Contents of Newsletter
- Details for this coming meeting.
- Report on the July Meeting:
- Information Session: Mounting Tillandsias with Steve Molnar.
Plant of the Month - Orthophytum with Barbara Murray.
- Guest Presenter: Lyn Wegner on the Bromeliad Society International.
- Mini Show Vote Winners.
- Upcoming Events.
- 2021 Meeting Information.
Editor: Maxim Wilson maxim.wilson@internode.on.net.
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President Pam Butler opened the meeting and welcomed new members.
A Special General Meeting considered spending a further $4,180 on the printing of the new edition of ‘Starting With Bromeliads’ by Robert Reilly.
In the AGM earlier this year, $6,000 was approved.
It is now A4 size, and will cost more. 2000 books have been bought,
700 have already been sold for $7,000.
The motion was carried. Pam closed the Meeting.
BSQ is offering members this special discounted price until the end of 2021.
Members Special – 1st book $5, Additional books $10 each
From January 2022 the selling price will be $20
Purchase from BSQ Monthly Meetings or Spring Show, or contact sales@bromsqueensland.com.au to order and have books posted to you, additional cost for postage is – 1 book = $6, 2 books =$12.50, 3 or 4 books = $15.50 5 or more books $20.
We have updated the cash register to a POS System
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Members Meeting 19th August. |
Members Meeting 16th September. |
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Info Session –
Rob Murray: 'Using Online Information'. |
Info Session –
Steve Molnar - Seed raising |
Plant of the Month -Spring Flowering Tillandsias with Nev Ryan. |
Plant of the Month –
Portea and Quesnelia |
Guest Speaker - Nev Ryan |
Guest Speaker – Peter Tristram |
Topic - Forms of Tillandsia tectorum. |
Topic - TBA |
Competition - Popular Vote (see below) |
Competition - Popular Vote (see below) |
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Information Session.
Mounting Tillandsias with Steve Molnar.
Steve showed his range of tools/pliers used to make labels and aluminium wire structures to hold Tillandsia, large and small.
Steve buys aluminium Venetian blinds from Bunnings, and with a craft guillotine, cuts them into lengths for labels.
He then makes a right angle near one end of label, then curls it around the aluminium wire used to support the plant.
Or, he punches a hole in one end, that will permit the aluminium wire to pass through.
Spiral mounts:
He rolls aluminium wire around wooden dowling:
He generally uses 2mm aluminium wire, but 1.4mm for small plants, and up to 4mm for Tillandsia fasciculata.
Steve makes a loop at the bottom end of the wire so he can link together other mounts, creating a daisy chain effect.
Suspending Tillandsias in these aluminium mounts permit air circulation, essential to healthy plants.
These mounts are effective for mini Neos. too.
Steve gets his aluminium wire from Badger Wire, N.S.W. wiresales2144@badgerwire.com.au
He uses a Stabilo 8008 pencil obtained from an orchid equipment supplier.
He cuts back the bristles of a small paintbrush for use in brushing dirt and scale off bromeliads.
Thanks Steve for your useful demonstration of aluminium labels and mounts.
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Plant of the Month was Orthophytum with Barbara Murray.
Orthophytums are a genus of bromeliads that come from restricted area in Central and eastern Brazil.
They are hardy, cold resistant, prefer good light, and are exclusively terrestrial.
Vegetative reproduction occurs in two ways: offsets develop on the flower, and at the base of the plant.
They are succulent,ie, the leaves store water.
They are spiny, but not severe.
Left alone, a plant will clump, or you can pot out single plants.
Green is their dominant leaf colour, while flowers are always white.
Cultivation: fertilise when potting the pup, not after that.
They prefer bright light, and can acclimatise to full sun.
They need adequate water, don’t like to be dry.
They have no tank to store water, unlike most bromeliads.
Barbara got seed from Eric Gouda, in Utrecht,
and succeeded in growing them.
Pam showed a selection from her large collection.
Thanks Barbara for sharing your passion for Orthophytums.
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Guest Speaker was Lyn Wegner who spoke to us on Zoom
from New London, South Africa. Lyn is President of the Bromeliad Society International (BSI), and told us about the operation of the BSI.
Lyn joined the BSI in 2004 to be part of the world of bromeliads. Lyn found the BSI journal rather technical, but since then, the Journal has aimed for a balance between the technical, and articles for the general collector.
She recommended everyone to join the BSI.
The BSI has 756 members, 497 are in the USA.
Australia has the next largest membership with 82, then 22 from Japan,
19 from Germany, 18 from South Africa,13 from Holland, 11 in the UK.
All receive the BSI journal, 599 receive the hard copy,
the rest get it online for only $15 annually.
Lyn complimented Geoff Lawn from Perth who operates the Bromeliad Cultivar Register (BCR). This is a BSI initiative. Geoff took over from ‘Uncle Derek’ Butcher from Adelaide.
The BCR is a valuable resource for identifying hybrids and cultivars.
The BSI management is international, with the journal editor in New Zealand (Andrew Flower), the webmaster Eric Gouda in The Netherlands, so management meetings are held on Zoom.
The next World Bromeliad Conference is to be held in Sarasota, Florida in June 2022.
Lyn referred to exporting bromeliads by seeds, and this drew attention to our own seed bank run by Peter Ball. Members are invited to see Peter for seeds.
Lyn attempted to show us around her garden, but the wifi did not permit that.
Thanks to Lyn Wegner for an introduction to the World of Bromeliads,
and to Rob Murray, whose computer skills enabled the session.
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Members are entitled to a $20 voucher per membership for use at the Spring Show only. These will be available for collection at the August and September meetings. Country members can collect on arrival at the Show.
Commencing in September, the committee has allocated a further lucky door prize of an annual BSI electronic membership. The membership lasts for 12 months and includes electronic delivery of the BSI journal. This draw will last for 11 meetings.
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