THE BROMELIAD BLADE July 2018 Newsletter of the The San Diego Bromeliad Society Bromeliad Blade July 2018 s VOLUME LIII NUMBER 7 root offsets of your favorites for the pups. Some hearty, slow-dying raffle table! plants can produce a second and President’s sometimes even a third round of offsets. For me, this is typical of x Sincoregelia ‘Galactic Warrior’ and When and How to Remove Neo Message other bigeneric hybrids made with a Offsets By Scott Sandel Neoregelia crossed with Sincoraea When my favorite Neo hybrids have (formerly Orthophytum) naviodes. It bloomed and have begun production is not uncommon with a well-grown of offsets, I impatiently keep an eye This month, I am turning my Galactic Warrior to get another attention to potting-up a gang of out to see how many Neoregelia offsets that have been offsets I’m going to growing in my collection. So I get. And then I keep thought – why not incorporate this watch to monitor the into July’s Blade? This is basic stuff – size of the offsets, cutting off offsets, mixing up potting because once they’re media and planting them. I do not about one-third of pretend to have the best techniques the mature size, it is or recipes, but I’ve had a lot of fun time to with this particularly rewarding propagate. Not to genus of the bromeliad family. Why worry if they stay rewarding? Well, they grow attached and get relatively fast, going through their bigger; you can cut life cycle often in just 2-3 years from them off the small offset, to adulthood, to “mother” plant even blooming and to then producing the when they approach next generation of offsets. More maturity! In these often than not, your Neoregelia, or cases, keep only Neo, will produce several offsets that actively growing can be easily propagated, as I will roots, not the old discuss here. July is a good time to roots from the bounce around some propagation ‘mother’, which topics, as many Neo’s have pups on could rot in the new them large enough to remove now pot. If you remove and in the next few weeks. Maybe the offset(s) earlier, you’ll join me in bringing some bare- your mother plant may produce more THE BROMELIAD BLADE | July 2018 2 offset or two after removing the first • 30% light potting soil, such as 3-4. Use a sharp knife or your Felco “seed starter mix” (a soil-less pruners to get below the soil line peat/perlite media) where the offset if attached to the • 20% coir chunks (search on mother plant. Be sure to cut as close Amazon) to the attachment point as possible • 15% ground coir so that when you remove your • 10% medium size orchid bark offset, you get all of the offset, • 10% large-aggregate size especially the base where roots will perlite (available from later emerge and grow. One George at the Cactus & removed, you will find that the offset Succulent Society meetings) with quite a bit of roots, just a few • 15% 3/8” volcanic “Lava” emerging rootlets or none at rock gravel (Southwest all. After removal, I dust the cut end Boulder sells by the bag or with Rootone, a powder with rooting yard). holding media like peat and coir to hormones and (more importantly) Place your potted offsets in a bright these. Large-growing Neo’s, like fungicide. Then, before potting place with indirect light. Being under ones that have N. concentrica or N. them, I place them upright in an 50% shade cloth is ideal for me. Your carcharadon in their parentage, will empty plastic pot for a couple of days young Neo’s will grow and establish get a large pot that could become for the cut end to dry up a bit. themselves quickly in the next few waterlogged, so I use more chunky summer months! perlite and lava rock for those. For longer-living species and hybrids, I plan for permeability of the media over time by using more inorganic material (perlite and lava rock) and chunky organic material that takes longer to break down in the pot. For medium and large growing Neoregelias, I typically use 5” to 8” plastic pots, and I fill the pot to within an inch with Potting Your Neo Offsets lightly packed media, Most Neo’s are not too particular placing the offset in the about their potting media as long as middle of the pot. Often, I it is free-draining. While many Neo’s lodge small cobbles around will grow an extensive root system, the offset to brace it to be they often grow in their habitat as motionless as attached to a substrate rather than possible. Another on the ground in soil. As epiphytes technique is to brace the growing attached to trees, their newly potted offset with substrate is free-draining. Most of us three bamboo stakes. It is have favorite recipes