Contents of Newsletter

• Report of the January Meeting
• Main Speaker: Doug Binns on Sincoraea.
• Plant of the Month: Dyckias with Len Waite.
• Practical Session: Scale with John Olsen.
• Results of January Mini Show.
• Upcoming Events
• 2020 Meeting Information

Editors: Maxim Wilson 
maxim.wilson@internode.on.net.

Special Notice:
Plant sales at meetings
New Meeting Start Time 7pm.

Starting with our January Meeting, plant sales will be available during breaks only - before the meeting, from 6:30pm to 7:00pm and during supper for the first ten minutes.

Plant purchases or other payments will not be permitted during the meeting.

We welcome new members Lyn Parry,
Cheri Parks, Judith Lynne, Kayleen Courtney,
Wendy and Scott Hansen,
Clive and Pauline Watson.

Plant of the Month: 
Dyckias with Len Waite.
Len advises it is better to grow Dyckias from seed, than trying to divide mature plants.
Seeds grow well on Cactus/Bromeliad mix.
Later move seedlings to pots with potting mix and sand.
Dyckias need a lot of feeding, and water in the hotter months.

Life cycle of scale: the female lays eggs which hatch into crawlers. Males are mobile looking to mate.
Scale on your plant makes it ineligible to enter plant competitions.
Control: use Eco Oil mixed with Crown insecticide, but Crown is very expensive.
Spectrum 200SC works like Crown, and is said to be cheaper.
Spray your bromeliad, then repeat spray 10 days later to interrupt the life cycle.
Remember, good air circulation of plants minimizes scale infestation.

Guest Speaker, Doug Binns entertained us with a talk on Sincoraea, accompanied by stunning photos. Doug is a plant ecologist interested in bromeliads for 40 years. His garden is a half hectare.
Sincoraeas are localized to the Chapada Diamantina, a small area in central eastern Brazil. Doug made 4 tours of the area of about a month each.
The genus Sincoraea dates from 1908, with S. amoena.
In 1955, Lyman B.Smith moved the few species into Orthophytum.
In 2006, Sincorea genus was resurrected, with 11 species, all present on the FCBS Photo Index.
Doug sees them in 3 groups:
those on exposed outcrops, (albopicta, burle-marxii, rosea.
those on sheltered outcrops and ravines (5), and those undescribed (4).
Chapada Diamantina has a history of diamond mining, which might be expected to threaten the Sincoraeas, but they seem to thrive on the mullock heaps.

Cultivation Sincoraea seem adaptable to the climate in S. E. Queensland. Doug waters them every three days, and from the bottom up, to avoid washing off the scurf.
All his Sincoraea are grown from seed, which is easy, once you have the seed. 
There may be a flowering season, but Doug has seen them bloom at different times of the year.
Doug’s talk stimulated several questions.

Thanks Doug for a fine presentation.

Results of the Mini Show Competition.
Novice:
Class 1:
1st Aechmea ‘Del Mar’ by Coni Smits.
2nd Aechmea chantinii ‘Surprise’ by Coni Smits.
3rd Aechmea ‘Roberto Meneschal’ by Steve Molnar.

Class 2:
1st Vriesea ‘Royal Hawaiian’ by Susan Hall.
2nd Vriesea correia-araujoi x ‘Red Chestnut’ by Coni Smits.

Class3:
1st Dyckia leptostachya by Christine Brittain.
2nd Dyckia fosteriana by Christine Brittain.

Class 4:
1st Tillandsia capitata maron by Jenny Brittain.
2nd Tillandsia stricta x vernicosa by Jenny Brittain.
3rd Nidularium fulgens by Steve Molnar.

Class 5:
1st Tillandsia xerographica by Steve Molnar.
2nd Tillandsia xerographica by Jenny Brittain.
3rd Aechmea haltonii by Coni Smits.

Intermediate 
Class 1: 
1st Aechmea recurvata  by Gilda Trudu.
2nd Aechmea fasciata purpurea  by Gilda Trudu.

Class 2:
1st Goudaea ospinae var gruberi by Livia Doidge.
2nd Vriesea species by Alfonso Trudu.
3rd Vriesea ‘Perret’ by Gilda Trudu.

Class 3:
1st Dyckia ‘Melvin Bunt’s Passion’ byGilda Trudu.
2nd Dyckia species by Alfonso Trudu.
3rd Dyckia ‘Talbot’ by Gilda Trudu.

Class 4:
1st Tillandsia ‘Hal’s Nidus’ by Pam Butler.
2nd Tillandsia andreana by Alfonso Trudu.
3rd Neoregelia ‘Big O’ by Livia Doidge.

Class 5:
1st Tillandsia straminea by Maxim Wilson.
2nd Tillandsia xerographica (x brachycaulus) by Livia Doidge.
3rd Tillandsia magnispica by Maxim Wilson.

Advanced
Class 1: 
1st Aechmea recurvata ‘Zeta’ by Barbara McCune.
2nd Aechmea recurvata by 

Class 2: 
1st Vriesea fosteriana x hieroglyphica by Barry Kable.
2nd Vriesea concerto by Barbara McCune.
3rd Vriesea ‘Warana Mist’ by Barbara McCune.

Class 3: 
1st Dyckia estevesii by Barbara McCune.
2nd Dyckia ‘Betty Farnhill’ by Barry Kable.
3rd Dyckia ‘Talbot  hybrid’ by Barbara McCune.

Class 4:
1st Tillandsia lieboldiana by Barry Kable.
2nd Tillandsia xerographica x fasciculata by Ron Jell.
3rd Tillandsia ‘Te Ngakau’ by Bruce Dunstan.

Class 5:
1st Tillandsia fasciculata ‘Dennis’ by Ron Jell.
2nd Tillandsia xerographica by Bruce Dunstan.
3rd Tillandsia capitata by Ron Jell.

2.    Both types of competition consist of three divisions and have the same entry requirements for all Competitors:
•    NOVICE – open to all members of the Society who have not competed before or have not won the Novice Division in an Annual Mini Show in previous years. (New members with extensive experience in growing bromeliads may be expected to automatically transfer to the Intermediate or Advanced Division depending on their level of experience).
•    INTERMEDIATE – open to any member who, in previous years, has won the Novice Division of the Annual Mini Show competition or has extensive bromeliad growing experience. Promotion to this Division occurs automatically in the year following winning the Novice Division in the overall annual Mini Show competition.
•    ADVANCED – for all other members not covered by the requirements of Novice or Intermediate Divisions. Promotion to this Division from the Intermediate Division occurs when the member has won the Intermediate Division annual Mini Show awards twice.