Hi, I have pups of Aechmea 'Copper Glow', Aechmea 'Fancy Free', and others that I have either forgotten the name of or don't know the name. I can email you pictures of the different ones I have, I don't know how to insert a picture in the posts. I also would have to delay sending them as I live here in NH. Kathy

To remove a pup I find where it joins mum, put my thumb there, grab the rest of the pup in my fingers and pull down. Some I have grabbed pup in one hand and mum in the other to pull apart. Somepeople do use a knife. If by chance you pull it off and it has not much stem on the bottom fill a small pot with potting mixture to where the bottom of the brom will touch it,[the leaves overflowing over the pot] then put it aside for a while and it should take root. Just treat it the same as your other broms.

Hi everyone. Carol - It seems like the big chain stores and some nurseries (here in Australia and possibly in your country as well) are following the trend in Europe as far as flowering bromeliads go. When you see brom plants (Often large numbers of identical plants all in flower at the same time) this should ring the "warning bells" as these are very likely all tissue cultured plants (mass produced in their thousands) exclusively grown for the flowers. and as an alternative to buying a bunch of "cut flowers". Just like they do in European countries, they sell well because they are often cheaper than a bunch of cut flowers, last much, much longer and are a much better financial proposition. The thing to remember is these plants are just intended to be grown for the flowers and not grown on after they finish flowering. In fact in European countries most of these are binned when the flowers finish and a new flowering plant is purchased. The down side is that generally speaking (Here in Australia at least) they have been force fed to grow quickly and on reaching a mature size they are then either chemically treated or gassed to induce flowering. This is why we see large numbers of identical plants all in flower at the same time. The other annoying thing is that they are rarely named except for a generic name e.g. "Bromeliad", and some "one suits all" type of instruction on all plant name tags, Guzmanias, Vrieseas and Aechmeas alike. These instructions are intended to keep the plant healthy to prolong flowering. There is nothing illegal about this, but if you want to buy brom's to grow on and not just specifically for the flowers you are better getting a plant or pup from a grower or a nursery who deals in these types of broms. In my experience; another down side to the mass produced plants you buy in flower is that when the flowers finish, they will often produce many pups which will grow into nice healthy plants but are very hard to flower or in some cases won't flower at all. I believe the reason for this is that these plants have had all unnatural things applied to them (Tissue cultured, force fed and gassed) which has upset the internal growing and reproduction mechanism of the plant and in my experience it's not until the second generation of pups that things start to return to normal and I have eventually obtained flower. In my early days of brom growing I once bought an Ae fasciata in full flower and even though I already had this plant, the one I bought had an enormous flower almost twice the size of my other plant. I later found out it was Ae 'Morgana" a cultivated variety of Ae. fasciata, See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=AECHMEA&id=378#378 The flowers were extremely long lived and when it finished flowering it started producing pups and I removed at least ten over a six month period, It just pupped and pupped. The thing is these pups all matured into lovely healthy plants but all were reluctant to flower and I ended binning the lot except one which I kept and which still has not flowered even though it's now about four years since it reached maturity. So there you have what I have learned from buying these flowering plants from large chain stores. I can only speak for my plants grown here in Australia and things may be different in your country. All the best, Nev.

Hi! Did you ever find out what they are? I'm experiencing the same thing but live in Georgia. I totally understand your pain. My fiance don't believe me either and the problem is only getting worse. They are EVERYWHERE even the car. I have a newborn and a special needs son who has cerebral palsy, a feeding tube and a tracheotomy. I have spent thousands of dollars on different products and exterminators. But NOTHING helps, only makes it worse. PLEASE HELP!