# bromeliad rotting



## imitator83 (Jan 5, 2006)

Okay, so maybe I am totally missing the boat on this one, but I have been having a lot of trouble with my bromeliads and their roots rotting. I first wrapped the roots with spagnum moss, and they rotted. I then just found crevices to mount the bromeliads to the various surfaces. The result was the same. My question is twofold: What am I doing wrong, and are the bromediads still able to able to survive even if the roots have rotted. The very first time I had this problem, I threw out the bromeliad but noticed the bromeliad still looked good several days later. I have worked with a lot of bromeliads before, but never had this consistent of a problem. The species I am mostly working is Vriesea 'Christiane'. Please help me!!! Thanks for all the help,
Scott


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Well I'll give you a bit of my experiences with bromeliads and rotting. I've had the worse luck with Vrieseas in vivs. I have a feeling that they don't like the humidity and moisture as much as the Neoregelias do. I've got a Vriesea "Christiane" (sp?) growing in a viv right along side about 3 or 4 Neos and its slowly starting to rot away where as the Neos are doing great. For this reason, I think I may stop using them in vivs.

One recipe that is sure to do it though, is too much direct misting of the brom, coupled with poor air flow. These conditions seem to speed up the rotting process of the Vrieseas. Now, I've not had too many other Vrieaseas so my experience with them as a whole is limited. I've used Vriesea racinae Brazil with similar results. When misted the same amount as the Neos, it began to rot where the Neos were flourishing. Once I stopped spraying it as much and gave it a spot that was not as wet, it did a little better, but still fell to rot. These broms must really need to dry out a bit or need better air flow. On top of all this, a lot people try to plant these terrestrially b/c they see them at Home Depot and Lowes that way. Thats a guarunteed recipe for disaster. Our substrate is far too moist and will also rot a Vriesea (or a Neo for that matter) in a matter of days to a couple of weeks.

What I would recommend, is stick to Neos and keep them off the substrate mounted on the wall or stuck to the glass using suction cups. I have about 90% of my Neos done this way and I've had great success with them. They all shoot out aerial roots, have great color (due to light mostly though) and produce healthy pups.

I hope this has helped somewhat.


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## alifer (Oct 24, 2005)

Frogtofall said:


> What I would recommend, is stick to Neos and keep them off the substrate mounted on the wall or stuck to the glass using suction cups. I have about 90% of my Neos done this way and I've had great success with them. They all shoot out aerial roots, have great color (due to light mostly though) and produce healthy pups.
> I hope this has helped somewhat.












Go Go suction cups
I believe that is a Vriesea "Christiane" I have planted next to the Neos & it's doing OK for 2 months now. I made my own pots with great drainage, the Vriesea is planted in the pot on the right with orchid mix & sits directly on the false floor. I’m not misting my viv, just squirting water out of a water bottle once or twice per week all over the broms and other plants to clean the frog poo off & fill them with water. 










-Rick


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

You'll know the brom is actually rotted out by tugging on the intermost leaf... if it pulls out easily (usually comes with a rotting smell) then your plant is tost. If you tug on it and it doesn't come out, the plant is still alive, roots or no roots.

It could be the change in the humidity that gets these plants... going from low humidity houseplants to 100% humidity tanks can cause them to kick real fast, many plants doing that do (in the case of stuff like peps, they tend to grow back eventually with leaves and what not adapted for those conditions). 

I have a feeling what is actually happening is as mentioned before, if the substrate is crap, the plants will rot. YOUR TERRESTRIAL SUBSTRATE MIX IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO THE HEALTH OF PLANTS!! I can never say this enough! Drainage, drainage, drainage! Do not worry about holding moisture in your substrate, you want to pull as much of it out as you can since the humidity of the tank (below and above the substrate layer) is so high that anything more than a substrate that lets water run thru becomes a bog! The vriesea female name series, varieties such as 'Charolette' and 'Christiane' CAN be grown terrestrially, just not with the mix most people use (as most people don't put much thought into the substrate like they should!)

If your substrate is crap... keep them in their original pots with their original substrate mix and put the whole thing in the ground (making sure the bottom of the pot doesn't sit in water) or mount the pot up higher in the tank... 

I've had these plants in my tanks, terrestrially, with little problems - but I put a lot of thought into my substrate for this very reason. Water runs right thru the stuff I use... but with water sitting below in the drainage layer keeping it humid, there is no reason to have any moisture holding components in the substrate mix.


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## Guest (May 29, 2006)

In the previous picture, the brom with the red tipped flower in the middle..... what kind is it and cand you mount it out of dirt. If so con you use pins or hot glue? I want to know because I just purhased one


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## schegini14 (May 17, 2006)

Can you use the suction cups sold at petco or petsmart for mounting?


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Save yourself some cash and buy the suction cups from Walmart or similar. They'll be in the office supply area.

The brom with the red spike is a Vriesea.

Corey, are you ever not preachy"


> The vriesea female name series, varieties such as 'Charolette' and 'Christiane' CAN be grown terrestrially, just not with the mix most people use (as most people don't put much thought into the substrate like they should!)


