# Brom Tank



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Ok, Im thinkof cleaning out my 75 gallon viv and dedicating it to growing broms.


Im hoping to have atleast 5 species but Im worried about Hybrids.

How easy do hybrids form with broms?
also how do they form?

I will also be raising some small orchids in another tank and Im worried about the same problem.


BTW why arent hybrid plants frowned upon like hybrid frogs??????????????

All comments welcome<

Thanx ,,


TODD


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2005)

I could be wrong, But im pretty sure that if you're reproducing your broms and orchids by pups or off sets (aka, vegetative asexual reproduction) then you wont have to worry about hybrids.

Since pups and new pseudobulbs that grow off the original parent plant are clones of the original, you dont have to worry about nearby species crossbreeding with them.

Where you would have to worry is if you were reproducing offspring from seeds (i dont know about bromeliads but its extremely extremely difficult to do with orchids, aka, it wont happen in your tank, seeds may form but they will die and not grow), since seeds are the result of pollen (male compoent) fertilizing the female component of the plant. Therefore seeds could be hybrids from a neighbor plant. IF you're reproducing your plants by off sets then you'll be fine.

Hope this helps


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## asydabass (Jul 12, 2005)

Hybrids are not frowned upon in the plant community at all. Most "new" broms that come out are hybrids.


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## Jace King (May 5, 2004)

Im no breeder of broms but as far as i understand it.

If you want to breed broms and get seeds, you must have true species bromeliads. All of what we use or at least 90% of it, is a hybrid as far as i know. Therefore they cannot and will not produce viable seeds. They only asexually reproduce. So build a viv and pop in the broms and they will start throwing pups, usually at a rate faster then they die, so you will be netting more broms in the end. I do this all the time with extra broms, and use extra vivs that im growing in.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2005)

How hard is it to get broms to flower?? I've seen the flower and I just can't figure out how they get pollinated.


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## MattySF (May 25, 2005)

Jace King said:


> They only asexually reproduce. So build a viv and pop in the broms and they will start throwing pups.


Broms I bought from Jace are doing this right now. How large should pups get before removing them from the mother,and will removing them prolong the mothers life?


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

3/4 as big as the mother plant. Imve been told to force a brom to bloom it can be done by using rotting fruit . some gas the fruit gives off causes the brom to bloom. That is what Ive heard, I have not proven it true or false yet.


Jace , that is exctly what I was planning on doing , I just didnt want any new hybrids that I couldnt identify. So in order to create new hybrids they must be created, they wont create themselves????


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

Not rotting fruit. Ripening. The gas apples realease when ripening called ethelyne gas will cause most bromeliads to flower within 6 - 10 weeks.
Put the bromeliad in a sealed container with one or more ripening apples for around 10 days.

Although I dont know what you'd do about lighting....


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## rbrightstone (Apr 14, 2004)

One of the main reasons planys are cross bred is to transfer desirible traits from 2 or more different plants. Usually this also gives the new plants what is called hybrid vigor. They can grow in much wider conditions than either parent, and are much more tolerant of abuse. And although hybrid broms are much more difficult to breed, it is done, much like orchids, in a sterile envirionment. Hybrid brom seeds have a very high rate of failure, but can produce thousands of seeds, so you only need a few to sprout to get a brand new plany. Orchids on the other hand can produce millions of seeds, but can grow only where a certian type of fungus is already present, or on a lab created food.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

Sorry, but I feel really stupid reading this because I ave no clue what a "pup" is. Can someone explain it to me? Thanks.


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## Jace King (May 5, 2004)

A brom pup is just the offsets that you can cut off broms, to have 2 broms.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

ok....


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

As in a brom lets out a stolon and creates a baby brom clone of itself. That baby clone is called an offset or pup.

Luke


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

I've seen the pups form completely outside the parent plant and sometimes from "inside" the parent plant. Is this dependant on species? or environment? If its forming "inside" the parent whats the best way to separate it out?

-Tad


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

ok yeah, the brom in my tank has these flowers that come out of the big red part in the middle every once-in-a-while. i think thats what it is.


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

No, the flowers are not pups. That is a flower. A pup forms off the side of a brom and is another brom.

Luke


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

I've seen pups or whatever come out the "inside" not the center... but not out the bottom. Like from inside the innermost ring of leaves.

-Tad


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2005)

Thats happening with a few broms I just picked up, the pups appear to be growing out the center, but they're not. In reality they've gotten big enough to actually push the center over, flower stalk and all.


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## twisner (Jul 7, 2005)

is there any way to propagate broms besides pups or seed? Like tissue culture or something?


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

I dont know which species pup that way xcpt one 

Viersia Splendins

Wondering about tissue cultures myself


I will post a pic tommorow of the center pups


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Sry my camera is ded so I will post later

But I picked out some of the broms that I want to put in the tank.


heres the list so far



Neo Tiger cub
Neo Superball
Neo Petit Altria
Neo HeatWave
Neo Flicks
Neo Ampullacea Tigrina
Aechmea Suenos
will hopefully order from Tropiflora in the next 2 months
wanna make sure I can afford everything at once.

the botom will have some Guzmania species and some Vriesas but Im not sure which yet


TODD


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

Whether they pup from the inside or by sending offshoots outside is genus dependent, I think. I'll let Cory fill in which ones do which. I'm pretty confident "neos" pup by offshoot, and one or both of Guzmania/Vrisnea send multiple pups from "inside" the plant.


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## Lucidblue (Jul 23, 2004)

When is a good time to remove offsets from the mother plant? I have a fireball offset that I want to remove but I'm not sure if its time. I'll post a pic later tonight.


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

no every guz that has ever pupped for me has done so in the bottom leaves. same with vriesa xcpt Vriesa Splen




Sry I dont know much about neos to help you with that LucidBlue


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

I was thinkin of putting a waterfeature in this tank propably just a drip wall to keep humidity .


could broms be mounted there as well or would they rot there?????


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## Lucidblue (Jul 23, 2004)

Thanks in advance.


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## twisner (Jul 7, 2005)

still wondering about tissue culture and other propagation methods....


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## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Lucidblue those look like you could seperate them soon in theory.


I have only had success with one brom I have seperated though and it was actually almost bigger than the mother plant . that was a guzmania ,I believe Empire 


what neo is that by the way???


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## Jace King (May 5, 2004)

Id wait lucid, are those compactas. They could use some size i think.


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## Lucidblue (Jul 23, 2004)

It's a Fireball that I got from Custom Ecos about a year ago. I must have put it too far from the light, it never turned red.

Btw Jace, those broms u sent me are great. The rubrifolia has spread its leaves quite nicely.


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