Geez Jack, those aren't tanks , they're silos! Hobby? Looks like a winner here.

Jack,

It is good to see that your hobby is growing, you have done some amazing things from home. I'm sure giving you a little more room will be a great thing for the aussie market.

Best of luck.

Rick

Hi Jack,

When Tamera told me she was moving to a larger place I thought at the time it would be a good idea if you could farm out some of your excess plants from your overcrowded yard, but I never though a joint venture of this magnitude was on the cards. However I've noticed you've been a bit quiet on the GW lately and I thought you were up to something you sly old fox.

WOW! What a set up, now you do have a reason to retire from painting and really get stuck into the hybridizing and perhaps down the track even put all your knowledge into a book together with our other two champion hybridizers, Lisa and Chanin. It would certainly be a valuable resource for future generations to enjoy. I can just visualise it, "The Bromeliad Grower's Encyclopedia" by Lisa, Jack and Chanin. Wow what a combination of knowledge that would be.

I know you'll now be really turning out more champion Vriesea hybrids than ever, but what about Tamera, is she going to do a bit of everything or specialise in Billbergia hybrids?

It's really great to see a joint venture between friends come together and I'm very happy for you both and wish you well. Now you've issued the invitation it looks like I really will have to make the effort for the trip up north when it's all finished, but you really need a name for the enterprise. What about TAMJAK BROMELARIUM.

Please keep the progress reports coming.

"LONG LIVE THE HYBRIDIZERS"

I guess I've run off at the mouth long enough, but it's very exciting.

All the best, Nev.

P.S. Keep the gate shut so the horse doesn't eat all the brom's

Hi Guys
Thanks for the kind remarks,Now as for Tamera ,yes she will still do her Billbergias ,but Vrieseas will be the main aim and 70% of the small seedling vrieseas on that bench are her doing ,mine are mostly still at my place till other building gets done ,It is a joint venture and we will also get back to doing some Cryptanthus and stuff ,we have shared the costs and no one could have a better partner in crime than Tamera ,Its not the horse Nev ,it could be the Wallabies and the Indonesian deer that are a problem, so yes thats why its been a bit slow on G.W ,I have been doing it 7 days a week for the last 4 weeks ,but Tamera has been flat out as well ,moving 2 households etc ,I do like the name Nev ,but had not given much thought ,and yes we both are very excited about all this ,will keep you all posted ,
cheers ,Jack

I love seeing shadehouses full of bromeliads! I wish you the best.

Hi Jack,

Something I forgot to ask before. You said that the new seedling house will be fully closed in but you didn't say with what.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Jack, great stuff! Looking forward to catching up with you soon. Cheers, Paul

Fantastic- we expect great things to come from this!

Hi Nev ,in answer to your question Re; seedling house ,well the roof will be polycarbonate sheeting in translucent white ,and the walls will be similar but in clear ( shade cloth over ) i will fit louvre windows for ventilation , the rear wall will be white Solar weave ,thats the plan anyway ,all the timber is CCA treated and painted with Acrylic to stop it leaching ,and it looks nicer , Jack

Hi Jack,

With the clear polycarb, I have had a problem with the rounded ("Roma") profile at distances to around 1-2 metres from it, because the rounded sections act like a lens and focus the sunlight into narrow bands that are quite a bit more intense than the sunlight itself, while the areas between the bands are a lot darker - not a good combination for sensitive plants!

I still found this a problem with 30% and 50% shadecloth inside the clear polycarb (so it doesn't get creamed by falling branches), but haven't tried it with the shadecloth outside - maybe that would disperse the light sufficiently. What I did end up doing was changing to flat section ("Greca") for clear polycarb, because it doesn't concentrate the light to anywhere near the same extent as the rounded section. The difference between the two is very obvious if you hold a sample of rounded and a sample of flat next to each other in the sun in a clear sky and look at the shadows they cast. NB it isn't a problem with any of the coloured polycarbs, because the pigment diffuses the light pretty well and stops it from concentrating.

I don't know if you have come across anything similar, but I thought I should pass it on. It drove me mad years ago trying to work out why I had some native Dendrobium bigibbum orchids burning behind a clear polycarb wall when they should have been, and had been, quite happy with full sun.

Cheers, Paul

Hi Paul,

That's a good bit of info well worth filing into the memory bank for future reference, thanks for passing it on.

All the best, Nev.

HI Paul ,yes i have been aware of that problem ever since the stuff was made and only ever use the flat profile ' Creca ' ,with the translucent white there is no problem any way ,and you should only ever put the shade cloth outside over the clear sheeting ,then it reduces both the glare and the heat ,on the inside it only reduces the glare ( intensity ) but not the heat ,but thank you any way,
Jack

A belated expression of "Wow!" from me, Jack and Tamera. Progress is surely powering on quickly - fantastic and impressive set-up. I wish you both great success in your new joint venture.

Might we be allowed a gander when down your way soon for the upcoming "Brom Camp" at Richard's?

K :)

Hi Kerry , yes you will be allowed a gander when you are down ,that would be lovely ,we would love to see you all ,
cheers , Jack and Tamera

Looks fantastic Jack and Tamera!!

Another belated WOW!! All those lovely broms and proper buildings to house them!! Jealous!! ;-)

Will be great to see how these all look as you continue the work and build the 4th, 5th and 6th brom house!! All those seedlings will have to go somewhere!

All the best with the continuing work
Kristan