My Orchids and Bromeliads in Port Charlotte

[mremensnyder]

I have had this for a good decade and really like the genus. If only I could find a vendor with Catopsis berteroniana. A few EU vendors offer it sometimes as does Tropiflora once in a blue moon.

Catopsis morreana is an easy grow for me.

Note, I give all of my tank bromeliads a dose of Malathion every couple months because I found a terrestrial growing cultivated bromeliad on the edge of my property with the evil weevil. I don't like the evil weevil

[mremensnyder]

This T. balbisiana was sources as a chance plant very far north almost in Seminole County on the grounds of my employer on a languishing hedge on a dead twig. Seeing that it would hit the ground and die soon, I rescued it. The boss didn't mind.


Here it is, in bloom, 3 years after acquisition. Should I expect an offshoot before the main plant dies?

[mremensnyder]

This is my Tillandsia balbisiana. The last photo is a Tillandsia simulata I found in a garbage pile after hurricane Ian.

[mremensnyder]

Good old Spanish moss. Notably not nearly as common in Port Charlotte as further north. I brought a bit down south with me.

[mremensnyder]

Also not as common in Charlotte County (I think Tillandsia usenoides and T. recurvata prefer more "cool hours") I brought a few on my mounts and one grew on my little wall.

[mremensnyder]

Aechmea, a humid tropical loving species; I have been bringing this in during chilly weather as it has been generally fussy here.

[mremensnyder]

Does anyone have an ID on this tank bromeliads? A Neo. hybrid perhaps?

[mremensnyder]

Originally Posted by Toadwally

A Florida gem. 👍👍

It certainly is! I am giving it the royal treatment with distilled and rain water and MSU since my tampensis before this always shrink away with time.

[DirtyCoconuts]

good stuff!

[mremensnyder]

Lest I depart from the topic of orchids, I will say I plan on getting an Prosthechea (?) cochleata at some point.

These two coconuts from a palm specialist in Jupiter on the IPS website. They are pure bread from a coconut from Jamaica and the coconuts themselves are large, with a thick "hull" and a bit asymmetrical. These palms weathered 150 mph sustained winds from Hurricane Ian in September and I covered them in five layers for all nights in the 30s (four nights total).