Bromeliad pup question

7 years ago

I bought a small Bromeliad from my local nursery about 3 months ago, they did not have a species name for it and gave me generic care tips, but through googling my best guess is I have a Pink Quill. The flower was about 2 inches tall, and recently finished its bloom and died. There is a small pup forming on the mother plant that I would like to promote, but this is my first time and my pup seems different than I've seen online.

This pup is growing up through almost the center of the plant, there are 3/4 'layers' of the mother plant's leaves outside of it, which means I am worried I am drowning the pup whenever I water the plant because it is within the cup (the best photo I could take is attached). I have removed the mother plant's flower and would just like advice on how to promote this pup's growth. Should I peel away all the plant's leaves outside of the pup to give it space and allow it to focus on the pup? Should I only water the plant outside of the pup to try to avoid drowning it? I'd like to keep the mother plant after propagating, but I'm open to whatever to help this pup out.

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Comments (3)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
7 years ago
Don't worry about drowning the pup and don't remove the mother plant's leaves. Keep seeing to the mother plant's needs and it will nurture the pup.

tj
splinter1804
7 years ago
Hi everyone.

Hu - I personally would just leave things be and continue to water it overhead normally. Despite what's usually recommended, I prefer to let the pups get almost as large as the Mother if they have to be removed and don't take them off until they have roots of their own.

Remember when these plants are growing in habitat any water they get is always from overhead and it isn't selective, it goes on the foliage and the roots; the only difference is they are growing on trees and dry out much quicker than when grown in pots. With your plant, be careful not to over water it as too much water will start rot which can kill your plant.;

As the Mother plant declines, the pup will gradually grow and take over from it. Removing excess leaves from the Mother plant could kill it prematurely or at the very least set it back so that it can'r nourish the pup adequately.

It's hard to tell from the pictures just what your plant is. Did it look like the ones in the attached pictures? If so it's called Wallisia cyanea (Previously called Tillandsia cyanea) . With these plants I prefer to just let them clump up as they look much better this way.

Wallisia cyanea

Wallisia cyanea (Flower)

All the best, Nev.
HU-596645760 thanked splinter1804
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HU-596645760
Original Author
7 years ago
Yes Nev, that looks like the one! I am kicking myself for not getting a good photo of the bloom before it died (though you can see the removed dead mother plant in the second photo).

I have been filling the cup once every 3 days as this is at my office desk with A/C so it's fairly dry in here, it is potted in large orchid bark so it's almost a quasi-air plant in terms of drainage. I will definitely be leaving the pup until it is nearly the same size as the mother plant, and depending on how it's looking I may just leave them together and scale up the pot.