Hi everyone.

Oplantqueen - Looking at your "Bromeliad" from that angle, my first thoughts were it could be a Nidularium 'Litmus' before it starts to change colour, but when you said you bought it from Lowes (which I think is a similar store to our Bunnings, Masters etc.) I'm now thinking more toward it being a Guzmania and can't be more specific than this as these have been tissue cultured in their thousands and sold in similar stores all over the world as a substitute for cut flowers and just given a generic name . To my knowledge, this isn't the case with Nidulariums.

When you say it's in a two and a half or three inch pot, I thought possibly "miniature" Guzmania but I think the leaves are too big for this and I think it's just a bit smaller than the normal Guzmania because it's pot bound from being in such a small pot.

I don't know what season you are in there as I live in Australia, but I would pot it on into say a 5" pot and prefer spring time as the best time to do this.

As for your questions about the leaves, the brown spots are probably just a result of trauma where they have struck something (maybe the pointy ends of other leaves) when it fell over in the box.

The bottom leaf which you say is, "hanging limp and yellow" should be removed. The easiest way to do this is to cut it off about three inches up from the bottom and then split the remaining stub down the centre and pull each half away from the centre. This will minimise the risk of damaging any tiny new pups which may be forming behind it within the leaf axils.

The brown leaf tip (top right), I would just trim off, but trim it the same shape as the other leaf tips to maintain uniformity. (Nothing looks worse than a leaf cut off horizontally). Some say rubbing the juice from the Aloe vera plant on the cut will stop it going brown, but I haven't tried this.

The smaller brown marks on the other leaves won't cause a problem and are only cosmetic, but if you just want to improve the appearance, they can be touched up with a green coloured permanent marker to make them less obvious, it won't harm the plant.

As for your question about leaves "sort of cupping up at the edges"; this is often a sign of the plant needing water and is nature's way of trapping extra water from rain or dew. This water is then directed to the centre of the plant where some is stored in the central "vase". This need for water could probably be the cause given the small size of the pot, so check the potting mix and if it's dry, give it a good dunking and an occasional light misting of the leaves wouldn't hurt either. Remember smaller pots will require more watering than larger ones and with practice you will know by the weight of the plant when it needs watering.

It's good to see you are observing your plant as there are many signs you will learn to recognise which will help you with its culture and these leaves turning up at the edges is just one of them. Alternatively, when the leaves are more or less flat or slightly turned down at the edges is an indication that the plant has sufficient water.

Don't just water your plant because you think it's the done thing to do; only water it if required. To know when its' required, look at the leaves and check your potting mix; if it's dry, water it and if it's moist, don't. More plants are lost due to over-watering than under-watering.

As for the lower leaves which you say are drooping down at the ends, this is just normal for mature leaves and part of the natural declining process.

These are just my thoughts from what I've found under my conditions here in Australia and as your conditions are different, if possible get advice from a grower in your local area.

All the best, Nev.