Hi everyone.

Maria – Your plant is a bromeliad of the Neoregelia genera but as for a specific varietal
name I can’t help you as there are hundreds in the same colour range including
some species as well as many, many hybrids.

Like the majority of bromeliads, these are “epiphytes” which
means they are plants that grow on another plant, (usually a tree). They are
not parasitic and don’t feed from the tree on which they are growing, but just
use it as a host. Any nourishment is obtained from the rain as it mixes with leaf
litter, combined with bird and small animal dropping located in the central
vase and leaf axils of the plant. As this rots down it provides a very, very, dilute natural
fertiliser on a continuous basis.

You say, “This bromeliad was one of hundreds
invading a tree”; if you remove “invading” and replace it with “growing
naturally on”, you are describing the usual way these plants grow in nature.

To grow them successfully in your own yard you need to
either attach them to a tree so they can follow their natural method of growth.
(If you chose this method, make sure they are attached firmly, because if they
can move, the roots won’t attach, they will just continually break), or you can grow them in a pot.

You’ve approached their culture similar to that of air
plants such as Tillandsias and you say, “They have since been nestled in the
connection holes of these plastic stacking tables, where I keep my adenium
seedlings. Other than some obvious dryness, they are still alive after an
entire two years as air plants”. True, they are still alive and are surviving,
but they won’t be happy plants as they are “doing it tough”.

The thing is, they will survive as you have found out,
but by growing them this way you aren’t meeting all of the true cultural requirements
of an epiphytic plant as they can’t attach to anything and they aren’t getting
sufficient nutrition (Unless you are fertilising them).

If you don’t have a
tree on which to attach them, you can successfully grow them in a pot like
thousands of other growers do, because these plants are very adaptable. When
they grow on a tree, the roots primarily are just used as an anchor and the
majority of moisture and nourishment is absorbed through the leaves.

When they are grown in pots, their roots then play a more
important primary role of taking up extra moisture and nourishment even though
the foliage will still absorb some. All that’s required is a pot of a suitable
size to accommodate the plant and a good quality “open and free draining”
potting mix similar to the coarse bark based mixes used in which to grow orchids.

Just water occasionally e.g. once a week in summer and each
two weeks in winter with occasional early morning or late afternoon light spraying in between if the weather is
hot. You can also (although it's not necessary) occasionally provide a half strength
fertiliser applied monthly over the foliage as well as watered into the potting
mix. Locate the plants out of the wind in a well-lit position (but not full sun) and you will
find they should happily start growing and producing pups.

Any comments I make are based on how I grow my plants here
in our temperate region of Australia. You may need to make adjustments to
suit your own growing conditions. However, basically if you try and copy how
these plants grow in nature you should get good results.

All the best, Nev.

Hi, Nev.

Wow! Great & thorough advice. Thank you so much for the Neoregelia ID and all the detail. They've been nestled in those tables under hot Caribbean sun for 2 years! I can say they have gotten lots of rain runoff from the adjacent adeniums and an overhead Moringa tree.

I originally had them with another type of strappy epi bromeliad, roots firmly surrounding sections of a large piece of driftwood under a Soursop tree. However, the tree was invaded by scale/aphids and black fungus, so I removed them from there. These are real troopers and survived my little experiment ... the others did not.

I will pot them up in small & chunky orchid bark with a little soil mixed in, place in semi sun, and fertilize lightly at 1/2 strength every three weeks. This is how I keep my other bromeliads.

Thanks again.

Maria Elena