Sunday, July 7, 2013

Bromeliaceous

Last fall I brought home a bromeliad plant from the mall.  I knew it would eventually die, but before it did it would send up the beginnings of new plants ("pups") which I could repot.

The mother plant lasted longer than I thought it would, though, and three new shoots appeared at the base.  Although the leaves got quite floppy they stayed green until a couple of weeks ago.  I finally cut them off, and waited for a day when I had time to deal with the rest of the project.

I took the pot outside and did my work in the grass so I wouldn't have to clean up any mess.  Here's a 'before' picture:

You can see two of the three new shoots

 First I turned the pot upside down and dumped the plant out. The shoots were pretty small, but I went ahead with my project anyway.  I used a steak knife to cut the pups away from the dead mother plant, leaving a bit of a stem on the new pup.

pups repotted and fertilized
I put all three pups in the same pot. (If they all end up living I'll deal with the crowding later.) The last step was to give the pot a good soaking of fertilizer before I brought it back in and set it on the window seat in the kitchen where it will get the morning sun.

It would be awesome if I got new plants from this, but I don't have high hopes.   As I said in my original post, "The plant will either thrive, or it can go in the compost pile"

Five years ago today: New Thing #178--It's Only Rock and Roll

5 comments:

  1. I have a plant that really needs to be repotted.

    Good luck, I hope your pups grow!

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  2. I wish you well with your new plant, I hope it grows for you Kathy after all that work and energy you've invested into trying to keep it going!

    Have a wonderful week.

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  3. oh I hope you do and then I am looking forward to the photos of the blooms!

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  4. Is that a four leaf clover you set the pot on? Of course it will survive and thrive.

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  5. Oh my gracious! That is just the coolest thing! How wonderful to have those little pups to watch grow.

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