Alcantarea Bromeliad Species, Imperial Bromeliad

On Oct 28, 2014, Torc from San Diego, CA wrote:

This is a wonderful plant. I live in SoCal and have two. I have them in large pots on pedestals made of concrete blocks (aka cinder blocks) that are stacked three high. This keeps the dogs and even the ants away from them. I will post photos. They are growing pretty much in full sun. I live in an area were they do get a sea breeze which I think helps. I flush them every day or so and water them with the flushed (nasty smelling) water from the bases of the leaves since I suspect it contains nutrients that they would receive were not growing in pots. I don't use any commercial fertilizer, only the flushed water. I do mist or shower them just about every day as the climate here is extremely dry. They do stand up well to cold. They have never been exposed to frost and once when there was a rar... read moree threat of the temperature falling below 32F/0C during the night, I covered them with old cotton bed sheets. The birds use them to bathe and drink. My only caveat, if you have one, is beware of the spiders that nest in them. The spiders do catch the mosquitos that hatch from the larvae that escape the flushing out, so I let them be. One plant has pupped but not yet flowered and it also has a very odd-looking (for me, at least) forked growth from its base, of which I am posting a photo. If anybody has ever encountered a similar growth on one of these plants, I'd appreciate the feedback.

On Aug 10, 2003, Monocromatico from Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (Zone 11) wrote:

This is a magnificent giant bromeliad, reaching up to 1,2m tall, but can grow up to 2m when blooming, It has large leaves, with a dark green superior page, and a purple inferior page. The spineless leaves form a rosette that acumulates water. It´s not only important ecologically, but it´s also necessary to keep it constantly full of water. It´s one of the largest bromeliads of the world, losing to species of the Andine genus Puya and maybe a very few isolated others from other genera (though I doubt they can grow that tall).

The inflorescence is huge for a bromeliad. White flowers protected by large bracts. The color of the bracts may vary from purple to dark green. The flowers atract a profusion of flying animals, from bees, butterflies, to bats and birds.

... read more It´s a living ecossystem that vegetates on the southeastern mountains of Brazil, mostly on cracks on the rocks with little organic, moist soil, but it will tolerate moderately moist soils, as long as you keep the tank full of water. Likes full sun and subtropical climates. It can be propagated from seeds that will float long distances if you don´t bag the seed heads. I´m not sure if it will produce any buds or can be propagated by any other way.