# Bromeliad Pups falling apart?



## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

So I went down to the local garden center and bought a pot that contains what looks like some small growing neorgelia fireball hybrid. In the pot there were two soil planted mothers, each with three pups coming off of long stolons, one of the pups had another pup growning off of it. Today I went to move one of them that I had cut from the mother and placed in a tank, and about four of the center leaves pulled right out. I checked another one of the pups and the same thing happened, but as far as I can tell its only those two. The funny thing is, the leaves look healthy. This is not something I have experienced before and does not seem normal. Does anyone have any ideas or advice for me?


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

If the leaves just came off without any help from you, the plant could be rotting. Check the base of the plant and see if it is squishy. When broms rot the base gets mushy and the color will not be as intense, instead the base will turn more of a white color where it's too moist. 

If this is the case, I would change the potting mix to something more airable and let the broms dry out for a while to see if they improve.


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

Thats the problem the ones that are falling apart are not in any substrate, they are suspended in the air on the stolon.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I would suspect that the broms were kept full of water, with not enough air flow. I've unintentionally done this to broms before. They do not like to be constantly kept wet all the time.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Zach hit it on the nose. Those you had the problem with are most likely no good.


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

Ooo bummer .. well thank you for the replies folks! I only spent about $13 on all eight that I got so its not that big of a deal!


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

Trey said:


> Ooo bummer .. well thank you for the replies folks! I only spent about $13 on all eight that I got so its not that big of a deal!


All the more reason to buy from sponsors! never gotten a rotten/unhealthy brom from any of em'.


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## Ziggi (Jan 23, 2009)

So not to hijack but just a clarification question that I feel would also benefit the original poster.

Broms don't need water in them all the time?
How often should they be filled up with water in the stolens then?
As far as air flow is concerned, how does one achive proper airflow without drying out the vivarium. I know most members have complete glass tops with little to no ventilation and the broms seem to do just fine.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Ziggi said:


> So not to hijack but just a clarification question that I feel would also benefit the original poster.
> 
> Broms don't need water in them all the time?


Nope, but mine typically have a little water in them constantly




Ziggi said:


> How often should they be filled up with water in the stolens then?


The stolon is actually the woody stem that pups grow off of. That being said, I make sure to flush broms with tads in them about once a week. Otherwise, they just get sprayed. I've noticed that bromeliads that are 'dirty' in their tank seem to grow better, and I've read somewhere that they gain nutrients from debris in their tank.



Ziggi said:


> As far as air flow is concerned, how does one achive proper airflow without drying out the vivarium. I know most members have complete glass tops with little to no ventilation and the broms seem to do just fine.


I have vents on all my vivariums. Many times, bromeliads will seem to do fine for awhile with no ventilation, then fall apart - this happened in some of my earlier vivariums. Using a computer fan inside a sealed vivarium is a good way to provide internal air circulation, too.


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