Seperating Bromiliad "pups" from mother plant

[swords]

A few months ago I got a nice Vrisea "christine" bromiliad and of course it was in bloom (knowing that it's "over" for the mother plant I got one with two small pups on it. I planted this bromiliad in a cork bark tube stuffed with orchid bark and sphagnum moss. Apparently the plant is doing OK because the pups are now about 1/6th the size of the original plant (the pups are about 3-4" tall-they are also turning a beautiful red color due to the high light over their vivarium).

I'm wondering when it is safe to seperate the pups from the larger plant (which is still in bloom and looking just fine) and also, how do I seperate the pups? It looks like I could just "pop" em off but I'm sure it's more complicate than that...


BTW (slightly off the topic I'm asking about above) I heard a rumor that if I cut the bromiliad off the top of a fresh pineapple (leaving an inch or two of the fruit at the bottom) and plant it in good medium wand keep it warm and humid it will root and grow into a pinapple bromiliad. will these really live and grow? I've seen them already alive at the garden shop but I was juts curious if this "cheap" way oif getting a plant really works.

 

[fatboy]

Hi Josh

If the species of Brom you have is one that produces pups from the bottom of the mother plant then it should be easy to separate them. Some of them reproduce by splitting in the middle and you end up with two almost adult plants but they are a bugger to separate and I often end up just leaving the whole thing alone.

I usually have a look at the pups and if they already have their own roots coming from the base then they are ready to remove. You are correct in that you only need to "pop" them off, they come away pretty easily. If you are worried about damaging them, get a pair of secateurs (sp?) and cut them as close to the base of the mother plant as possible so that the roots of the pup come with the pup.

Re pineapples - sure they grow!! I believe that's actually how they do it commercially.

Cheers, fatboy.

 

[swords]

Cool, thanks Fatboy! I'm gonna try the Pineaple then! Not to grow my own fruits-just to grow the plant.

Yeah, this kinda Bromiliad puts off small pups around the base of the larger plant. They were about 1" when I got it so I left them alone but now they're growing along pretty swiftly so I figure I'll have to seperate them soon.

Thanks again man!

 

[fatboy]

Josh as a very general rule, when the pups are about a quarter the size of the parent they are ready to come off but the roots are the giveaway.
Many Bromeliads continue to produce pups and seem to produce more if you keep removing them. The pups gradually get smaller and less robust though. I have had up to about 8 or 10 pups of 1 plant, depending on the plant.

Good luck with your pineapple, we have a very nice decorative pineapple here with long, red leaves that has white margins along the leaves. The fruit is small and not eaten but the plant is very attractive.

Cheers again, fatboy.

 

[Parasuco]

For the pineapple

cut off the top leaf thing, and carve down, and all the fruit away. You will have a stump of core leftover on the end that you cannot cut... Pull the bottm inch or so of leaves off to make a stump of roots to grow out of, then place in water. This is what i did, and there is a rooted pinapple in a glass at my mom's place right now!

 

[swords]

Thanks folks!

For the pineapple how long does it take to get it to root?
Also, is it best to root it in plain distilled water, distilled with slight fertilizer and rootone/superthrive or can I just pot it and it'll root in the pot?

This is really the first time I've tried anything like a fruit seed or plant, mostly I'm onto all kinds of epiphytes and carnivorous plants but since OI heard about the pineapple being a kind of bromiliad, well, gotta try that then!

 

[carniflora]

With the pups its best to wait until they are half the size of mother , but if they have roots , go for it .
Pinapples need to dry out before rooting , I just chuck them into a pile until I have enough to fill up a bed .

 

[Statik2426]

I have had good luck with just putting the base of the pinapple in water.

Yeah, you do need to let them dry out after removing leaves to expose more base. The first time I attempted rooting a pineapple, fungus grew within a few days. I think that is why you need the cuts to dry. And about leaving some of the fruit at the bottom, the fruit will rot, you need to remove as much of the fruit as possible.