Hi Tomas,

That sure is a nicely marked and coloured 'Nova'. I've had the same thing happen, with the clean white developing an overall greenish cast, but not the solid dark green of the markings. It seems to happen while they are going through their annual period of rapid growth and this appears to be seasonal rather than anything to do with feeding, then they go back to clean white again. If yours is doing the same I wouldn't worry too much, because soon it will be nice and white again.

Cheers, Paul

Paul,

you are certainly right that the color changes during the seasons, but my Nova has already been through all the seasons and never approached the initial coloration.

I was told that heavy feeding would make them more green.

Tomas

Hi Tomas, interesting. I'm no great expert on these, so hopefully someone else might be able to help.

One other thought - how much light does it get? Mine are under 30% green shadecloth + clear polycarbonate and they go back to clean white pretty quickly after a brief bit of greening up during their fastest growth, and they have done the same for several years. I could quite understand that they might green-up a lot more if they have to keep more chlorophyll in the leaves so they can trap more of the light in a shadier spot, especially if they are getting well fed and wanting to grow rapidly. So, maybe light could be an issue?

Cheers, Paul

Hi Tomas, they certainly need good light, but I also think it is more a seasonal thing.

Still it is always a nice plant, here are a couple grown from seed.

Cheers Richard

{{gwi:445236}}

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I like that weird effect in the second picture, Richard, like it was moving really fast when it grew! he he
BA

Hi all,

here is my plant now, it surely gets a lot of light, unfortunately also more exposure to the elements like hail ...

Maybe the leaves are green because they are old, I will try more fertilizer for more rapid growth and will see if all the young leaves will turn white. Unfortunately the foliage vrieseas grow only in spring and autumn, the summer seems perhaps too warm and dry for them.

Richard, your plants are beautiful for beeing grown from seed, as BA says, the second is a real "futurist" plant!

Tomas

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Richard, are those grown from self set seeds?

Hi bromadams, yes they are from self set seed.
They were the first vriesea I grew.

Cheers Richard

Thanks Richard, my Nova looks to be about ready to bloom and I'll be sure to self it and see what happens.

Nick - I don't think you will have any short supply of seed. I have flowered (g.v.s.)Nova a few times in the open garden, and each time every flower self-set hundreds of seed without any assistance from me.

Nice seedlings, Richard!

Tomas - the inner leaves of your Nova have a nice white background. I think you may be right about the older leaves losing their contrasting patterns. This usually happens with many foliage Vrieseas, in my experience - the most-noted example being V. platynema var. variegata.
One thing to keep in mind is that both forms of V. gigantea are natural epiphytes - and thus prone to rot if planted too deeply in their pots, or not provided with adequate drainage.

K :)