Bromeliad questions

[96720]

I recently bought a aechmea and was reading about care it said to keep the tank full of water and clean it out about once a month if you plant it in the ground or on a tree how do you clean it out and if you mount it on a tree how do you keep the tank full? Any other advice would be appreciated!!

[Darold Petty]

I know little about Broms, but I question the advice to clean the tank.  Isn't leaf litter the primary source of organic material for the Brom ?  I have several Neoregelias and Alcanterea imperialis, and I have only removed large particles that I can grasp with my fingers.   My Alcanterea plants have tripled in size, even here in a cool, humid microclimate.   

I also have Aechmea recurvata 'Aztec Gold', and I have never filled the tank with water.

[John hovancsek]

I think they are telling you to clean it because mosquitoes tend to lay eggs in the water but I wouldn’t worry about it. I plant/ mount the bromeliad water till tank if full and the water drenches the roots and never mess with it again and have had few problems if any 

[realarch]

After growing bromeliads for years, I did not know the central cup was called the ‘tank.’ Learn something new everyday. I’ve never cleaned out the tanks as abundant rainfall to does that for us. Also, I agree with Darolds comment about the collection of organic nutrient material in the litter catching design. Trying to control mosquitos is pointless.

Tim 

[SubTropicRay]

In Florida, native Cricket Frogs, Cuban Tree frogs and other native frogs frequently live inside the bromeliad tanks.  This significantly reduces the mosquito larvae but the hysteria is overblown anyway.  Remember the Zika virus? 🙄  Municipalities began wiping out bromeliad landscaping throughout south Florida because of the fear Zika spreading mosquitos were breeding in bromeliads. 

I suspect the PR Coqui now well established in Hawaii love living in bromeliad tanks.   

I tell people if you don't have your own mosquitos, your neighbors' mosquitoes will invade.   There's nothing worse than your neighbors' mosquitoes 🤣

[Patrick]

1 hour ago, SubTropicRay said:

   I tell people if you don't have your own mosquitos, your neighbors' mosquitoes will invade.   There's nothing worse than your neighbors' mosquitoes 🤣

Haha that reminds me of "Get your dirt out of my hole!" From Cool Hand Luke...

[96720]

 @realarch JEALOUS of your bromeliads but you do live in heaven and I live in hell !! I was interested in @Darold Petty not putting water in the tank maybe he gets enough rain! I think they were talking about people that water with tap water and a salt accumulation I use RO water so I hope that’s not a problem, I did have one survive this summer in a pot so I planted it in the ground it has 4 pups so I have my fingers crossed!!

[Tomas]

19 hours ago, 96720 said:

 @realarch JEALOUS of your bromeliads but you do live in heaven and I live in hell !! I was interested in @Darold Petty not putting water in the tank maybe he gets enough rain! I think they were talking about people that water with tap water and a salt accumulation I use RO water so I hope that’s not a problem, I did have one survive this summer in a pot so I planted it in the ground it has 4 pups so I have my fingers crossed!!

Hi,

to grow bromeliads, you do not need to live in paradies, I too do not live in paradies (also a bit too cold for a hell here) but grow bromeliads. They too do not all grow in the tropical paradies as many use to think. You may just need a bit of shade, but I think there are some bromeliads frome some more extreme climates, like Southern Brazil, that could take you full sun.

On 1/29/2023 at 1:08 AM, 96720 said:

I recently bought a aechmea and was reading about care it said to keep the tank full of water and clean it out about once a month if you plant it in the ground or on a tree how do you clean it out and if you mount it on a tree how do you keep the tank full? Any other advice would be appreciated!!

Maybe the tank emptying is meant for inside growing? I do not grow bromeliads in my appartment, but do know that inside they are more prone to the tank rot, so a monthly water change can be recomended. Outside, I water with the hose when watering other plants

[96720]

@Tomas beautiful garden nice bromeliads and even an orchid but your weather is a lot more tropical than mine summer 115-120 highs with single digit humidity a lot more difficult to grow tropical plants than most places but I’m going to try I just wished they weren’t so expensive but my job is to kill plants!!!

[Tomas]

10 hours ago, 96720 said:

@Tomas beautiful garden nice bromeliads and even an orchid but your weather is a lot more tropical than mine summer 115-120 highs with single digit humidity a lot more difficult to grow tropical plants than most places but I’m going to try I just wished they weren’t so expensive but my job is to kill plants!!!

I would say many bromeliads do not mind 120F, I used to grow them in a polytunnel and in summer the temperatures reached 120 F inside every day. They also do not need humidity, the tank bromeliads are happy as long as you keep the tank and the leaves full of water. And they can store a lot of water in this way, I use to water once a week in summer, but may skip sometimes. It's better to think about them as of succulent plants.

I would recomend to choose carefully the plants you may try to grow. I succeded in importing nearly all my plants from Michael's in Florida, he has a huge selction and I find the prices are not high. Here are some bromeliads that seem to have never sun enough here in Rome, I think these would be good candidates for you:  Aechmea nudicaulis, Ae. distichantha,  Ae. phanerophlebia, Ae. recurvata, Ae. ornata var. nationalis, Neoregelia pascoaliana, Vriesea bituminosa ...

[96720]

@Tomas thanks for the info I realize plants are a lot tougher than think otherwise I wouldn’t be able to grow most of the stuff I grow!!!