for growing important to keep the media, and we’ll vary it to suit the offset braced so that it can particular species or hybrid in be undisturbed while it question. And eventual plant size grows its first roots. My matters. So-called Mini Neo’s are typical Neo recipe is as small and don’t want to be in a huge follows: pot, and I find that smaller pots dry out more easily, so I add more water- THE BROMELIAD BLADE | July 2018 3 Andrew Wilson Robert Kopfstein June Meeting Tillandsia kretzii Quesnelia marmorata Very fun talk by SDBS member Lisa Rini. She showed us how she uses broms in the landscape, with lots of visuals. Loved to see her eclectic and very personal style of gardening, where bromeliads are front and center. We had a plant table by Dave Kennedy. Auction plants were Neoregelia correia-araujoi (see story on page 4), Tillandsia aeranthos hybrid, Billbergia ‘Raspberry Spritzer’, Neoregelia carolina x concentrica x ‘Charm’. Show and Tell Morlane O’Donnell Vriesea ‘Florinda’ (photo) Tammy Harmon Vriesea ‘Princess Annique” Billbergia ‘Casablanca’ Tillandsia ‘Twisted’ capitata x Joanne Dossett Tammy actually dug out her plant intermedia Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii from the yard just to show it to us. Tillandsia ‘Silver Queen’ x tomaselli Beautiful bloom. Krista Mills Tillandsia ionantha A beautiful ball, from the late Jim Wright. Bob Vitacco Mistery tillandsia, slowly growing a florer spike Don Nelson Dickia ‘Naked Lady’ Cristy Brenner Aechmea weibachii pendula Bob Wright Canistrum sandrae Aechmea ‘Pica’ THE BROMELIAD BLADE | July 2018 4 a glimpse of a project we are July Meeting developing about Tillandsia Plant Table by Dan Kinnard ionantha, which is a very popular by Al Evans species for growers all around the world. The plants of these species Our program in July will be on one of are epiphytes with small, clumped The July plant table will be our our favorite and least correctly rosettes that blush in red at the time second annual member provided named plants, Tillandsia ionantha. of flowering, displaying The speaker has sent plant table. Plants brought in by showy violet petals in a the following with his members should be groomed and tubular corolla. The species background and cleaned and either potted (or not) is quite variable in shape presentation outline and preferably and a promise of lots tagged. When you of slides to illustrate separate pups and clean the project that is up your collection, please just beginning and will clarify the names consider setting a few / varieties / forms aside to care for and bring of Tillandsia into the July meeting. At ionantha. Our the meeting, you can talk speaker, in his own a bit about your words: contribution if you My name is Juan choose. If you have a special plant that could be Pablo Pinzón Esquivel. I have a offered for auction, that would be major in Biology even better! Our July plant table will (2006) and a be as successful as you, the doctorate in plant members, make it. In the spirit of science and biotechnology donating to the society, please also consider occasionally bringing in a (2012); in my doctoral dissertation I and other characters, and as a treated the systematics and consequence, six varieties and one plant to donate to the monthly plant evolution of Tillandsia utriculata and form have been published. During table when you can! related species. In 2013 I was a the talk, the different postdoctoral researcher at the varieties will be University of Vienna, studying also reviewed, showing their several aspects on the systematics differences, where they of Tillandsia subg. Tillandsia, and grow, and I will explain since the end of that year I am a why these varieties researcher at the Autonomous should be re-evaluated. University of Yucatan, Mexico, where Some differences can I continue this line of investigation, just be part of the having published popular science and variation of the same scientific articles on that subject. I species, but other have also collaborated in taxonomic populations could and systematic studies of other represent new species, group of bromeliads and and this can be clarified Polygonaceae. through morphological I have the honor of being invited by and molecular analyses. the San Diego Bromeliad Society to give a talk, where I will intend to give THE BROMELIAD BLADE | July 2018 5 Once and for all… Who is this Correia Araujo? by Juliana Raposo Eloise Lau came up with a great idea: Correia de Araujo was an People who have their names in honorary trustee of the plants can become great defunct Brazilian presentation material.