Not an orchid, but maybe someone can help me!

[Carolla]

I'll consider that Pavel, but I am remembering that the mother plant did very well in potting soil and had a TON of roots, which surprised me, it filled the pot with fibrous roots. I'm assuming that means it liked having the soil. I just left it in the same pot for years and then forgot to water it, poor thing! Since where I had it, I kept forgetting to care for it, I'm going to move it with the other plants where I will remember it. For now its sitting in a vase.

[kspalding]

Be careful when watering the cups. I assume as u nurture your pups to health that you are keeping it indoors. Standing water will cause the leaves and any blooms that try and develop to rot. Broms actually do not require any more watering than an orchid. They are a low to moderate water plant. Therefore too much water in the cup can actually hurt more than help.

---------- Post Merged at 10:52 AM ----------

oops forgot to add. You may need to be patient depending on how old the pup is. A bromeliad pup can take a full 2 yrs. to bloom. It does sound like your only about a fourth of the way there.

[Carolla]

Yes, they are indoors, it is currently about 9 degrees outside... eeek! I'll be careful with the watering. They have no roots though. I'm not concerned about the bloom, just want them to grow and be happy, then I'll look towards blooming.

[kspalding]

Absolutely no roots or are they hair like fragments of roots?

[Carolla]

They have no roots at all, just a bit of the stem where they were connected with the dead mother plant. So far they are fine - nothing much happening, but not dying either.

[kspalding]

It will definitely take some patience. Just keep them well fed and watered since they no longer have their mother to feed them. Thanks for the update. One of my favorite broms. is the Aechmea, mainly because they are highly adaptive to my weather conditions and are the only ones so far I can get to survive outside. My home is located in a 90% sun and sand environment so most of my plants need to be kept indoors.