Viewing post #1272337 by Tack

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.