I stopped at my usual hang out today but it was a need. My tractor is in the shop and I have to get the leaves up. I have 4 acres and 2 of those acres are gardens and grass and lots and lots of trees. I cannot rake that much land.

So I went to Lowes. I knew they had a marked down tractor that I could use to do the last mow and get the leaves up. Well it was marked down even more.....I got a deal 75% off the original price but they could not ring it up until they found a manager to do a over ride. Of course while they paged and ran all over the store to find a manager I went to the plants.

Another Brom for a dollar and look at all these pups. There are a total of 6 pups. I am done. I think I have enough for my tree. Now I just need the time to go out to my woods and find a limb.

That's going to be a gorgeous Brom tree! Can't wait for the pictures!

Cinta, is that bromeliad the 'Michi'?

I can't wait to see the tree either. I saw the same exact Bromeliad at Lowes here yesterday for $18.

Planto

drdawg said:Cinta, is that bromeliad the 'Michi'?

What is a Michi? You do know I have no idea what I am doing or buying? My knowledge is they are Bromelaids and they are pretty and they are ONE DOLLAR.

They are in beautiful pots so when I take them out I will have some very pretty good size decorative terra cotta pots.

Plantomaniac08 said:I can't wait to see the tree either. I saw the same exact Bromeliad at Lowes here yesterday for $18.

Planto

Yep that is the original price. They have about 2 left at the original price. I do not know how my Lowes choose which plants to put on the sale rack. This one did not look like it is dying. None of the leaves are browning. The only difference is this one has a bunch of babies growing. Maybe they thought that made the plant unattractive.

Sorry, Cinta. I thought there might have been a label with the plant. I grow the 'Michi' and your picture looks a lot like those of mine, though mine have not yet fully colored. You got a great bonus with those pups.

Cinta,
I wish the folks at our Lowes would look at plants the way they do at yours. By the time they hit clearance here, they're dead/dying and they still want 50% of the original price (most times). I've been lucky in the sense that if I need a plastic pot (someone need's a new home), I can usually get it for $.10 or $.25, but dang... a nice looking clearance plant would be nice for once!

Planto

Ken, all the pots say are bromelaid and the price. They have tags in the pots but again no names just care and Bromelaid.

I was surprised looking at the pups it looks like they are going to have the pink color because the tips half way down are pink. I thought the flower was the color in the middle of the leaf. I did not think that the leaf would have color until maturity and bloom. What I am trying to say is I thought the entire plant would be green and later the center rosette would turn colors and that was the bloom.

If the pups grow like they look now. It will start out with pink on the leaves.

That beauty does resemble Neoregelia Michi:

Neoregelia 'Michi'

http://www.colorzonetropicals....

You are right Lin it does look like Neoregelia Michi: .

Planto, I have never seen .25 They usually have 1.00 sometime they have a entire rack for 5.00. They had a lot of the Orchids for 5.00 all fully bloomed. I saw a couple of people grabbing those. I kill orchids so I have not brought those lately when they put them on sale.

I don't know about the coloration of those pups. All my plants were grown from seed and they were at least 6 mo. old before any color started to show on them. My plants are now almost a year old and still are not fully colored. This picture was taken when the plant was approximately nine months old.

Locating some Broms in more sun will help produce more vivid coloration.

Cinta,
Oh no, not plants, I mean I get a discount on the dead ones they have just so I can get the pots they're in.

For some reason, our Lowes will try to sell (clearanced) dead plants. I simply ask them, hey look this is dead, can I get a mark down so I can use the pot for something? Usually I'll get the pot (and dead plant) for like $.10 or $.25. I just chunk the dead plant and have a "new" pot for someone at home.

Planto

Lin, that works with some, such as my 'Voodoo Doll' plants but doesn't work with the 'Michi'. I have at least 50 of each and they are growing in all kinds of light conditions. Of course, that was spring/summer. They are now all in greenhouses.

Ken,
I will see what these pups look like when they open. The pups looks pink now. I will take another pic and see if I can get a better pic with one of my other cameras. It could not be light that made them pink because they have them on the bottom shelf and there is very little light in the back of the store where they keep their houseplants.

Planto, I have never seen dead plants on their sale rack. That is why I thought you meant they sold them so cheap.

My Lowes mark them down if they do not look perfect. I think this Bromelaid they thought the pups did not make the plant look perfect. You can see the tips of some of the pups between the leaves. Some they markdown when people take pieces of the plant. You can see where people walked by and broke a piece off the plant. That is usually their hanging plants.

Cinta,
I understand how that could be confusing. Most of the plants our Lowes sell are dying/dead or too far gone to salvage. I have been lucky on rare occasions to find near perfect plants on clearance for really good prices, but the last time that happened was last year, sadly.

This year, it's been that if they do happen to clearance a decent looking plant, it's only for 50% off and that seems to be only the larger plants, so they're still $5+. I'm too cheap lol.

I guess our Lowes would rather let them die now than give sell them for $1.

Planto

I was in retailing for a few years. My Lowes could be doing a retailing trick. If you get someone to buy a plant for a dollar they buy other plants for more. It is more like a come on retail trick. I do that sometimes. I will buy the dollar plant and buy a couple of their regular price plants if there is something different that I want.

The other thing is there is a Home Depot only five minutes down the road. They there is stiff competition. This Lowes even get garden plants to put on clearance for 1.00, 3.00 and 5.00 all through the growing season that they never had at regular price. I can go to Home Depot and see a plant selling for 25.00 go to Lowes and see the same plant on the clearance rake for 3.00. It is usually a plant they did not have regular price the week before. Maybe they are raiding Home Depot at night and bringing them up the street and putting them on their clearance rack. It is just too strange.

I do a lot of plant shopping I am in all the BB stores at least once a week. I have rental property and doing rehab jobs on future rental property. Between staging with furniture, plants, and decorating projects I am constantly out shopping.

Cinta,
I think a number of businesses do that in one way or another. Like some businesses have sent me coupons in the mail for free items and I go in the store, pick up my free item, and leave. I think they are under the impression that people will purchase other items while they're there, but I'm not one of those people.

Haha, makes you wonder about Lowes then. Our Home Depot never clearances plants and rarely, if ever, has anything new. I have deemed it fruitless to bother looking there anymore.

I am the same way, I like to drive around and look. Folks at Home Depot and Lowes know me, not by name, but they know I come in regularly enough.

Planto

drdawg said:I don't know about the coloration of those pups. All my plants were grown from seed and they were at least 6 mo. old before any color started to show on them. My plants are now almost a year old and still are not fully colored. This picture was taken when the plant was approximately nine months old.

Okay I got a chance to try another camera. This was with the cheap camera and it did a better job than the SLR.