Hi Andrew,
my experiences with Vriesea hieroglyphica are not the best,
I just lost one of my 2 biggies due to the extreme heat we had last summer,
but let's see if I can help you out a little bit......
Andrew hat geschrieben:
1. As I have a few plants to play with, I am interested in trying out different methods of fertilising the plants to promote rapid growth. Any ideas welcomed.
I would suggest a rather strong fertilization, because this species will get
really big, at least 1,20 m in diameter.
We use a brand called "Pieters Excel" by the Scotts Company.
It's a fertilizer for professionell growers, so you might have some trouble
finding it. There are different types of Pieters around, we use the one
with the nutritient content of 20 - 20 - 20 (N P K). For the Vriesea
I would try a concentration between 0,05 - 0,1 % each week.
Maybe a little less in the winter time.
This is just a guess !
Check you water quality first. I am not sure what system for measurement
you folks use over there...... we look for the electric conductance
(hope the translation ist correct) measured in microsiemens (µS).
Pure Water has zero µS, the more salt is in the water, the higher
the µS value gets. Salt in this case is also fertilizer and lime (?) CaCO3.
Rainwater ist rarely over 100 µS, usualy below. Bromeliads can take up
to 700 - 1000 µS. So in case your water has allready a certain content of
salt, better use a lower percentage for fertilization, so you don't pass that 1000 µS.
Andrew hat geschrieben:
2. Would like to know how & when is the best time to remove the grass pups.
Keep them at the motherplant as long as you can.
Only remove them if you have the feeling that they are "takin over"
and reduce the growth of the main plant.
They should be at least 10-15cm before beeing removed.
How do
you check your water quality?
Cheers Timm
