Very pretty, matchstick

Hi everyone - Although that bromeliad is commonly known as the "Match stick plant", the correct botanical name is Aechmea gamosepala. It is a species and one of the most widely grown Aechmeas in Australia. It is a popular plant for beginners as it's very easy to grow, but if planted in the garden and not confined to a pot, it can become quite invasive.

All the best, Nev.

Jeannie, gratz! I've tried my hand at the paintbrush for the first time recently. How quickly do the pods show afterwards?

Eeyore,

Thanks! I would be happy to send you a few :)

Nev,

I do grow all my Bromeliads in pots and I would love for this one to take over.

I don't have too many Bromeliads after last winter, and this was one that sat out (pot too large to move) and made it through the freeze :)

Candice,

I'm not sure how long it took....I just noticed the seed pods! I would say within a week.

Happy Gardening, Jeannie :)

Probably an indoor plant for the winter, I would imagine?

This plant was out in the cold weather all winter.....we had a low of 29 degrees (one of the 4 nights of cold) and it made it through that....in a pot!

Lol, 29 is average for us. We dip down to the low teens and every cple years single digits. And every few years below 0. But it only lasts a cple days. The really cold temps that id.

Brrrrrrrrrrr I guess I will put up with the Texas heat in the summer so my winters won't get that cold.

Happy Gardening, Jeannie :)

ooh, ahhh. like fireworks

Hi, Jeannie ... So nice to hear from you. Sorry, I haven't been on Houzz lately and am just seeing this.

Congratulations on your seed pod! You've definitely done better than me ... I only have one lone pod on an immature two year old. I hope it makes it. Yours look robust. Great job ... Keep twirling!

These were the bromeliads you sent me, along with a lighter green one that died within the 1st week ... They were three minis:

Thanks for offering the matchstick. I will decline because I'm trying to keep a mini footprint on the bromeliads for now.

I found a local producer and have started using earthworm castings and tea. It's incredible just in terms of seed germination. It's like a probiotic for the soil and deactivates the microorganism that causes damping off. The first time I added it to my soil, I got 40 out of 42 seeds to germinate with zero damping off. With the prior germination in March, half of my seeds germinated and half of those dampened off and died. It's so good to finally find something that renews the soil. I am using the tea as a foliar drench.

Happy gardening.

Maria Elena

I just took this picture of the 3 seed pods on my Sunshine Ray :)

They are growing larger!

This is the lower single one....it's not as large as the other two.

This is the first for Adenium seeds, so I hope to collect them all. When should I start covering or using wire on them?

I've been sooooo busy with my job (Realtor) that I have not had time to care for all of my plants, so I 'm not able to check on the seed pods daily! Thanks, Jeannie :)

Jeannie, you'd better bag those bad boys or you may come home to find your seeds have all blown away ... God forbid! Use tulle party bags or just tie them loosely so if they open your seeds will remain in place until you can get to them. My experience with any seed pods is that they open rather quickly once you notice any color changes on the pod. This is especially true of younger plants. Hoping you have a bountiful harvest!

My first seed pod opened early after just one month, with just 4 seeds. They were immature and only one germinated. I am guarding it like a hawk! LOL The mother plant was just under 2 years old and not ready for such a production. They should do better next year.

Maria Elena

By the way, someone recently gifted me a Aechmea gamosepala, she said with a blue flower. The problem is I know very little about bromeliads and don't know which of the several I received it is. I think it's the light green one but am unsure. I know there's a Billbergia "Red Torch" somewhere in there. The spotted one is Billbergia "Fantasia" ... I think. Maybe @splinter1804 can help.

I got into bromeliads 'by mistake' through working with air plants and dyckias. I have a few minis and medium sized ones. One of these days I will venture out and get a spectacular and huge Black Chantinii - Aechmea, which I have always loved. In the meantime, I have a Billbergia nutans hybrid and a couple of Neoregelias. I also have these with no ID ... I am a little afraid of that last one with the light stripes on the underside of its leaves because the way it connects to its pup is via a very thick and hard whatchamacallit. I think it has the potential to be invasive. What do you think?

Maria Elena

Hi everyone.

Maria
Elena – Firstly let me tell you about your Aechmea
gamosepala; this is one of the many bromeliad species (as they come from
the wild). It is an easy to grow plant but if not contained in a pot can become
quite invasive. It’s hard to say which of the plants in your pictures is a
gamosepala without seeing a flower, but it would be one of the green leafed plants
in picture 1, 3, 4 or 5. See pictures below:

This what the flowers of Ae. gamosepala look like..........

.........and this is how they can become invasive when not in a pot.

Red
Torch is the common name usually given to Billbergia
pyramidalis because of its beautiful
red torch shaped inflorescence. It too is hard to positively identify without
seeing the flower, but it is definitely one of the plain green leafed ones in your
plant collection and has a much wider leaf than Ae.
gamosepala.

Billbergia pyramidalis

Although
there are many spotted types of Billbergias you are probably correct in saying
the plant with the spotted foliage is Billbergia ‘Fantasia’. It is a beautiful
plant and you will find that when it flowers there is a magnificent contrast of
colours with the red flowers against the spotted green and white background.

See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=BILLBERGIA&id=830#830

You
say, “I got into bromeliads 'by mistake' through working with air plants and
dyckias”. The thing is that air plants (Tillandsias) and dyckias are bromeliads as well. Because Tillandsias have had the common title of “air plants” due to their
growth habit and dyckias more
resemble succulents in their growth habit, it's often not realised they are
bromeliads as well.

You
mention your desire to own one of the black coloured Aechmea chantinii plants – What can I say except “join the club” as
I too would love to grow one of these beautiful plants. The big problem I must
warn you about though is that they are very cold sensitive; I have tried three
times to grow them but each time winter comes around they mark badly and start
to go backwards and eventually die. Consequently I’ve given up on trying to
grow them. If you have somewhere you can put them away from the winter cold you
shouldn’t have a problem, but just be warned.

You
say, “I am a little afraid of that last one with the light stripes on the
underside of its leaves because the way it connects to its pup is via a very
thick and hard whatchamacallit” – Firstly the “whatchamacallit” is known as the
“stolon” and your plant could either be an Aechmea
or Billbergia and again it’s hard to
say until you see the flowers. As for it being invasive, they are nowhere as
invasive as other types such as Ae
gamosepala and similar plants. Usually these stoloniferous type plants do
very well when mounted on a tree or grown in a hanging basket so they can
spread out naturally as nature intended.

I
must apologise as I didn’t set out to “write a book”, but I’ve tried to answer
your questions as well as I can and I hope I've been of some help.

All
the best, Nev.