Why Did My Bromeliad Rot???? 

The good old finger-in-soil test showing the density of potting mixture - excellent!! Thank youuu ☺

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.

Your videos are fantastic. We are learning so much from you. I am always looking forward to Friday because of your videos.🥰

I just got my first Bromeliad from a half off rack at Lowes. It looks like it's been sitting in some water. Other than that it looks good. Being the crazy researcher that I am, I came across your channel. So much great info! Thanks for sharing.

I love your videos about bromeliads. I really want to cover my front yard with them, especially on top of the winding live oak branches.

Thanks for the great information! Your videos always make me smile! 😁

Thank you!!! The exact info I needed and I enjoyed listening to you :)

Wow I loved those red bromeliads ❤😮

This is exactly what I was hoping to find as a hobbyist collector of the sort.

Apart from rocks or other additives to potting mix, humic acids are known for changing the structure soil and preventing soil getting muddy.

Q: How would one determine if broms get too much water before it's too late with living in the tropics with monsoonal rains? I try to imagine mine living naturally in a rainforest of sorts...do they suffer the same demise or can they actually be ok with a cup full of water continually for weeks...surely they would have to become accustomed? They don't get emptied with human intervention like we do!

Great video Rusty. Very informative and helpful. So just to clarify, on the newly potted rotted plant, one shouldn’t water the soil until roots have formed~ the plant will pull up harder? So to speak. And the pup? I’m thinking obviously repot, but do you separate from the rotted mother plant Rhizome?

Thanks for your video! May i ask you some questions? I try to keep bromeliads in my reptile enclosures. They eather rot or dry out. Why would they rot without soil? Also… why would you keep some in soil and others not? I thought their roots are just for holding on to wood etc? But i see them in pots very often. When it comes to reptile enclosures some people wrap them in sphagnum moss and some just bind them onto a piece of wood. I‘m confused 😥

😊 4:54 😊

Wish I knew this last year 😅

Very timely for me, just found a rotten one. Is it possible to grow one in an orchard basket with some sphagnum moss or orchid bark?

@islandbreezetropicals1276 Hi Rusty! This was good info! But you only showed 1 variation of rot on 1 type of bromeliad. Can you please make another video (or amend this one) to show us how to handle rotten broms that still have their roots? I have several that I recently discovered were dying because of rot, but none broke off at the base, they all still have roots (and I don't know how to tell if the roots are alive or dead and what to do with the roots in both scenarios?) Also, how do we handle rot in stoloniferous type broms? I have a Neo Donger that is badly rotted and I'm desperate for solution to save it. My Skotak's Tiger and Neo High Voltage are in dreadful shape as well and I'm distraught and depressed. Please help ♥

Hi Sir Rusty, im Boyette from the Philippines. How do i plant these pups which do not have a straight meristem if thats the right term?

Nutrients are not that important to these plants seeing that the substrate mixes people use usually have no nutrients?

I had one simple question, why did my bromeliad rot? I didn’t need a 16 minute lesson in biology. I had one simple question I wanted one simple answer! I did not find it here.!!!

YOU REPEAT YOUR SELF TOO MUCH. 16min video could easily and should be half as long. Try getting to the point faster.