Bromelaid Question

[MinnMonkey]

I bought a very small bromelaid a few months back and the flower is starting to fade. I have read that the plant will only flower once, but it's "pups" will flower.

What exactly is the "pup" of a bromeliad?

Should I leave the fading flower in the plant, or remove it? If remove it, when should I do that?

[Newt]

Hi MinnMonkey,

Some bromelaids will flower more then once. Cut the spent flower stem and leave the mother plant until you see small plantlets growing on or near the mother. Once the mother starts to deteriorate you can remove the pups (offsets) with roots and pot those up.
https://www.houstongardening.info/bromel.htm
https://www.heirloomgardenexperts.com/info-sheets/bromeliads.htm

I'm having trouble finding pics of a parent with pups, but this pic has a whole bunch of pups on the pot so the mother must have been removed by now.
https://www.ngmpro.com/ImageWindow.asp?id=100040&pagename=NewForUs

Newt

[MinnMonkey]

Thanks for the response. After reading the 2nd article you posted, I am thinking it might not be the flower that is fading but the leaves.

The one I have resembles this picture:

[img]https://www.heirloomgardenexperts.com/info-sheets/images/bromeliad_sm.jpg[/img]

When I got it, the top was bright pink, orange and yellow. Now it is a dull pink. Is there a way to get those colors back?

I will try to post a picture of my bromelaid to see if that helps at all.

[Newt]

A picture could be helpful.

Newt