Beautiful colors!! This picture is wonderful!

Renee

Hi everyone.

Renee - This is the reason I'm so attracted to Neoregelias; I don't think there's another genera with such a kaleidoscope of colours. Thanks mainly to Chester Skotak there are amazing new colours and colour combinations now being released.

As a tiny example of some of the newer hybrids I'm referring to, open the link below to look at some of the hybrids he's produced from just one of the parents he uses.

http://registry.bsi.org/?fields=Parents&id=11188&search=carolinae%20variegated%20x%20Hannibal%20Lector

All the best, Nev.

Wow, thats a beautiful neo!! I have this one that is a little bit similar:

http://registry.bsi.org/?fields=Parents&id=10596&search=carolinae%20variegated%20x%20Hannibal%20Lector

Renee

Hi everyone.

Renee - I wasn't just referring to that picture of 'Solar Storm', I meant for you to scroll down the list on the left side of the page and see the various examples of different colours produced from that parent.

It doesn't come as a surprise to me that your plant in the link you provided is from that same parent as well; it's certainly breeding some amazing colours.

All the best, Nev

Very nice, indeed. It truly helps make the other colors pop. Thanks.

tj

Have you tried to cross this Neoregelia kautskyi with others??

Hi Everyone.

Dave – The answer to your
question is yes; I currently have seed I have sown of crosses between Neo
kautskyi x Neo. ‘Noble Descent’ and Neo. ‘Noble Descent x Neo. Kautskyi.

Neoregelia kautskyi

Neoregelia 'Noble Descent'

The reason I have done the
cross “both ways” is because Neo. kautskyi
is a known “selfer” (self-pollinator) and any time a flower is touched by a
bird or insect it is fertilised by its own pollen.

A typical Neo. kautskyi plant showing almost every flower having been fertilised and produced seed capsules. These are the white coloured berries seen in the picture.

Even though I followed
common practice and put makers in the flowers I pollinated, there’s no
guarantee that an insect wasn’t there just immediately prior to me and
pollinated the same flower I did, therefor the resulting seed wouldn’t be Neo kautskyi
x Neo. ‘Noble Descent’ it would be Neo kautskyi x Self.

To get around this problem
I have done the cross both ways, i.e. in one cross I made the Neo kautskyi the seed parent (the
mother) with Neo. ‘Noble Descent’ the pollen parent (the father), and in the
second cross I reversed it and made Neo. ‘Noble Descent’ the seed parent and Neo. kautskyi the pollen parent.

The aim of this cross is
to produce plants that are primarily bright yellow in colour and able to
withstand strong sunlight which is one of the attributes of ‘Noble Descent’. Although
‘Noble Descent’ isn’t a nice bright yellow like kautskyi , it does lean toward yellow when grown in strong light.

It has thicker leaves and is “tougher” than kautskyi and I have found with the (exception of heatwave conditions), it can be grown happily in full
sun conditions here where I live in N.S.W. Australia. This attribute has no doubt been inherited from its two "species" parents Neo olens and Neo cruenta which are also very tough plants and also able to withstand strong sunlight.

Neither Neo kautskyi or Neo. ‘Noble Descent’have nice compact shape, and
this wasn’t a consideration when doing the cross, it was primarily for colour
and nothing else, although you never know what Mother Nature might throw into the equation; only time will tell.

All the best, Nev.

How much sun does Neo kautskyi need to color up so brightly? Mine is so much greener, I think I need to find a better spot for it.

Thanks for the bsi link, in addition to the colors/patterns, it's remarkable what a size range there is.

That looks so amazing. I bring some of my bromeliads outdoors spring through fall but have gotten a bit lazy about moving them in and out of the greenhouse. I’ve got lots of deciduous trees and should be able to find places with the right amount of sun. Looking at those photos, I definitely need to think more about the vertical opportunities in my greenhouse. I’ve done that with my Tillandsias but not nearly as much as I should with other bromeliads.

Awesome greenhouse, Nev!

A Nev-er ending wall of broms. Spectacular.

tj