Paul
I have had this happen to me recently on 2 Vriesea. Mine was from foriegn material that IKE pushed into them. thye have straightened up since I cleaned then and treated them with a mild dose of fungicide but still doesnt make me happy about the lost leaves.

I've had the same problems on 2 Vrieseas both of which I cleaned out, repotted and put in some sun and they seem to be doing better. One is a 'Snows of Mauna Kea' cross.

I read a bromeliad society newsletter once that listed some treatments that local nurseries used and one seemed to be for just this problem, but I can find that article now.

Exserohilum Leaf spot maybe?

Here is a link that might be useful: Exserohilum

Hi Paul t23,
Wecome to our friendly group.

I can't help you with your problem but I'm pleased to see you don't live too far away from me. Where on the Sydney coast do you live?

I live about 2o minutes south of Wollongong at Shellharbour and on the coast also so we probably have similar climatic conditions.

Good to see someone closer to home joining the forum.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone - thanks for the feedback. I've had both plants for quite a while (SoMK for a year without problems, V. ospinae for 6 yrs or more), so whatever it is, I guess it has probably started here.

Bromadams - thanks for the fungus link. I couldn't see anything that looked obviously fungal to the naked eye, but you jogged me into putting some under a microscope. Would expect to see something fungal at 40x but couldn't see anything at any stage in the die-back - leaf was remarkably clean! Worth a try though! Haven't had any luck with mild fungicides either.

Nev, thanks for making contact. I'm at Maianbar, complete with the local population of deer from the national park. Next major project is to put in a front fence so I can re-bromscape the front yard without their help.

Cheers, Paul

I've been having all sorts of tip browning on my big Vrieseas ever since I moved them into the new shadehouse. I still haven't figured it out, but among my many theories is a) some unknown chemical leaching and dripping from the shadecloth or pipe structure, or splashing up from the new benches, b) an off-brand fertilizer used in the mix when I repotted some of them, c) a plague of ants migrating into the soil and bringing root mealybugs, d) lack of air circulation from being jammed so close together, e) slightly higher light levels than where they were previously (at least during summer, when the tip burn seemed to get worse), f) vog (volcanic haze) drifting over from the Big Island and causing acid rain, g) bad karma, h) all of the above, i) none of the above.......

Most of what I'm seeing has been more even, though. That selective yellowing of just a few leaves as in the ospinae picture, particularly when it's higher up in the plant, is something a bit different. I have been seeing some of that too, most notably on Vr. Mint Julep and Werauhia kupperiana, and not just in the new house. No sign of any disease organism either. I haven't got a clue, but I just wanted to let you know you weren't alone!

Hi Paul,
The light bulb just flashed in my brain when I read Lisa's reply. I had a similar thing happened when I first renovated my old shade house and it was caused by the copper leaching from overhead unpainted CCA treated pine roofing timber.

Are the affected plants directly under something that could "drip" some toxic substance on them? I've even had a similar thing where the plant leaves were touching some new galvanised mesh. It's all food for thought.

All the best, Nev.

I am relieved that it's not my lack of knowledge of care. I also have the same problem on some vrieseas from Hawaii that I pampered (maybe this is the problem) and yet some vrieseas that I hardly do anything that grow well.

I found out threw some reading that dry is better than wet with Vriesea . The don't uptake alot of water threw the roots...Their roots are just like Tillandsia. They do like cool moist air on the leaves combined with good air flow to dry the leaves out quickly

You are probably right Hdd.

I finally found the article I was looking for.

PESTS, PATHOGENS AND THEIR CONTROL IN BROMELIAD HYBRIDS A GROWERÂS PERSPECTIVE

I don't think its a bug/pathegen or all the plants would be affected right around the plant thats having problems

As Mr. Kerry says, get it tested.

"My advice is if you encounter something unknown to you it is well worth the nominal fee to take a sample to your local research station for analysis."

Hi everyone, been away for a few days and just catching up - sorry to resurrect an ageing thread.

Lisa - sorry to hear about your leaf-tip dieback. Hopefully it will go away like I'm hoping mine will. Thanks to everyone else for your comments as well - very much appreciated.

Nev, I had read the article you wrote in the Illawarra brom soc newsletter some time back - the one describing the problem you had from the CCA-treated pine. You may have hit the nail on the head - there was in fact a couple of bits of CCA pine overhead. No sign of any drips onto the plants (polycarb roof), but just in case, I pulled the roof off and painted all the timbers over Christmas.

Probably too early to tell if there has been any change yet, but I'll keep my fingers crossed! If it continues, I'll probably take up bromadams' suggestion and get some samples tested, although I'm inclined to HDD's thoughts on this.

Cheers, and thanks again. Paul

Although it probably is from treated wood, just keep in mind water quality also. Vriesea, Guzmania and Tillandsia are all very susceptible to water with high calcium, chloride, iron levels or other impurities. If you're using bore water, or heavily treated town supply or rain water stored in a new concrete tank, this can cause exactly these symptoms.