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Post by stevestewart on Sept 14, 2008 7:54:05 GMT -5
Finally! I am able to post a photo of well developed Brocchinia reducta seeds. Thanks to the teamwork offered by Brian Barnes, the plant that I have had flowering for many years with no good seed set, there are a number of good seeds being harvested from a single specimen of B. reducta. Brian has grown this plant outside in his screened room in Florida, from late last winter until last week. The cool weather, Brian's care, and almost full sun seems to have enabled the plant to form several good capsules, with seed. This species is unusual in that all flowers have sepals, petals, stamens, partial pistils (style & stigma), and only a few have developed ovaries. It is fairly obvious when the inflorescence is forming which flowers will set seed. My camera is not a high resolution model, and hopefully Brian can provide some high quality shots next week. The photos I have posted show clearly enough that the seed is a brown Samara. Hopefully, I will soon be able to post some shots of the seedlings. Thee capsules and four seeds,  Unopened flower and complete pistil,  Not good picture of flower and it's seemingly complete parts,  Take care, Steven Stewart |
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Post by Brian Barnes on Sept 14, 2008 17:30:26 GMT -5
Excellent! Looking good.....  I can't wait until we have a tray full of happy Brocchinia pups! Happy Growing, Brian. |
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Post by Brian Barnes on Sept 24, 2008 16:06:27 GMT -5
Hello All! Thanks to the efforts of Steve Stewart and myself, I am proud to announce what I believe are the first photos of Brocchinia reducta seed and pods which were achieved in cultivation taken by Steve and myself. Here's some decent closeups with measurement.... Happy Growing, Brian.   |
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Post by jcreef on Nov 8, 2008 8:38:06 GMT -5
Great job guys!! New member here Both Brocchinia and Catopsis seem to be very difficult to pollinate in captivity. My catopsis moreniana flower for me regularly and I have yet to get a single seed pod  I know Steve has had luck with Catopsis berteroniana forming seeds and now we finally get to see some Brocchinia seeds!! Keep us posted on germination rates!! Warmest Regards and Happy Growing, Juan-Carlos Miami, Florida |
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Post by stevestewart on Nov 8, 2008 18:34:17 GMT -5
Hello Juan-Carlos!
I haven't heard from you for a while! There aren't loads of Bromeliad lovers in the carnivorous plant world. Thank you for your kind words!
It is good that you posted this note today. Yesterday I saw the first seedling Brocchinia reducta sprout! ;D It is very healthy, so far! Today there are a couple more germinating. It took exactly two months for germination to begin after sowing the seed on LFS.
I will try to twist Brian's arm until he takes a high quality photo for the forum, but Brian is bigger than me, so ultimately I will probably have to share some plants with him. ;D
I have been hoping to hear that you were getting some seed from your Brocchinia. I hope it is tolerating the warm South Florida weather for you.
It is possible that cool temperatures are essential for the flowers to produce a viable ovary. It seems that some flowers are fertile and others are not, but in a chaotic fashion, rather than in specific areas on the inflorescence as found in many monoecious plants. All flowers of this species seem (to my eyes) to be complete, but they do not all form fully functional ovaries.
Take care,
Steve
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Post by Brian Barnes on Nov 9, 2008 7:53:20 GMT -5
Hello! Firstly, let me welcome Juan-Carlos officially to the FCPS Forum! It's great to have you with us...Do you grow many Nepenthes as well, down your way? Your conditions are much more favorable for that genus, than ours are up here. Indeed! Steve has a tray full of these little babies up and coming...Alas! Great job!  And yes, I just do happen to have a little bit of room left in one of my grow chambers for a few of those.  Happy Growing, Brian. |
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Post by jcreef on Nov 11, 2008 23:12:34 GMT -5
Hey Steve! Yeah I've been out of the Cp loop for a while now. You know me, I love broms and bromeliads that are quasi-carnivorous is the best of both worlds HA HA!! Man thats great that they are actually starting to germinate, CONGRATS!!! What has been blooming for me regularly is actually my Catopsis moreniana (I think I sent you one back in the day) I actually lost the Brocchinia I got from you a while back in one of the hurricanes amongst other things Very frustrating!! But thats what we get for living in sub-tropical Miami I guess *shrugs* However, before the storm, it was doing wonderfully outdoors, and I did get flowers - just never seeds (that I saw at least). It was not tolerating the warmth... it was thriving!! STUPID HURRICANE!!! ARGG!! It is possible that climate has something to do with flower viability, but bromeliads in general seem to be either seed producing or not. I have some bromeliads that produce copious amonths of seed, while other species never produce any. It could also have something to do with certain species needing specialized pollinators that we obviously don't have! In terms of Brocchinia and Catopsis, I think they are grown incorrectly. Catopsis are epiphytes, yet I constantly see people growing them like other Cp's in Sphagnum on tray systems Also I think there is a misconception about Catopsis and Brocchinia, just because they are quasi-carnivorous does not mean they don't like to be fertilized. Like most bromeliads, over fertilization will cause plants to look leggy. However, I feel these plants would greatly benefit from regular fertilization with a weak water soluble or even slow release fertilizer! Perhaps your Brocchinia isn't forming functional ovaries because it just doesn't have enough nutrient intake to produce them and seeds for that mater... Just food for thought (pun intended) ha ha Warmest Regards and Happy growing, -Jc Miami, Fl Ps. I look forward to seeing some pics, and to updates on the seedlings!! |
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Post by jcreef on Nov 11, 2008 23:24:26 GMT -5
Hey Brian, Thank you thank you! I do have a couple Nepenthes, But I treat them like regular garden plants HA HA!! I actually have a common'ol alata in the yard climbing 6' up a plumeria tree. I had the plumeria with the Nap for a long time in one spot. I decided to move the big plumeria last spring and it nep dosen't get as much water now, so it hasn't produce many pitchers lately. Once I get sprinklers to that area it should look great like it did in the past. I was out of the CP loop for a couple of years, but am back into it now. Just had a lot of things going on, but I'm starting to get back into things The warm weather is great for the neps, the lowlanders really love it! I'm going to eventually when I finish my pond grow a lot more neps all around it. They will really benefit from the extra humidity. But like I said many projects going on and so little time HA HA!! Although I can't complain about the warmth and all my tropical stuff, sometimes I get frustrated because I can't grow highlanders!! Maybe one day you guys can help me out on that, I really love Heliamphoras and have been trying to figure out how people in Florida deal with the heat and their demanding temperature requirements!! A tray full of Brocchinia sounds GREAT!! It's sad, but even for the people that primarily ONLY grow bromeliads, Brocchinias are not on many's grow list I know a lot of Brom people, and rarely do they grow Brocchinias or Catopsis Berteroniana... They are such wonderful plants!! Warmest Regards and Happy Growing, -Jc Miami, Fl |
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Post by jcreef on Nov 12, 2008 0:01:55 GMT -5
I went outside to smoke a cigg and got to thinking!! ha!
