Hi-- My outdoor bromeliad collection has survived 9-12C winter days, (but not sure how many consecutive) and lows of -1C with some minor leaf discoloration on more sensitive neoregelias. I have mostly neoregeias, aechmeas, and vrieseas with the odd quesnelia. Those hotter temperatures, 36-40C are unknown to me, but I think many puyas can handle extreme heat and cold.

Others on the board with more experience can chime in.

They will need some kind of cover like shade cloth in hot temps and north wind protection in the lower temps. If its cryptanthus I would bring them indoors on cool nights to prevent damage..they dont like it much below 40F(5c). Rainfall is a factor too. Bromeliads dont like wet feet in cooler temps. Your temperture range is almost the same as mine is.

Thank you both kim and dam. Seems they won´t have temp troubles (have never seen 5ºC), only have to figure how to keep relative humidity high since it´s semiarid in here.

I´ve seen just a few specimens (they´re very rare around here, heliconias too) down here in my neck of the woods in Mexico and most are in full shade (and do OK) and just a few in partial shade but they get some leaf sun burn.

Your way south of me. Im in SE Texas..I use automated misters when our humidity gets to low which is only about 3 months a year and short periods of that..Some of my plants that tend to burn even in the shade..I had to raise the height of the shade cloth to stop that..our temps routinely hit 100 in July/August sometimes even in early Sept

That´s right dam, I also use automated misters but for some plants/trees that isn´t just enough (jaboticaba, eugenias, etc). Since I´m so novice with broms not sure how they´ll behave in here (my alcantarea has brown tips already, but moved it to a shadier and more humid spot and seems getting better). I´m at 24.4ºN (semiarid).

There are many bromeliads that are perfectly happy all winter outdoors in gardens here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we normally have several months of nights in the 0C to 10C range, and this January it got down to -2C in my own garden with minimal damage. The FCBS web site has a very good list of bromeliads for colder winter locations such as central Florida and California, and I have probably at least 100 different species of bromeliads in my own garden, all grown outdoors year round. I also use either misters or microspray irrigation to increase humidity in the dry months, typically just running it a couple times a day for a few minutes to wet things down during hot spells. However, our typical conditions here are very similar to high elevation cloudforest conditions, so extreme heat and dryness are usually only an issue during our very rare heat waves.

In general, I have found that most Vriesea species appreciate being placed at ground level for increased humidiy in summer, and raised up off the ground to dry them out more during our rainy and cooler winters, otherwise they are prone to rotting.

Easy enough to grow alot of great plants outdoors under our local conditions, but the true warm loving tropicals don't like our winters and will often show damage or rot out if not protected with overhead cover from too much rain and cold.