Hi all,

I have never gardened before and have very little idea what i'm doing at all. I have bought a couple of books and I have been following the advice within and slowly learning however the first thing I found was that you had to know what the actual plants were that you have to be able to look after them properly (seems very complicated).

I have tried to identify some but there are just so many that I don't even have a clue what category of plant they are let alone the actual plant.So I was wondering if someone might be able to at least steer me into the right direction of even a type og plant so I can search for it.

thanks so much.



This plant is kept indoors but don't know what it is!
As you can see there are some dead bits on the end of the leaves! what causes this?

Can you id or tell me where to start looking for these please.

Moved to Plant ID forum.

Tack,

1. Cordyline fruticosa,
https://www.google.be/search?q...
the brown leaf tops could be caused by lack of humidity in the air.
We do have a Houseplant Forum with knowledgeable people..
http://garden.org/forums/view/...

2. A Bromeliad, not sure what kind..others will know more..

3. Dracaena marginata
Dragon Tree (Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia)

The 3rd & 4th photos are bromeliads - are they the same plant or two different ones? The first is an Aechmea variety, looks like Aechmea gamosepala.

The second (if not the same plant as the first one) looks to possibly be a type of Billbergia. Hard to tell which variety without a full view of the plant and bloom photos.

Both are easy to care for: bright light, some sun ok, keep soil only slightly moist. Water plants from the top keeping some water in the "cups" formed by the leaves. Most bromeliads absorb their water and nutrients from the water in their leaf cups instead of from the soil. If the soil is kept too wet they will rot quickly, so in regards to soil moisture, it is best to err on the dry side.

thanks so much for your kind replies. Much appreciated. As I have said I need help and advice I can get. Thanks.

bonitin said: Tack,

1. Cordyline fruticosa,

the brown leaf tops could be caused by lack of humidity in the air.
We do have a Houseplant Forum with knowledgeable people..


2. A Bromeliad, not sure what kind..others will know more..

3. Dracaena marginata

Thanks Bonitin, yes you are absolutely correct. I have looked at the your suggestions and compared them with the actual plants and they look to be an exact match.

thanks so much for your help

Carter said:The 3rd & 4th photos are bromeliads - are they the same plant or two different ones? The first is an Aechmea variety, looks like Aechmea gamosepala.

The second (if not the same plant as the first one) looks to possibly be a type of Billbergia. Hard to tell which variety without a full view of the plant and bloom photos.

Both are easy to care for: bright light, some sun ok, keep soil only slightly moist. Water plants from the top keeping some water in the "cups" formed by the leaves. Most bromeliads absorb their water and nutrients from the water in their leaf cups instead of from the soil. If the soil is kept too wet they will rot quickly, so in regards to soil moisture, it is best to err on the dry side.

thanks Carter,

I have compared the aechmea gamosepala with other photos and it seems to be a dead match but as you say the second one is harder to identify. It is possible that they are the same but when looking at them here side by side the leaves do appear to be slightly different.

I will treat it as an aechmea and hopefully i will get it to flower, if thats the right word.

thanks for your help, thats great.

Tack said:

thanks Carter,

I have compared the aechmea gamosepala with other photos and it seems to be a dead match but as you say the second one is harder to identify. It is possible that they are the same but when looking at them here side by side the leaves do appear to be slightly different.

I will treat it as an aechmea and hopefully i will get it to flower, if thats the right word.

thanks for your help, thats great.

So they are two separate plants? It looked like it, but I wasn't positive from the pics. If that is the case, the second one is definitely a different variety of bromeliad, and if I had to guess, I'd think it was a kind of Billbergia as I mentioned before. There are so many different hybrids that look similar, it might be really difficult to narrow that one down. A bloom will definitely confirm Billbergia or not, but not necessarily the specific type of Billbergia. Can you post a pic of that whole plant from the side view?

thanks Carter, sorry about the delay in getting back to you. Just a few things on that interrupted my gardening adventure.

yes they are separate plants and I have found a better plant to photograph that is in much better health than the other that I posted.

This one has no flower either but the colouring is more evident.

thanks again for your help and interest and expertise.








I hope that these help.