Another reason why your brocchinias are not producing many viable ovaries could be in part due to the plant not getting enough light. I'm willing to bet that you guys are not growing them in full sun, and probably more on the shaded side. Although a lot of bromeliads are shade plants there are just as many sun loving broms.
Now, with catopsis - I know first hand Catopsis LOVES the sun. I've seen quite a few of Catopsis berteroniana in the wild, and although they do grow in the swamps, they aren't in soggy shady growing conditions as many think. Catopsis berteroniana grows WAY up high in the trees where they get plenty of light, granted I have seen some lower in the tree canopy, but they still receive quite a lot of light.
Now with Brocchinia, I have seen pictures of them in the wild and they are in full sun as well. In cultivation we might not be able to grow Brocchinia in full sun in Florida because of the heat, but perhaps more light might help. I think Brocchinia would benefit from a little morning sun and bright shade the rest of the day. My reasoning is, a sun loving bromeliad grown in shade ussually produces a weaker leggy plant. Any plant or animal that is weak will be inefficent at breeding/producing seed. The catopsis I've seen in the wild are BIG, yet most of the catopsis I've see in cultivation are small.
Maybe a combination of being under fertilized and starving for light is contributing to a reduction in seed production.
Keep in mind that although fertilizers on broms tend to make some broms strappy and leggy so will shade. Sun loving broms grown in sun get a much nicer tight shape. So balancing a fertilizing routine with increesed lighting I feel should give you healthyer plants with nice form.
WHOA!! a lot of stuff to think about in these last couple posts ha ha!!
Warmest Regards and Happy growing,
Juan-Carlos
Miami, Fl
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Post by stevestewart on Nov 12, 2008 7:45:42 GMT -5
Juan-Carlos,
You are right about Brocchinia needing more light to form fertile ovaries. I asked Brian to grow a plant that I had come into flower in my apartment, for just that reason. Light, temperature, and Brian's care, are what was required to get some seed set.
What makes no sense to me is that on the same days that the plant produces several swollen ovaries it also produces non-viable ones. Perhaps your fertilizing suggestion is supported by this. I have seen some plants (grasses & palms) come into more prolific flower and seed from under fertilization also, so this will need to be worked on.
Brian grows his plants in a screened pool enclosure, so they get some reduction of light, but the heat of full sun in the summer here, is more than the plants can take, to produce seed.
I'm sorry to hear about the Brocchinia during the hurricane. There will soon be more plants!
Take care,
Steven Stewart
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Post by jcreef on Nov 12, 2008 10:02:26 GMT -5
Steve, The plant being in a screened in pool enclosure sounds pretty good though, patio screen only offers a small percentage of shade. And your right with the Florida heat this is probably the best way to go! Try my suggestion and put the plant on a fertilizing routine. I suggest you go with a Urea free Orchid fertilizer. Read the back and make sure it has no urea in it, and that can cause problems on very sensitive plants. Try using it at 1/4 strength at first, if you see no adverse effects gradually up the dose to 1/2 strength and see how that goes. The plant is producing a few viable ovaries on a given day, but I don't think it has to do with the specific day or how much light it's geting on that day. What ever the plant produces in terms of viable ovaries is going to be a result based on the strength aquired during the previous growing season. So now that the plant gets good light and with some added fertilization, the plant might have more "energy" to produce more viable ovaries next year. I'll cross my finger for ya! Do keep me posted, try and keep note of hoe many viable ovaries it produced on this last bloom whether they got pollinated or not. Do the same next year, we might be able to pinpoint it on nutrition. Then you'l have more Brocchinia than you'll know what to do with ha ha! Warmest Regards and Happy growing, Juan-Carlos Miami, Fl |
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Post by jcreef on Nov 12, 2008 10:04:27 GMT -5
By the way, not sure if you knew... but Bromeliad seeds in general do not store well. Their viability is quickly lost, so I recommend you plant them all if you haven't already and not try to store them.
Happy growing!
-Jc
Miami, Fl
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I know Steve has had luck with Catopsis berteroniana forming seeds and now we finally get to see some Brocchinia seeds!!
