| My urn plant hasn't bloomed for a year. There have been baby plants sprouting from it, it hasn't bloomed. Please tell me what i have to do to get it to bloom again . thankyou, Pat. |
| What you are describing is perfectly normal and your original plant will not bloom again. The colorful part of your Aechmea is composed of bracts, or modified leaves. That means the plant will remain pretty for a long time. Once the plant finishes flowering and the bracts fade, the whole plant will seem to die. However, there will probably be some small plants, called offsets that develop at the base of the "mother plant". These can be grown to replace the parent and, after becoming large enough, they will also bloom and die. Their offsets will then continue the process. While the original plant is blooming, water it by putting water in the "well" formed by the tightly grouped leaves. A little water in the soil won't hurt, but the plant takes most of its water from the foliar well. Don't give it concentrated fertilizer in the well. A very-much-diluted liquid houseplant fertilizer can be used to water the plant once a month or so. Dilute the liquid fertilizer to about one-fourth the recommended houseplant concentration. Once the offsets begin forming, water them in the same manner, but be even more careful when fertilizing. As the offsets grow, you can separate them and pot them separately. Don't cut the stem too closely to the leaves. Cut at the point where the offsets join the parent plant. Then discard the parent plant. |
