I got my first bromeliad pups 20 years ago and was told that cheap garden soil and pinechips would work. It did. I ended up with so many plants that I needed to sell them so I got a nursery license. The local coop agent suggested potting soil, spagum moss and pine chips. This is when my trouble started. The plants began a slow decline for about five years and I could not figure out why. I adjusted light, temps and fans in my green and shade house. Moved plants around under trees and still a slow decline. One day, in frustration, I took many plants out of their pots and threw them in a pile - but then I started looking - their roots systems were highly developed and packed into the soil where before the roots grew around the chips. I had created a medium that encourages too much root growth and a medium that got hard. I immediately mixed perlite/moss, put all the plants in that medium and used pine chips to stablise. The result was immediate - my advise is not to use soil. The mix here with the cypress mulch may work as it is porous and this nursery sells alot so quick root growth may work for them but if you have large plants in big pots, better experiment first.
I grow mine in pure turface, and I do not water the soil, just the cup. I make sure the cup never is empty more then a day, and I do this for all my bromeliads except cryptanthus and pineapples.
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I got my first bromeliad pups 20 years ago and was told that cheap garden soil and pinechips would work. It did. I ended up with so many plants that I needed to sell them so I got a nursery license. The local coop agent suggested potting soil, spagum moss and pine chips. This is when my trouble started. The plants began a slow decline for about five years and I could not figure out why. I adjusted light, temps and fans in my green and shade house. Moved plants around under trees and still a slow decline. One day, in frustration, I took many plants out of their pots and threw them in a pile - but then I started looking - their roots systems were highly developed and packed into the soil where before the roots grew around the chips. I had created a medium that encourages too much root growth and a medium that got hard. I immediately mixed perlite/moss, put all the plants in that medium and used pine chips to stablise. The result was immediate - my advise is not to use soil. The mix here with the cypress mulch may work as it is porous and this nursery sells alot so quick root growth may work for them but if you have large plants in big pots, better experiment first.
Thank you. I just bought this plant and needed to replant it.
Yes, cactus potting soil will work too. Mulches from city sanitation are not ideal. Purchase new, clean mulches in bags from a garden store.
I grow mine in pure turface, and I do not water the soil, just the cup. I make sure the cup never is empty more then a day, and I do this for all my bromeliads except cryptanthus and pineapples.
Watering the cup is good for the plant, but it cannot produce additional root without some moisture being added to soil too
Need a quick answer. Do all bromaids need the mulch you are using??
Where can i buy that mix from? What stores and is it expensive?
Did you say cactus potting soil? What about those mulches from the city sanitation give away is it ok?
DO NOT use those! They often contain mold, mildew, fungus, and mites