Need Bromeliad and Buddleia help.

8 years ago

I have never grown bromeliads before and bought 4 recently. Two are doing great but the other two are starting to look like they may be sunburned (I'm guessing).

Hoping some of you can verify that is what the problem is. They have been in the same spot for the last couple of months with no problem but all of a sudden in the last 3 days, the leaves are looking a little bleached. They only get a few hours of morning sunlight. Too much?

My buddleias were also looking good and almost overnight the leaves have yellowed. What do you think it might be?

Featured Answer

splinter1804

8 years ago

Hi everyone - Any comments I make are based on my growing conditions here on the South East Coast of New South Wales, Australia and while it's a different country, some results will be the same in your country given similar climatic conditions.

I can only re-enforce the advice given by Carol and Dave above. I grow both Guzmanias and Neoregelias and without a doubt the Neoregelias are the most trouble free.

The Guzmanias on the other hand have a very limited range of conditions they will tolerate, but if given these conditions they will grow to perfection. Put simply, they will burn in direct sunlight and it's definitely a NO! NO! Likewise they will also suffer cold damage if not protected from low winter temperatures and cold winds. They also respond better to regular fertilising than other bromeliads

To sum up; a warm protected full to semi shaded area is ideal.

As Carol says, trim off your damaged leaves (they won't go green again) taking care to shape the ends the same as the other leaves. (Looks much better than if they are just cut straight across).

If you have to remove a leaf completely, cut if off about 3" up from the bottom and then split the remaining part of the leaf down the centre. Carefully pull each half away from the centre to avoid damaging any tiny new pups that may be concealed in the leaf axil.

With Neoregelias; although I never advocate "full sun" as some of our January full sun would cook a plant if exposed to it. I prefer to use the word light instead of sun, and generally speaking, good light equals good colour.

If you grow bromeliads in low light or feed them high nitrogen fertilisers you will get beautiful dark green leaves at the expense of coloured foliage. Feeding them during the growing period with a high potassium fertiliser will produce improved Neoregelia foliage colour and bigger and better flowers on the Guzmanias.

They say "a picture's worth a thousand words", so I've added eight pictures below showing plants grown under different degrees of light, (two of each plant).

In each case the first pic. shows it grown in low light, and the second shows it grown in strong light (Never direct full sun)

Neoregelia ‘Larnach's Red Glow’

Neoregelia ‘Larnach's Red Glow’

Neoregelia 'Apricot Nectar'

Neoregelia 'Apricot Nectar'

Neoregelia ('Mon Petite' x 'Tangerine')

Neoregelia ('Mon Petite' x 'Tangerine')

Neoregelia 'Midnight Moment'

Neoregelia 'Midnight Moment'

All the best, Nev.

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Comments (8)

Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
8 years ago
Hi, vml,

The type of bromeliad shown in the first two photos is a guzmania. They can tolerate very little direct sunlight and prefer either total shade or dappled sunlight. The leaves do look very sunburned to me. Move it to a better spot and it will be much happier.

The sunburned leaves will not recover. When it has adequate new leaves, you can cut the burned leaves off using a pair of scissors... you can even simulate the natural leaf-end shape when you make your cuts. Use an angled cut or pointed cut.. a square cut looks terrible.

Carol in Jacksonville
vml68 thanked Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
vml68
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, Carol. The other two broms I have that are right next to the above two are Neoregelias. They are not showing any signs of sunburn so far. Should I move them to shade too? I bought them from The Bromeliad society at the USF plant fair. The lady told me if I kept them in the shade, they would lose their color.
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Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Neos are different than guzmania. Most can tolerate some direct sun - morning sun, at the least - and some neos even love full, all-day sun. With neos, it comes to down to which cultivar you have. Most will sunburn if moved directly from a shady spot to full sun and not acclimated slowly, but I have found that if acclimated slowly, they get used to more and more sun and do just fine. So sometimes they are on the porch or in a place in the yard that is shady one time of year and as the sunrise/sunset changes every day, they get more and more sun and adjust without any problem. That sounds like what is going on with your neos and I bet they are just fine where they are.

The seller is partially correct regarding color. Color comes from both amount of light and maturity of a plant. Young pups are generally green and as they age, take on the beautiful colors of their mother. Also, the more light, the more brilliant a neo's colors. The reverse is true: the deeper the shade, the more green and less colorful the plant... (and for some of my neos, I prefer the greener look). Your neos will usually be prettier and more colorful if you can keep them where they get some sunlight - even if dappled sunlight.

Post some pictures of your neos, please?!

Carol
vml68 thanked Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
8 years ago
No direct sun for my Guzmanias. Too tender. It might be OK in May, but certainly not in July or August!
vml68 thanked Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
vml68
Original Author
8 years ago
Carol - Pics of the Neos as requested.

The color has faded a bit on both but mostly the pink one.
vml68
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, Nev. All advice is appreciated no matter which part of the world it comes from.

My best friend from high school lives in Melbourne. I hope to visit your country someday.
splinter1804
8 years ago
Hi everyone.

vml68 - The main thing to remember when reading about bromeliad culture, is that the northern hemisphere seasons are reversed to the southern hemisphere and when following advice, make sure you allow for the change in seasons.

It's an easy trap to fall into; I remember when I first started into brom's I read lots of books from the library of our Bromeliad Society.

When I was learning about the best times to fertilise, I read a book and followed the advice exactly, but couldn't understand why there was no improvement in the plant's growth.

It wasn't until someone pointed out to me it was an American publication and I hadn't allowed for the differences in seasons and was in fact fertilising my plants in winter when there was very little growth happening, instead of spring and summer which was the growing period.

As most of the bromeliad books we have access to were written for American conditions it's a trap new growers can easily fall into. Now there are books available from other countries as well (including Australia), and

it's important to check the country and allow for the change in seasons.

All the best, Nev.