# Mini Vriesea



## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

I went to WalMart today to get some plastic mesh and spotted this little guy in the Garden Department:










The tag just says "Bromeliads" but there was another just like it that said "Vriesea christiane". I couldn't pass it up because it was so small, smaller than most of my Neos. I assumed since it was already had it's inflorescence that it wouldn't get much bigger. Anyone know for sure? It was $9 and also has 2 Tillandsias in the pot with it.



Edit: Did some searching and found a descripion at Black Jungle:


> Specially prepared to bloom when very small, these plants are a great way to add instant color to the terrarium. Bloom color will last for weeks. Mini plants will sprout pups that will mature to a more normal size of approx 12". These plants are 6"-8" tall and are currently growing in 2.5" pots. LIMITED AVAILABILITY...DON'T WAIT...WILL SELL OUT SOON!


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

I've been wanting to pick some of those up for a while. $9 isn't too bad considering that you get 2 tills with it.


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## Guest (Apr 24, 2006)

i just picked up the exact same guy at walmart


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Dane said:


> I've been wanting to pick some of those up for a while. $9 isn't too bad considering that you get 2 tills with it.


Yeah, that's why i couldn't pass it up even though i didn't have a spot to put it. I'll probably use it in my quarantine tank until i set up another viv. If you can't find any, i can pick some up for you and bring them to the next meeting. There were a couple more good ones.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Thanks for the offer. My Walmart carries them too. I'll send you a pm if they don't have any more next time I head over there.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Those vriesa look great in tanks imo, i like to buy them on their own, not mounted like that though, as you usually have many pups with them, although i dont know if your hd carries them like that. Great broms, Im sure youll love them


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Yeah, I seen those at HD a few months ago. They are pretty tiny. Unfortunately I don't think its Christiane. This is a pic of that brom...












Check out how small this one is...


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

I read somewhere that they were forcing them and that the pups actually grow out to full size.


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Frogtofall:
The"christiane" picture on BJ looks exacly like the one i have.

Chris:
I read that too about the pups being full size. How do you suppose they get them to stay so small?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

There are a number of "walmart" type wholesale vriseas with basically the same shape and size, with some variations in the inflorescence, and carry female names like "christine". I currently have two of these guys pupping, the parent plants were in sorry shape due to cold damage (kept in front of the door while it was still cold out). They usually grow out to about 10" or so wide, and nice wide leaves that little TFs like clowns love to camp out in (which is what I have mine for). They usually pup about 3 at a time, tho you can get more if you cut the pups at the right time.

Bromeliads can be triggered to "flower" when half grown or so by certain triggers. The plant stops growing, and starts reproducing, but since this is not a genetic, but rather environmental "dwarfism" the pups, when allowed to grow under the best conditions and not forced, will grow as big as their genetics tell them to - which can be 2-3x what the mother plant was!


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

KeroKero said:


> Bromeliads can be triggered to "flower" when half grown or so by certain triggers. The plant stops growing, and starts reproducing, but since this is not a genetic, but rather environmental "dwarfism" the pups, when allowed to grow under the best conditions and not forced, will grow as big as their genetics tell them to - which can be 2-3x what the mother plant was!


That must look funny to have full size pups coming off a tiny mother plant!

Any ideas what triggers they use to induce reproduction and halt growth? Is there any way we can do this ourselves? I'd love to produce a bunch of tiny Vrieseas for my vivs.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

The picture I got was from the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies. I assume its extremely accurate. The inflourescence on your brom doesn't look like the inflourescence in the pic I posted. I'm told thats an excellent way to ID certain types of broms. Alas, I'm no expert.

As for mini Vrieseas, there are a few out there that are easy to obtain. One of my favorites is V. racinae "Brazil". Here is a pic I took of mine...


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I see now where the confusion lies. The "Mini" version has a different inflouresence. If you scroll down on that same page of Black Jungle's brom section, you'll see a pic like the one I posted. Ahhh, it all comes together now!


