What plant is the Guzmania (Guzmania lingulata), and when is the best time to divide it?

The Guzmania is a common ornamental flowering plant for the home, evergreen all year round, with beautiful and varied inflorescences and rich colors. Many gardening enthusiasts are familiar with it, so when is the best time to divide a Guzmania? How do you divide it?

As for the timing of dividing a Guzmania, division is best done in April each year, and it is only suitable when the offshoot has 6 or more leaves. Temperatures above 30°C make rooting easy.

Division method

Take the mother plant out of the flower pot and twist off the new offshoots by hand. If the offshoot is pressed tightly against the rhizome and cannot be twisted off by hand, you can also cut off the offshoot with a sharp knife.

If the offshoot has no visible roots, the cut is best trimmed into a smooth flat surface, which helps with rooting. Apply plant ash to the wound promptly to disinfect it, and place it in a cool, ventilated place. Wait until the wound has dried and shrunk before planting.

Tips:

The growing conditions for the Guzmania are also very important, first of all light. To keep the bromeliad's leaves bright in color and make it bloom regularly, light is very important; in winter there must be at least 4 to 5 hours of direct sunlight each day. On overcast and rainy days, you can use lights to increase the light. In summer, the seedling pot should be placed in the shade of trees; for indoor cultivation, a shade net can also be set up as needed.

As for watering, the Guzmania likes a humid environment; keeping the potting soil moist on ordinary days is enough, and generally no watering is done on overcast and rainy days.

Red spots are a symptom of brown spot disease, and it is necessary to promptly spray strong fungicides such as carbendazim, Tilt, Amistar or agricultural streptomycin for prevention and control. This is because the timing of spraying water was chosen too late; do not spray water after the evening, as it easily breeds pathogens, and no water should remain on the leaves at night.