Bromeliaceae VOLUME XLI - No. 4 - July/August 2007 The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. P. O. Box 565, Fortitude Valley Queensland, Australia 4006, Home Page www.bromsqueensland.com OFFICERS PRESIDENT Olive Trevor (07) 3351 1203 VICE PRESIDENT Barry Kable PAST PRESIDENT Bob Reilly (07) 3870 8029 SECRETARY Chris Coulthard TREASURER Glenn Bernoth (07) 4661 3 634 BROMELIACEAE EDITOR Ross Stenhouse SHOW ORGANISER Bob Cross COMMITTEE David Rees, Paul Dunstan, Ann McBur- nie, Arnold James,Viv Duncan MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Roy Pugh (07) 3263 5057 SEED BANK CO-ORDINATOR Doug Parkinson (07) 5497 5220 AUDITOR Anna Harris Accounting Services SALES AREA STEWARD Pat Barlow FIELD DAY CO-ORDINATOR Nancy Kickbusch LIBRARIAN Evelyn Rees ASSISTANT SHOW ORGANISER Phil Beard SUPPER STEWARDS Nev Ryan, Barry Genn PLANT SALES Nancy Kickbusch (Convenor) N. Poole (Steward) COMPETITION STEWARDS Dorothy Cutcliffe, Alan Phythian CHIEF COMPETITION STEWARD Jenny Cakurs HOSTESS Gwen Parkinson BSQ WEBMASTER Ross Stenhouse LIFE MEMBERS Grace Goode OAM Peter Paroz, Michael O’Dea Editors Email Address: [email protected] The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. gives permission to all Bromeliad Societies to re- print articles in their journals provided proper acknowledgement is given to the original author and the Bromeliaceae, and no contrary direction is published in Bromeliaceae. This permission does not apply to any other person or organisation without the prior permission of the author. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual contributor and may not neces- sarily reflect the opinions of the Bromeliad Society of Queensland or of the Editor Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the information in their articles. Front Cover: Guz. ‘‘ Marjan ’’ ’ Photo by Ross Stenhouse Rear Cover : Guz. ‘Mini Belle’ unreg Photo by Ross Stenhouse Bromeliaceae 2 Jul/Aug 2007 Contents BROMELIAD G ROWING T IPS ....................................................................................................4 CULTURAL C ORNER ................................................................................................................5 PLANT PROPAGATION ..............................................................................................................6 RECOVERING FROM H AIL DAMAGE .........................................................................................6 WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS ...............................................................................................6 THE EDITORS DESK ................................................................................................................7 WINTER C ARE ........................................................................................................................8 ROOT ROT & HEART ROT .....................................................................................................8 JUDGE’S H ANDBOOK C HANGES ...............................................................................................9 GUZMANIAS AT THE 2007 AUTUMN SHOW ...........................................................................11 AECHMEA ‘QUE SERA SUPERIOR ’ .........................................................................................17 NEW T ILLANDSIA REGISTRATION FROM Q UEENSLAND ..........................................................19 A MEMBER ’S SHADEHOUSE ...................................................................................................19 AECHMEA WINKLERI .............................................................................................................21 BSQ STUDY G ROUP REPORT ................................................................................................22 CHARCOAL AND B ROMS ........................................................................................................23 BILLBERGIA ‘NEZ MISSO ’ .....................................................................................................25 EDITOR ’S SHADEHOUSE .........................................................................................................25 VRIESEA GUTTATA .................................................................................................................25 VRIESEA FLAMMEA VERSUS VRIESEA POENULATA ....................................................................27 RELUCTANT TO FLOWER : DO THEY NEED A COLD TRIGGER ? ..................................................28 TILLANDSIA SECUNDA : VIVIPAROUS OFFSETS ..........................................................................28 TILLANDSIA SECUNDA ............................................................................................................29 NOTES ON THE