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

It is much better to rather pick out a species, hybrid, or cultivar that fits your needs than taking a brom and "stunting" it to fit your needs. There are hundreds (if not more) species, and thousands of hybrids and cultivars of bromeliads in cultivation, there are a good number that will fit what you want by how they normally grow, not forced. A majority of the bromeliads used in the hobby are _Neoregelia_ rather than _Vriesea_, due to the smallest _Vrieseas_ usually not being very colorful when not in bloom (where there are many, many mini _Neoregelias_ with colors, blotches, stripes, and varigation in this size range), and the really pretty (vegetation, not bloom) _Vrieseas_ tend to be monsters size wise - 2'+ in diameter and height, the best being 3-4' or so. Not really a good size for our tanks...


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Actually, the "mini" - which again is a forced version of the normal sized plant - should have the same colored inflorescence. They are genetically the same! The brom in the dish garden actually looks to be a 'Charolette' (and looks like some of the forced 'Charolettes' I've had in the past). And actually - I saw the same dish gardens at my Walmart and none of them had tags for the broms in the gardens, it might have come from somewhere else? Look closely at the pic on the tag (if it has one) - likely the 'Christiane' tag shows a solid red inflorescence. Next to the dish gardens at my Walmart were the pourly cold suffering 'Charolettes', so I wouldn't be suprised if they had been, there, you missed then, and someone put the tag there thinking it was the right one. If it shows a red to yellow one, I'd be very suprised.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

KeroKero said:


> Actually, the "mini" - which again is a forced version of the normal sized plant - should have the same colored inflorescence. They are genetically the same! The brom in the dish garden actually looks to be a 'Charolette' (and looks like some of the forced 'Charolettes' I've had in the past). And actually - I saw the same dish gardens at my Walmart and none of them had tags for the broms in the gardens, it might have come from somewhere else? Look closely at the pic on the tag (if it has one) - likely the 'Christiane' tag shows a solid red inflorescence. Next to the dish gardens at my Walmart were the pourly cold suffering 'Charolettes', so I wouldn't be suprised if they had been, there, you missed then, and someone put the tag there thinking it was the right one. If it shows a red to yellow one, I'd be very suprised.


Hmmm... nah...










The inflouresence is completely different.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

> Any ideas what triggers they use to induce reproduction and halt growth? Is there any way we can do this ourselves? I'd love to produce a bunch of tiny Vrieseas for my vivs.


I believe ethylene is the hormone used to induce flowering in bromeliads. The reduced size of the plant is purely the result of inducing flowering at a small size, and is why the off shoots produce full sized plants. I have read that if you throw a ripe apple in an enclosed space with the brom you can induce flowering, but I have never tried it.

The differences in inflorescence architecture between the minis and what Frogtofall posted are likely the result of forcing the plant to flower at such a small size. The minis certainly have reduced carbohydrate and nutrient reserves, which likely results in the reduced inflorescence size and branching. That however doesn’t mean they are actually the same cultivar.

Jay


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

The inflorescnece _color_ is the same in the mini and in the normal sized plants - aka a 'Charolette' will have red with yellow top, where 'Christiane' will have solid red - the structure is also the same, just less "paddles" (don't know what their real name is) are produced for the minis for probibly the reason Jay mentioned (sounds right to me). The inflorescnces on these plants seem to start as one "paddle" then more are produced as the inflorescence gets taller - I think one of the reasons they have the inflorescence so long is the complexity of some of them (much different from the guzmania and neoregelia we usually see, which just flush some color in some leaves to attract attention to the tiny flowers) and it just takes so much time for the plant to produce those nice displays of multiple "paddle" inflorescents.


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Actually, the 'christiane' tag was on another plant. I can't remember if the inflorescence was all red but i think it was. The tag on mine just says "bromeliads". After looking at the pics on BJ again i agree that mine looks more like the 'charlotte'.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

KeroKero said:


> The inflorescnece _color_ is the same in the mini and in the normal sized plants - aka a 'Charolette' will have red with yellow top, where 'Christiane' will have solid red - the structure is also the same, just less "paddles" (don't know what their real name is) are produced for the minis for probibly the reason Jay mentioned (sounds right to me). The inflorescnces on these plants seem to start as one "paddle" then more are produced as the inflorescence gets taller - I think one of the reasons they have the inflorescence so long is the complexity of some of them (much different from the guzmania and neoregelia we usually see, which just flush some color in some leaves to attract attention to the tiny flowers) and it just takes so much time for the plant to produce those nice displays of multiple "paddle" inflorescents.


