Hi everyone.

Amyly Ann - From your description, your plant sounds like a Guzmania, however a photo is a very big help when you are seeking advice so we all know that we're talking about the same thing. Could you post a picture please so we can more accurately advise on what you should do.

All the best, Nev.

Sorry for the delay....here are the photos. From my internet search, I too felt its a red cherry guzmania. But I just a newbie...so it would be great if you can verify and advice. The brownish red bloom, used to be nice red when I bought this!

The plant still looks healthy. You may have to wait for the pups so keep an eye on it.
That is a nice plant you have there.
L.G.

Hi everyone.

Amyly Ann - As lynngun says, your plant looks healthy, but the first thing I would do is to remove the old inflorescence (flower spike). Just cut it off a couple of inches below the bottom dead bract. While ever it's on the plant, it will be drawing nourishment from the plant and as soon as it's removed this nourishment can be re-directed to new plant (pup) production.

As for cultural information, their are several venues you may find this, and probably one of the best would be FCBS.org. This is the site of the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies.

From the information in the index on the left of the home page, just select "Bromeliad Information"; from this page select "Culture" and I'm sure you'll find answers to all of your questions there.

There are other sites you can access via Google by just typing in Guzmania Culture and the link below is just one of them

http://www.greenculturesg.com/articles/april05/guzmania020405.htm

I hope this helps.

All the best, Nev.

Thanks Nev & LG...I feel better! :)

So Shall I just use a sterlized blade or scissor to gently cut off the red part as low as I can? would that be the right approach?

And it is a red cherry guzmania, isn't it? Am I right?

Hi everyone.

Amyly Ann - Without seeing a picture of the flower before
it died it's impossible to tell what the name of your plant is. There isn't a
Guzmania called 'Red Cherry' registered so it's very likely one of the
thousands of commercially bred Guzmanias sold each year with an unregistered
Nurseryman's Name on them.

There are only two plants registered with the word
"Cherry" in the name and they are Guzmania 'Cherry' (See:
http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=GUZMANIA&id=2446#2446 ) and Guzmania 'Cherry
Smash' (See:
http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=GUZMANIA&id=2447#2447 ) You could check out
these B.C.R. sites and see if these resemble your plant.

I too bought one years ago called Guzmania 'Cherry Ripe'
and it also is an unregistered name, but that doesn't detract from the fact
that I like and still grow it. (See picture below)

I remove the old stems a couple of inches below the last
dead bract by cutting them off at a slight angle with clean secateurs . Cutting
at an angle allows water to run off rather than seep into the cut if it were
horizontal which could possibly cause rotting. Once removed I usually dust the
cut end of the remaining stem with "Flowers of Sulphur" (Powered Sulphur) as a
precaution to prevent rotting. See:http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1806626.htm

Guzmania 'Cherry Ripe' (Unreg.)

All the best, Nev.

I took out the dried inflorescence. Right when I sat down with a clean blade and held it lightly..it actually just came off in my hand. I have attached the picture of how it came off. And now the plant has a bit of a hole in the centre, so I thought maybe i should put a little bit of water in there. What would be your advice?

Hi everyone.

Amyly Ann - Does the centre of your plant smell like a cross between a dead rat and a manure heap? If so this means your plant has rotted and this is why the centre just pulled out.

I haven't had any experience of this problem with Guzmanias, but when it sometimes occurs with a Neoregelia, I just give the centre a good hose out and remove any other leaves that are lose and come away easily.

I then allow it to dry thoroughly before dusting it with Flowers of Sulphur or a good quality fungicide powder (Make sure the fungicide powder doesn't contain any copper as this is often used in fungicides and can be fatal to brom's).

You next have to try and find out why the plant rotted in the first place and it is usually caused by an organism called Phytophthera cinnamomi which thrives in oxygen deficient damp conditions often caused by the following:

Over watering; standing the plant in a saucer of water; lack of good air circulation around the plant; or some sort of trauma which has damaged part of the plant leaving an open wound for the organism to enter.

Knock the plant out of the pot and if the potting mix seems sodden with water, discard it completely, wash off the roots and allow to dry before re-potting in fresh potting mix.

The original plant will probably slowly die, but as part of the life cycle it will usually produce one or two new pups in an attempt to assist in the "survival of the species".

That's about all I can tell you, but perhaps some of our other members who are more conversant with Guzmanias can provide further information.

Good luck and all the best, Nev.

Hi Nev

It does not smell at all actually...and i tried looking in with a torch light and it looks alright. From my inexperienced judgement I don't think its rotting.

And I am not sure if should take off the soil and inspect the roots. Should I? would it not disturb the plant?

Hi Everyone.

Amyly Ann - That's good news; it seems like the old inflorescence has just broken away naturally; or possibly at some time had been weakened by some sort of trauma, the thing is, if it was rot you would certainly have been able to smell it. Just give the centre a good hose out and leave it with a bit of clean water in it as normal.

As for inspecting the roots, if the plant looks otherwise healthy I wouldn't bother unless it feels unusually heavy and the potting mix is continually damp in which case I would check the condition of the potting mix .

To do this, place your hand over the top of the potting mix with your fingers and thumb spread around the plant, invert the pot and give it a slight bump and the whole plant and potting mix should come away from the pot. You only need to remove it about halfway out of the pot to see the condition of the mix. If it looks OK just tip the pot right way up again and give it a bit of a bump on the bottom to re-settle the mix and treat it as normal.

If the mix all falls apart it doesn't matter, just re-pot it again into fresh well drained potting mix without disturbing it any further. If the mix seems abnormally wet and waterlogged, remove it all, rinse off the roots and re-pot as above.

A lot of problems are cause by the potting mix staying too wet, and as it doesn't hurt the plant to inspect it in this way, if in doubt, have a look.

All the best, Nev.