Sounds like you have a neat project underway Bob.

One thing I enjoy about Bromeliads is growing them in different situations, & seeing how they adapt. Generally, Ive found that many epiphytic BromÂs look better, develop attractive colour and form, when allowed to grow as a true epiphyte, & not forced to grow in a pot.

Over the last few years I have put a number of plants up into trees, onto stumps, or drift wood, so I will tell you what I do, and show a few photos, then maybe you could adapt to your situation.

Now, the main thing is attaching the plants. First they must be secure, if they wobble around, they will not send out new roots, to lock onto the support. The best material isÂ.stockingsÂÂyes, strips of stockings / pantyhose are just fantastic. You can just cut this material into strips, & tie them tight to hold the plant. The elasticity is just fantastic. Now, there are different grades of stockings...IÂm not really an expert in this areaÂbutÂthe cheaper types will last well for a couple of years, but for larger plants that tend to take longer to get established, it is worth using one of the better brands, & they will give about 5 years or so, before rotting away.

I have also just stapled plants directly onto a tree branch. This is easy when the plant has a stolon to nail thruÂ, and it does not seem to affect the living tree. A little bunch of Spanish moss can cover the staple, & help to make it all look "natural".

I first tried wrapping things like sphagnum moss, coconut fiber, or even potting mix around the plant base to help them get established. Do not do thisÂ! All plants just sent new roots into this material, and not onto the actual support.

Also, one little piece of advice that was given to me, was to do with preparation. If you want to grow a plant epiphytically that has been in a pot for a few years, then it needs to be prepared for the move, & not just stuck straight up in a tree. So, lift them out of the potting mix, and keep the plant where it can be observed, and watered. This encourages a different kind of rooting system, and often the growth changes, with foliage becoming harder and a little more rigid. They can then gradually be moved to their final position on the host plant.

Now, after that long ramble, here are a few photos.

First, a little Neo attached by the stolon with a strip of stocking material. (I think this was just an average quality brand LOL) The plant had been given to me as a lanky green potted plant. It has now coloured up, and developed much better form.

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Quesnelia marmorata. I wonderful plant to grow as an epiphyte. Originally purchased this as a potted plant, now 4 years on it is growing happily on a piece of driftwood, and developed 12 compact tubes.

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Aechmea pineliana. Develops much better colour when allowed to grow epiphytically.

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A few Neo Fireball hybrids, just nailed onto a living tree.

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Thanks very much for the detailed reply devo. Very informative,and those pictures are great.
Thanks also to hdd,who sent an email with pics too.
Looking forward to more responses,as there is much to learn from so talanted a group on GW.
Bob

Devo, I like your mounted Q marmorata very much. They are such elegant looking plants. And the Aechmeas look stunning! Are they just straight pineliana's or are they A pineliana minuta?

Nice pictures, Devo. What's the little red Neo in the first one, some kind of sarmentosa hybrid?

I can't improve on your method any. I usually just nail them to the tree, and as you say, I have never observed any damage to the trees from doing this, but some people seem to object to this method. Does the BBG have a pantyhose budget, Bob?

One thing that's been touched on that I just want to re-emphasize is that some varieties are better grown epiphytically, while others look better and are easier to grow in pots or in a planting bed. Apart from the smaller grey Tillandsias, which are kind of a no-brainer, the best tree subjects are the stoloniferous species. These fall into two basic categories. The first are those with a long snaky runner that roots all along its length, so will cling, wrap around and conform to the shape of the branch it's mounted on. Some examples of these are Ae. chantinii, zebrina, orlandiana, correia-araujoi, fosteriana and nudicaulis, Can. seidelianum, fosterianum and triangulare, and Ques. marmorata. Once these guys root onto a branch they're on like glue!

The second group is what I call the "candelabra" types, whose pups are held out in the air, and can form large clusters. There are a lot of Neos in this group: Fireball, ampullacea, compacta, pauciflora, pendula, olens, fluminensis, and tigrina are just a few. Also Ae. aculeatosepala, Bill. euphemiae and amoena v. stolonifera, Vr. vagans, Canistropsis billbergioides, Guz. musaica, among others.

I'd stick with these types for mounting and grow the others in pots.

Yes, avane, you're on to it, that photo of Aechmea pineliana is the var. minuta. It is interesting that I received my original plant from a Bromeliad collector, who was growing the clump as an epiphyte on a ponga log. I then took extra special care of my new plant, potting it up, only to see its colour gradually fade. When I asked the Bromeliad collector why this was, he said..."Just stick this plant in a ponga, & it will give you the best colour it can"...and he was right.

Now, Lisa, that little Neo in my first photo is one of those plants that has been around here for ever, and most people have it in their collection, and most people have it labeled. The problem is not everyone agrees on the name...! It seems to be one of Grace Goode's early hybrids with cyanea. In most local collections it is often called Golden Grace, which is ampullacea X cyanea...but then in others it is called Sugar & Spice, which is cyanea X chlorosticta.

I have got a small N Golden Grace and it looks totally diffirent than your little red one. I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures otherwise I would have included one. N Sugar and spice is pictured in Andrew Steen,s Book :Bromeliads for the contemporary garden P28. I have a picture of that plant showing a bautiful deep blue, doble flower.

Let's try. I hope what you will see is the flower of N Sugar and Spice. And sorry, the flower is not double, but has very nice, big petals
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I saw that picture on FCBS, avane. It's from Bromagic. I was hoping they'd have one of the plant itself. I used to have Golden Grace and it was, as the name implies, gold, and not red.

I prefer 'Born of fire' over 'sugar and spice'