Are they root bound when you purchase them?

It could be you are getting plants in all peat. It works fine for growers who keep their plants under constant moisture (and I know some large commercial bromeliad growers that do and swear by it), but once the plants come out of the greenhouses, the peat will dry and shrink in less humid conditions. If this happens, the peat will form a visible gap with the pot. And as it hardens and cakes, it will lose its porosity.

If I get plants that way, I like to replant in a more porous mix, like perlite and coir, or perlite and planting mix, for example.

i plant mine in a pine bark:potting mix around 40:60 and i have no problems with it.
Phil

They usually aren't root bound and often seem loose in a heavy peat type mix. If I repot them in whatever mix I'm using they seem to do fine. Even a pot of nothing but lava rock seems to work fine although I rarely do it.

I guess from now on I'm just going to always repot those peat grown commercial plants.

Hi bromadams - I think the problem is that the original grower/s no matter who or where they are, use mixes to suit their own conditions and these mixes don't necessarily suit your conditions.

When you are growing similar plants in different mixes, their watering requirements are different also, which is a bit of a pain to keep track of.

I make it a rule to always repot any new plants I get, no matter where they come from, into my own mix.

That way all my plants are growing in the same mix under the same conditions.

All the best, Nev.

I think Nev hit the nail on the head. The problem may not be the mixes themselves so much as it is having a bunch of different mixes which all respond to watering differently. It's usually a good idea to repot things into your own tried-and-true media so that you can water more consistantly. The only exceptions would be having different mixes for things that you want to stay wetter or drier, but it's still easier if you're the one in control of that.

I get some plants from a local guy who likes to just pot them up in mulch. I never have any problems with those. Lately I've been using a 60/40 mix of standard potting mix and fine mulch and that works quite well for me. When all else fails, I usually just get rid of the pot put them in the ground. They love that even if I don't.

Nev said it. I brought some Vrieseas in basically all peat. They never thrived as once they dry out, u basically have to soak them. I change my over to all the same mix now and havent had a problem since.
Tim

I have a few growers that I don't repot their plants but if in doubt about other bought plants, I always repot.