A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Bromeliad flowers?

Hi!
I was lookin at my bromeliad, which i rescued from walmart *omg it was almost dead!* and i was lookin at the flower. Then i thought about the other flowers i've seen, and started wondering, "Howcome my bromeliad flower doesn't look like the same shape as the other flowers?"

So ya, i went to Wentworth's and saw two basic shapes for the flowers:
The Rosette
The Flat one

Mine's the flat one, which i was hoping would turn into a rosette, but ya, that's my question ^.^
Do they end up both looking the same in the end, or are they definately different?

Thank you ^.^

~Phoebe

definitely different, but the flat ones are easier to get the seeds from

Hi Phoebe,

Bromeliad is a large family of plant species that includes such diverse plants as the pineapple, Spanish moss, and air plants.

The flat Bromeliad that you referred to is probably a Neoregelia. The taller Bromeliads that are commonly sold are Guzmania and Aechmea.

Oh okay, cool Thank you! I think i'm gonna get one of the ones with a rosette type flower. I like those ones more than the flat ones, because they have more definition and spaces in them ^.^ Plus they hold water in the flower too

~Phoebe

I know it's neat to put water in the Bromeliad cup, but it is no longer recommended except in locations that are quite warm and breezy. There is a risk of rotting the cup if the water stagnates. Watering just the soil works just fine.

I recommend a Guzmania because their flowers can last up to 6 months in good light. I don't know of any other flower that will last as long as that.

Will

I know!! Bromeliads are so cool ^.^ I like em, cuz they look cool, even without their flowers there's also talk about one being carnivorous, but they're not quite sure. They found bug carcases in this species cup on several occasions.

But ya, what i do to keep the water from becoming stagnent is i rinse it out every once in a while by pouring fresh water on top of it so the rest of the old water falls out and into my other plants ^.^

Its still in its 2" cup right now cuz there's a very small root system. So i'll wait till i see roots coming out of the bottom before i repot it ^.^

~Phoebe