I'm shocked. You of all people trying to guess what an animal/plant is without knowing locality information... :lol: 

RGB, I went to T'flora today and must've seen half a dozen different miniature Vrieseas while I was there. I can grab you some next time I go back if you'd like. They were are pretty neat lookin' too. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me and I don't remember the names.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Man, I'd love some mini vries - they are my favs out of the broms. Probibly expensive tho and I'm poor  maybe I can work out a trade for cuttings of some of my plants that I'm growing out? But they won't be available for a long while  Next time around if you could at least get the names that would totally rock and make my week.

The reason I'm actually willing to put a name to that is because I know what 10 or so varieties of _Vriesea_ broms are wholesaled that are like that in looks (of which 'Charolette' and 'Christiane' are the most common that I've seen) and I can likely pin down the supplier  While wholesaled neos vary by supplier, and if you get specialty broms (which are what I call most of the terrarium plant suppliers which carry specific varieites and usually just resell a wholesale order from Tropiflora - and you've seen how much Tropiflora has, they could be anything) you're really screwed for names, wholesaled _Vrieseas_, especially smaller varieties in such massive orders (think about it, two Walmarts carrying the same brom at the same time - how many other Walmarts have them? What about Targets? Home Depots?) can be the same supplier, and they tend to carry only a few varieties in that massive amount - probibly tissue cultured.

Now if you ask me what varieties of random brom 'pups' (of which 3 are already pupping LOL) I picked up at Black Jungle at the last FrogDay (from the random brom basket - wholesale order from Tropiflora) I'll tell you the truth - Hell if I know, but they're cute. I'll tell you what I've said before, I can get it down to genus, after that there is no point in trying.

**Edited for lack of ability to type complete sentences on cold meds. Ugh.


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## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Frogtofall said:


> RGB, I went to T'flora today and must've seen half a dozen different miniature Vrieseas while I was there. I can grab you some next time I go back if you'd like.


That's a very tempting offer but unfortunately i don't have any more room in my viv. I'm trying to figure out a way to squeeze the one i got into my tank. I may just end up using it in my quarantive viv. Thanks for the offer though.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Space is no excuse!!! Haha. All my broms that I have that are "extras" I grow in 55 gal or 40 gal Sterilite containers with lights over them. I spray them twice a day.

Let me know ever though if you change your mind later down the road.

Corey,

I'll do what I can. I should hopefully be going back again this weekend.


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

For small Vriesea's:

V. flammea
V. glutinosa
V. guttata
V. racinae
V. erythrodactylon (stays small for a while, but then gets rather large)
V. simplex
V. scalaris
V. vagans

These are all beautiful when not in bloom. 

FYI- brom growers have a commercial product that when used it induces the plant to flower at an early age. It is a chemical product used by large greenhouses and I forget exactly what's in it. 

-J


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Here's 2 others...

Vriesea_'Deutscher_Zwerg'









Vriesea_'Julie'









The V. vagans that J pointed out is absolutely stunning IMO.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Justin... sometimes I really hate you. Like I have the money for those plants...  Would you call them terrarium worthy? I'd like to add them to the brom list for the plant swap terrarium plants if they are...


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

Corey,

Hate is a strong word  . Believe me, I would have more plants if I could, but feel like I don't have enough cash flow. Sometimes you just have to know the right people and it's not a matter of $$$. 

I'm currently using them all in terraria right now and they are doing fine. Many have been in my tanks for over 6 months. Oops, the V. guttata I haven't tried out yet, but will be soon. I have grown a few hybrids, but I think the species look better. 

-J


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Yeah... it is a strong word... but I mean it in a "we need to go plant shopping together" kind of way! I'll have to poke you for more info on them at some point (plant profiles).

I love species broms. Hybrids can be cool, but nature knows how to make an awesome plant too


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I'm all about the species too, but currently only really have 2 species. N. pauciflora and N. ampullacea. All the rest of mine are hybrids. Though, I don't have many Vrieseas.

I'm gonna look into that V. vagans on Friday. I'll let everyone know if I find any.


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