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When to Separate Pups from Bromeliad?

Nepenthesis

Formerly known as Pineapple
I have a bromeliad that flowered and produced 5 pups. When do I separate them from the mum? And I read the mother plant will die after this, is that true? I feel like it isn't, but if it is true I'll be like legitimately upset. :-(

While I'm at it with the questions... Do you think I could get away with planting them outside my greenhouse in zone 9b? It got like 27-28F at coldest this winter on just a couple of nights. My friend up the street grows her bromeliad (huge one) outside, but they're protected from frost. Could they take the cold winter night temps as long as I cover them for winter? Maybe another solution would be to plant them in the spring and dig them up in the fall and move them in the greenhouse? I don't wanna set them outside in pots lol. :crazy:
 
Also, right now they're about 1-2" each.
 
You don't want to separate them from the mother plant until they're at least half her size. If you separate them at around half size you might get another round of pups still, I've gotten over ten pups from a single dying plant, if you don't separate them they will grow much faster but your plant won't pup again. As for the frost, I keep mine outside down to about 33 degrees, but I'm not sure how they would handle a freezing spell.
 
You don't want to separate them from the mother plant until they're at least half her size. If you separate them at around half size you might get another round of pups still, I've gotten over ten pups from a single dying plant, if you don't separate them they will grow much faster but your plant won't pup again. As for the frost, I keep mine outside down to about 33 degrees, but I'm not sure how they would handle a freezing spell.

Cool, thanks! Does separating them sooner allow for more to be made? If i were to separate them as they are now (1"-2") would I get more pups this season? Or would I have to wait for the next season?

I guess I'll just keep them potted in my greenhouse... Maybe if one of the pups gets big enough within a few months, I'll stick it outside in winter and see how it does. :p
 
How big is the mother plant? 2" would be ok if it was a mini brom that matures around 4", otherwise wait until it's half the size or more of a mature brom.
 
How big is the mother plant? 2" would be ok if it was a mini brom that matures around 4", otherwise wait until it's half the size or more of a mature brom.

It's probably about 12" across from leaf tip to leaf tip. So I guess when they get about 6" across I separate them? It is weird because they're actually growing from leaf nodes, not from the base near the soil.
 
I had a Neoregelia survive those cold temps in GA. One tillandsia also survived under an oak tree; I thought it died much earlier hence I never moved it inside. However, the Neo died all the way back and last spring started putting up pups. They are still very small and are recuperating slowly. They can survive outside but it really sets them back.
 
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