Plants obviously mean alot to you, but if the choices people make about their tanks conflict with what they should do then educate them, not berate them. Put a tutorial on your site or a tutorial here, but talking down to the people you're trying to teach is just going to piss them off. My apoligies if if this rubs you the wrong way, not my intent at all.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

It is my recommendation that if you're gonna buy Vrieseas, mount them epiphytically. In nature, they occur this way (all of the genus does I'm pretty sure). This way you could avoid the hit or miss game with substrates. Just be carefull not to give them too much moisture or you will eventually see rotting.

As Mike said, the suction cups are cheaper at Walmart. Around here where I live, JoAnn Fabrics has them even cheaper than Walmart does which I found shocking.

Good luck.


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## wax32 (May 9, 2006)

Ahh! JoAnn Fabrics! I'll have to check those kinds of places, I am having hella trouble finding suction cups!


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I got you covered Dave.


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## imitator83 (Jan 5, 2006)

This may be a stupid question, but how are the bromeliads attached to the suction cups? Is there a wire involved...I learn visually and could not make out exactly how the bromeliad was attached in Alifer's picture (I guess those pots were involved, but what are the other methods in attaching them?). Thanks for all the help, everyone, great info and I am learning alot.
Scott


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

When you purchase the suction cups, they will have a metal hook on them. You smash the hook around the stolon of the bromeliad if it has one. The stolon is the "stem" piece that comes out of the bottom of the bromeliad. Its where it attached to the mother plant.

Once you smash the hook part around the stolon, its a good idea to smash the part of the hook thats attaced to the suction cup around the suction cup itself. It'll keep the bromeliad from rotating if it gets a bit heavy with water or anything.

Hope that helps. I'll have to take some pics later on.


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## imitator83 (Jan 5, 2006)

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.
Scott


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I'm just amused by the whole idea... who needs a background? just suction cup the broms and film canisters to all the walls!

Now I want to try this out... I'll have to track down some suction cups!


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## alifer (Oct 24, 2005)

I bought my suction cups at a Michael’s Craft Store, they had some pretty good size suction cups for holding wreaths. The hook is plastic on my suction cups, I was concerned about using metal inside the viv. I used Superglue Gel to glue the brom & stolon to the plastic hook, and then I glued some palm fibers around the bottom of the broms because I thought it looked a little odd with the broms glued to the suction cups. The broms have since sent out new roots that grew right thru the palm fibers.

By the way, the Flevopol covered pots in the pic were only used for plants I wanted to place in the bottom of the viv, so I could have great drainage & hide the pots.


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## wax32 (May 9, 2006)

Thanks Antone! :wink:


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

OK, I definitely need a visual aid here  

I can understand jamming the hook into the base of the brom but I don't see how the brom would stay upright. At least on the suction cups I've seen with hooks that hook part is loose and can swivel. With the brom being more top heavy I don't see it staying upright.


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## Guest (May 31, 2006)

Glad I found this thread.Thats a great idea you guys have regarding the suction cups for mounting.One question I have is every few weeks I wipe down the inside of my glass.Do you guys do that and if so do you just pull the suction cup off and then reattach it.I would just be concerned over time it would wear out some although I suppose you can just replace it if that happened.Also can someone explain what the film canister mounting idea you guys are talking about is?
TIA,
Randal


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## wax32 (May 9, 2006)

The way I understand it, these suction cups have rather large hooks. You just bend the hook around the bottom part of the brom.

I _think_ people just glue the suction cups to film cans and then stick them on the glass at an angle.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

For best suction you want the suction cups on a nice clean surface... in glass tanks this is easily done with a flat blade razor across the glass... So say you take the plant down, algae and what not have grown around the suction area... take a razor to the area you want to put the suction cup back on, make sure to wipe down the inside of the suction cup with a clean rag to make sure its clean as well and ready to go....

As long as you keep up with this, the suction should last a long time until the suction cup wears out... the less you take it on and off the better it will do over time...


This is the same for the suction cups on the film canisters...


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## wax32 (May 9, 2006)

Just like algae clips in a reef tank! =)


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2006)

So when you glue the film canister to the suction cup do you just stick the base of the brom in the film canister if there is no stolon and the plant roots in the container.What about water collecting in the container?Just trying to see if I understand it correctly.
TIA,
Randal


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I never tried the film canister idea. I guess you could drill a drainage hole in the bottom of it.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Sorry, I wasn't referring to film canisters as mounting broms, I was referring to the practice of using film canisters for egglaying and holding water for tapole deposition. I was trying to connect the care of the suction cups between the suction cups to mount broms and the film canisters for breeding.


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2006)

KeroKero said:


> Sorry, I wasn't referring to film canisters as mounting broms, I was referring to the practice of using film canisters for egglaying and holding water for tapole deposition. I was trying to connect the care of the suction cups between the suction cups to mount broms and the film canisters for breeding.


Gotcha


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

But then again, that got me thinking.... film canisters IMO wouldn't be appropriate - not enough air flow - but what about using Mesh Pots (click for example from Black Jungle - can also get them from orchid suppliers) for those plants that grow happily out of a chunk of sphagnum moss... I've seen these pots used for orchids and what not that hang off "chicken wire" type wall boards in greenhouses, how about somehow using a suction cup to hold them on glass? Hmmmm.... could work with those plants that need a bit more to root to...


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