Original Author
8 years ago
Here's how it looks now, and I will try to find a way of staking it up.

If it were so huge, I would bring it inside; as it is, it dwarfs the table in my pergola. I don't remember being this big before.
Lars
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
If you were here, I would give you part of it, as I have it growing in several pots. The flower spike is bigger now than when it bloomed before. I'm not sure why the leaves are so droopy, but if I give it more light, they turn brown, and so I keep it fairly protected. It was being grown indoors when I bought it, and so I considered it mainly a house plant.

I am going to move the pot(s) to a different location the next time it starts to bloom so that I can rotate the pot regularly. The flowers stay on the plant for a very long time, but it is a bit difficult to move, as the leaves are like saw blades and are quick to make cuts if I am not wearing long leather gloves.

Here is a somewhat similar bromeliad we saw in at theArenal Butterfly Conservatory / Botanical Gardens in Costa Rica last March:
The leaves are droopy and turning somewhat yellow, but at least the flower stalk is fairly erect, although the flowers on this one are not as heavy as mine. According the Wikipedia, the Arenal Botanical Gardens have fallen into disrepair, but they still charged $20 entrance. However, they have a nice zoo there and some beautiful waterfalls.
Here is a bromeliad with droopy leaves on a tree:
and one on a tree with a droopy flower stalk:
More evidence of how the park has fallen into disrepair!