Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How does one go about reproducing bromeliads.
Can you cut the "shoots" (for lack of a better word) that grow from the base of the plant and root them in rooting hormone.or does it involve flowering a pollenating?

what i mean by shoots is when another small plant starts to grow off of another at the bottom of the plant usually.not the leaves themselves.

Thanks!!

When the pups or offshoots are 1/3 the size of the adult plant you can cut them off and mount/grow them.

The "shoots" are called pups or offsets. You need to wait until the pup is at least half the size of the mother plant before removing it. Just take a sharp knife and place it in between the 2 plants. Then slice the pup off, taking some root with it (not absolutely necessary, but easier to get it started). Then you can put it in soil or secure it to a background to grow. You don't need to use a rooting hormone.
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Ken
Peace of the Tropics
www.PeaceOfTheTropics.com

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does every bromeliad (or most) grow these pups, and is there a way you can encourage these to grow much like clipping other types of plants?

As far as I know, every bromeliad produces pups. To encourage pups on a flowered plant, lean it slightly to one side. Anywere from 15 to 30 degrees lean is good depending on the type. The pups should grow sooner on the side which receives more light. Note: This usually doesn't work on flat bromeliads (i.e. most cryptanthus). To speed up flowering and pup production on an immature plant, place an apple in the terrarium with the plant. The fruit releases a gas (ethelene?) This gas effectively ages the plant, so it thinks it is mature and it flowers. However, forced flowering reduces seed/fruit yeilds considerably. So if you want seeds, wait until your plant flowers on it's own. Also, this method can be unreliable at times because the ammount of gas released depends on the age of the apple. To little gas, and no flowers, to much gas and every bromeliad in your tank will flower. So it is best to isolate the plant to be treated and try several apples in succesion.

Hope it helps,
Mike
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I am the stereotypical teenager video game player couch potato carnivorous plant grower nano reef aquarium enthusiast coin collector amphibian/reptile keeper internet surfer mountain biker skimboarder sketch artist formally known as Mike. My sign is a semi-colon_;