[GrowRR] diseases

[Fred Ross]

Gentlemen: You mioght try the Bromeliad Society International web site at  bsi.org. Then you have the entire bromeliad world at your finger tips. 

Fred Ross
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: FZachariah at aol.com 
  To: GrowRR at bsi.org 
  Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 9:39 PM
  Subject: Re: [GrowRR] diseases


  In a message dated 01/16/04 06:24:16 PM Central Standard Time, shipwash at gte.net writes:


    Is there a website available that shows the dieases that effect the leaves
    of bromeliads. I am looking for pictures of the diseased leaves. Thanks!


  Mr Shipwash,
  I looked on Google and came up with nothing.

  I think this is an important topic. With all the experts that read this, maybe I can prompt y'all into giving some guidelines.

  I'll start with my own observations. Feel free to respond and even contradict me -- hey, we're all learning.

  First, disease means two separate things. The first definition is a pathogen like a fungus or bacteria that attacks a plant. The second is cultural like burning caused from noonday sun or rot caused by too much fertilizer.

  My experience is that bromeliads are remarkably resilient. Problems I've had can be traced back to a cultural cause. Any pathogen was secondary to some cultural abuse I inflicted on the plant. Once I corrected my care, the 'disease' went away.

  Adequate light will 'cure' a host of problems. Summer noonday sun here in Louisiana is dangerous, but full sun in the morning and/or afternoon improves it's health.

  Winter greenhouse care is easy. The colder the plant is, the drier you must keep it. Don't water if the temp is going to drop (below 50*F) that night. If necessary, bromeliads can go for many, many weeks with no watering in the winter.

  Soil. My preference is the coarser (more like rock), the better. The paradox is that they like to be watered, but they like their roots to dry out. People plant them (and grow them beautifully) in sphagnum and heavy mixes. That causes problems for me. I pot them in a fired-clay pellet or volcanic mix.

  That's how I've cured most of my cultural diseases. I hope others can expand and correct on my care.

  Frank Z 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  GrowRR mailing list
  GrowRR at bsi.org
  http://bsi.org/mailman/listinfo/growrr_bsi.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://host.amsnac5.com/pipermail/growrr_bsi.org/attachments/20040118/b6cc319a/attachment.htm