Hi Cheryl,
What's happening to your brom is normal. As a brom grows it puts it's energy into growing then flowering and lastly producing pups (sometimes they pup before flowering). It is a life cycle and unfortunately the mother is dying but you now have pups. I would cut these off as long as they are about 1/3 the size of rhe mother. Keep the mother for a while as it still may produce more pups even though it may look a bit worse for wear. Every brom grower has a seperate section in there garden i call a maternity section where all the mothers are all kept together left to have pups.
Hope this helps.
Dooley.

It helps tremendously to know that I didn't just kill my plant. My girlfriend said that she had had this brom for several years but it never bloomed and that's why she gave it to me. How long does this life-cycle take, or does it vary? Do I want to put the pups in separate pots or keep them together? I have them planted in cactus/palm/citrus mix, is that the right mix for this plant? The color of the pups is not encouraging, do they need nitrogen? Sorry to be so needy, in 50 years of gardening, I've never had one of these before. Cheryl

Ok Cheryl ,first it would help if we knew wich Brom it is ,so could you post a photo ? now rhe cycle varies from species to species ( or hybrid to species etc ) butsome like Billbergias and Neoregelia can flower in 3 years from seed ,where as say ; Foliage Vrieseas may take 7 years ,nearly all Broms make pups ,only a few do not ,Broms need quite good light ,a mix recommended for Cymbidium Orchids suits most just fine , and low nitrogen fertilisers ( specially if you are not sure of what its colour is and what the plant is ) more nitrogen will only make most of them greener ,so dont ,try and give the plant at least 50 % sun / shade , lack of light will stop most from flowering ,and your description does not help ,are the leaves broad? narrow , have they got spines , is it upright ,plain green or what ?
Jack

Jack