INTENSITY OF C OLOUR IN SPIKES OF T ILLANDSIAS ........................................30 LIGHT AND C OLOUR .............................................................................................................30 NEOREGELIA MACWILLIAMSII ................................................................................................32 NEO . ‘BRAZIL ’ ......................................................................................................................36 THE BSQ WEB SITE ............................................................................................................41 IS NEOREGELIA CORREIA -ARAUJOI A NATURAL HYBRID ? ..........................................................42 ARE T HERE SYMPHYLIDS IN YOUR G ARDEN ? .......................................................................45 SCHEDULE OF T ALKS AT MONTHLY MEETINGS ......................................................................46 BEGINNERS C LASS ................................................................................................................46 CALENDAR OF EVENTS ..........................................................................................................46 PLANT OF THE MONTH PROGRAMME FOR 2007 .....................................................................47 Books For Sale The Society has the following books for sale: • Starting with Bromeliads $18 • Pitcher Plants of the Americas $60 • Bromeliads: A Cultural Manual $5 • Judges Handbook by BSI $34 • Back Copies of Bromeliaceae (2005, 2006 Editions) $4 • Bromeliads for the Contemporary Garden by Andrew Steens $36 • Bromeliads: Next Generation by Shane Zaghini $33 Postage and package extra. Unfortunately we cannot supply overseas orders. Please phone the Librarian, Mrs Evelyn Rees (07) 3355 0432 to order books. Bromeliaceae 3 Jul/Aug 2007 wood? Glue sets hard and often the growing Bromeliad Growing plant will force itself from the mount. Sealant stays flexible! Tips • Branches and roots shaped by the (Compiled by Bob Reilly) weather can make great bromeliad “trees”, but how do you stop them from falling over? One way is to place the base of the I’ve accumulated these from various branch/root in a squat pot/bucket filled with sources. While I have not tried all of them quick-setting concrete. The finished article myself, they have worked for a number of is pretty difficult to tip over! people. • A quick way to obtain wooden mounts • Treat your mounting wood for for tillandsias is to saw a well-seasoned tillandsias with citric acid to acidify the branch of a tree diagonally, so as to get an wood and encourage shy-rooting plants to oval shaped piece of wood about 2 cm thick. put out roots. This can then easily have a wire attached • Add one or two Nutricote pellets to for hanging and, if necessary, a small hole the lower leaf axils of a favourite plant to bored in the centre, at an angle, to hold your encourage it to send out more pups. tillandsia. • Mount or display your grey-leaved • Remember that it takes 24 hours tillandsias in the position they grow in nature. for sealant to “set” properly, so leave your An indication of this position can be found tillandsia flat for this period before hanging by looking at the base of the plant. If you them up. position the base of the plant at a right angle • Some tillandsias when allowed to to your hand, that will give you an indication clump seem to lose their inclination to flower of the plants natural position. and yet others need to be in a clump to induce • Another way of working out the cor- flowering , such as T. argentina, so get to rect orientation for grey-leaved tillandsias is know your plants. to ask the person you buy from if he or she • Some tillandsia nurseries recommend has any clumps of the plant or similar plants. that grey-leaved tillandsias’ leaves should be (In clumps, these plants tend to show their dry within four hours of watering to minimise natural positions. If they are all oriented a the chances of rot occurring. To achieve this certain way, they will have a particular ori- outcome, you need to water early in the day in entation they like. If they go “every which winter, and early in the day or late afternoon way”, they don’t care). in summer. • If you place covers such as newspa- • Diluted liquid fertiliser used frequent- pers, sheets etc. over your bromeliads to pro- ly, is better than more concentrated fertiliser tect them from cold, check that they are still used infrequently. in position if you experience high winds. • Fertilising potted bromeliads can be • When the leaves on Tillandsia ber- less hazardous than fertilising those grown in geri start to become wrinkled, then it is a the ground, as it is easier to “flush out” the good indication that it is time to water your plant and pot with water. tillandsias.