Hi everyone.

dwarfanelf52 - What Dave says is exactly correct, but what I'll try to do is try to explain it in more specific detail based on what I have observed from my own plants here in the temperate region of the south east coast of Australia.

The most important part of cultivating any plant is correct watering; this is a proven fact.

To successfully meet the watering requirements of bromeliads, you need to understand how they grow in habitat and how to provide similar conditions with the plants we grow at home.

Most of the commonly grown bromeliads in their natural state are "epiphytes" (a plant that grows on another plant although not a parasite)

Plants that grow in this manner have their roots continually exposed to abundant circulating air and even if they get saturated by rain, the roots won't stay wet for long as they dry shortly after due to this circulating air. Likewise, this is what you need to emulate in culture.

In their natural environment, the primary role of the roots is to anchor the plant to the host, and although the roots do absorb some moisture and nutrients, most of this is absorbed through the foliage.

With plants growing in pots, the only way to copy this is, to grow them in a porous, open and well draining potting mix where the majority of the water can quickly run through and drain away freely each time they are watered (no matter how heavily); thus preventing the roots from remaining continually wet.

The foliage of these epiphytic type bromeliads is designed to capture and hold water in a central tank or vase, made by the lower part of the leaves, and should always contain a reserve of water at a level determined by the plant (Shaded area). When the plant is watered overhead initially, this tank will "over fill" to the horizontal line shown on the diagram below and the water excess will drain away through the leaves and onto the potting mix below and finally through to the roots. The remaining water will be at a level as shown by the shaded area.

There should always be a supply kept in reserve within this central tank and no matter how much water is supplied the remaining level will be determined by the individual plant as seen in this diagram of a Neoregelia plant.

You also need to remember, that more plants are lost due to over-watering than under-watering. This is usually due to two main causes: firstly, the potting mix is too dense and doesn't drain freely and secondly, (and this mainly applies to plants grown indoors) where the potting mix becomes waterlogged due to the pot sitting continually in a saucer.

In this case the saucer captures the water as it drains from the plant during watering and then it is continually drawn up into the mix by capillary action (The ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of or even in opposition to, external forces like gravity) which results in a continually "water-logged" potting mix.

Even though the surface of the potting mix will appear dry, if you were to tip the plant out of the pot you would find the deeper potting mix will still be damp and retains that healthy earthy smell which indicates that all is well.

If in doubt whether or not a plant requires watering, be guided by the old Australian nurseryman's guide which says, " If you aren't sure that a plant needs watering, refrain from watering for another day or two rather than over-water"

All the best, Nev.