Welcome to Island Breeze Tropicals. IBT is about growing tropical plants that I grow in my jungle here in Southwest Florida called "The Tangle", and how anyone, anywhere, can have a tropical vibe growing aroids, palms, bromeliads, orchids and more I'll show you how to raise these plants outside if you live in the Subtropics, and how to bring them inside during the winter if you live north of Florida. So come on, "Let's get growing and have some fun!"
From my experience browsing posts by people who collect and grow a great number of varieties of Tillandsiae, it seems that many in the community of Tillandsia growers do not grow other bromeliads, and vice versa. It is also the case with online stores. From my experience, Tillandsia specialty shops rarely sell other bromeliads and vice versa. It seems that the differences in appearance and care requirements are enough to differentiated the growers into different communities.
Yay, i got another dyckia for my birthday, now here in aug.2024. my new dyckia has 4 pups now growing on it. Which i am so excited bout. This is my very first pups ever. I love dyckia plants. I got a different dyckia pup plant for my birthday in aug. 2024. I got 7 dyckia plants so far this year.
Don't know if I can do it but I'm going to try here in the desert. Thanks, Rusty so much. Found out I can just drive to California where I live in Phoenix and get come amazing ones like you have in Florida. Blessed to be able in a relatively short time to do that.
Pretty awesome video! Just perfect for me to see them and hybrids. Thanks so much. From what I have learned here and elsewhere I could do these in Phoenix outside. For very few freezes we get some years I could park these big boys in the garage overnight. Any suggestions where I can buy Alcantareas and get them shipped to Arizona? Sundance lists as a a commerical grower on the web and appears to only offer to the public if they visit their nursery in Florida?
Just what I was looking for. I'm here in Phoenix, AZ - Zone 9B. Sonoran Desert and the hottest big city in the US. Hectias and Dyckias are real troopers here. Suggestions from anyone? Hardly have a freeze and its only for a few hours when it happens, if at all. I do have lots of shade. Grow tropicals. Have a monstera hedge -huge, banana trees, etc.
I don't think there will ever be a true substitute for mixing your own substrate for the specific job. There are just too many factors to make generic solutions for anything horticultural. Take me for example. I'm making a very unique vivarium that needs a rich planting substrate, suspended with a false bottom over a body of water, that will act as a multispecies self sufficient ecosystem, with no active tech besides lighting. It needs to be able to be dense in places for fine roots, loose for most of the substrate throughout for aeration in such a damp environment, needs to resist decomposition strongly while having compostable organic components, needs to specifically resist mold in natural ways, but it also cannot have too many mineral components that would be harsh for cleanup crews, and it needs to have high surface area not just for drainage but for root contact and beneficial bacteria growth cause of its proximity to water, and it needs to be able to resist leeching of nutrients into the water below, and it cannot have any kind of softwood bark because that can't mix with water features, but it should have some pieces of faster decomposing wood in it for mulch. You will *never* find a potting mix that satisfies all of those at once. What i did was mix equal parts: -Crushed brick -lava gravel -calcined clay -bonsai clay soil -sphagnum moss -reptile substrate moss -coco husk chips -coarse-sifted coco fiber -cork bark chips -horticultural charcoal And a light sprinkling of: -perlite -vermiculite -aspen chips -leca After mixing all of these, i sifted out all but the largest particles to maximise aeration in a sealed boggy environment. And in order for all of these ingredients to work properly, i'll need to toss them in river mud to get a light coating of nutrients and beneficial bacteria on each particle. Could you just throw in a commercial premade mix of coco coir, perlite, and worm castings? Probably. Would it last as long, resist mold, or prevent leeching nutrients into the water column adequately? No way. My situation is kinda unique, cause i'm setting up something so specific. But the conditions in your home, in a professional greenhouse, or anywhere else on earth? Wildly different, and just as unique and specific, and that's before even getting into your plant pairings. It will always be better to tailor your mix to your situation, and if you know where to find these materials in a less processed or wholesale format, it'll likely be a lot cheaper too.
I searched almost this exact title a month ago and got nothing, then this pops up under an unrelated video today. So youtube has not only purposefully jacked up its search algorithm, it's tracking what i search for its recommendation algorithm regardless of what i actually watch. I hate the current state of web 2.0.
Hi. I have several AECHMEA BLANCHETIANA 'KEY LIME'. I know the designer said to limit nitrogen to maintain the color. What fertilizer do you recommend. Thanks 😊
I have always been wary of buying plants due to owning cats and the potential toxicity. However, I am now a proud owner of a Bromeliad as well as a Peperomia (Chinese money plant), and I find videos like this extremely helpful!
I have an Alcantarea on my enclosed patio and the center of the Alcantarea has grown to the top and pushing the screen up. Can I cut the center off? Help!!!
Hi I just bought one of these and the tips of my leaves are curling what would be the cause? Also since getting it a slowly losing the green I didn't know it needed water in the middle could this be the reason?
Do you know how much this applies to other plants? Everywhere people tell you to only gradually put your plants outdoor. But if the leaves would get sunburnt anyway, wouldn't the only concern be whether the sudden change in location shocks the plant? I tried looking up how much leaves can adapt once already formed but all the results I get are those articles talking about bringing houseplants outdoor.
Excellent. Thank you very much for these videos. We bought a house with many rock gardens and trees and driftwood filled with bromiliads and I want to keep the beauty going. I never had heard of bromiliads before buying this house and so I really need all the training I can get.
If you had a hard time figuring out the spelling of the names, here you go: Neoregelia ampullacea San Diego - good hanging basket, doesn't climb. Neoregelia Pauciflora - great hanger but doesn't climb. Aechmea Correia-Araujoi - Does climb well because of arial roots. Neoregelia Olens Brazil - Does climb with arial roots but not as well. Aechmea Chantinii - larger brom that will hold onto trees with.
You showed a lot of neoregelias -- are all neoregelias able to grow without soil? I have one (Minerva) potted in my apartment but would like to be able to keep it soilless if possible, but I haven't found anything conclusive online.
Thank you very much Ford the experiment. But ley me understand some: you told us that bromelias did not sustente herselves in the médium, that it is mostly to fix them not fot the nourishiment, so I think I do not understand very well this information you are giving us, sorry…
Hi Rusty! I can be in a crappy mood, then I watch one of your videos, and the world feels much lighter, so thanks for your enthusiasm, knowledge, and delightful demeanor!
I put my bromeliads in empty pots with no soil at all. Just the pot, air and the bromeliad and they are super healthy and multiply profusively. Bromeliads do not need any soil or fertilizer at all. They are air plants.