How Long Does It Take Bromeliad Pups to Bloom?

Bromeliad Life Cycle

• Bromeliads are a family of plants that includes 56 genera and more than 2,800 species. They are treated like houseplants in most parts of the country, though some varieties, including dyckia (Dyckia spp.) grow outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 12 and are able to take temperatures down to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, while others, like the common vase plant (Guzmania spp.), need the frost-free climate of USDA zones 10 through 12 to thrive outdoors. No matter the type, each plant grows, blooms, and then dies, though it can be in bloom for up to four months and take more than a year to die after that. Bromeliads grown from seed can take at least three years and often longer to bloom, depending on the species.

General Pup Care

• The pups produced around the base of the plant are generally separated from the mother plant and repotted, usually when the pup is about one-third the height of the mother. Since the mother plant can stick around awhile, it can produce several generations of pups when you cut or snap them off from around the base. You can pot pups individually or in a cluster in moist potting mix that drains well; mixes intended for orchids are ideal. They need to be propped up with chopsticks or small stakes until they develop roots, which can take up to six weeks.

Factors Influencing Bloom Time

• Once the pups begin to grow, they flower in one to three years, depending on type, though some take much longer. The largest bromeliad, the rare queen of the Andes (Puya raimondii) takes from 80 to 150 years to flower in the wild. A specimen at the San Francisco Botanical Garden flowered in 2006 for the first time at the age of 33. Aside from genus and species, the length of time a pup stays attached to the mother can influence bloom time. The longer you leave the pups attached to the mother plant, the less time it takes for the pup to mature, because it is able to draw more nutrients from the mother. You can even trim the mother plant back and let the developing pups stay on until the mother dies back entirely. Summers spent outdoors with morning sun, afternoon shade and a pinch of Epsom salts added to its water as the plant matures can speed flowering.

Inducing Bloom

• A mature plant that's growing well but hasn't bloomed sometimes can be forced to bloom. Closing the plant in a paper or plastic bag with an apple for a week -- out of direct sun -- exposes it to the ethylene gas the fruit gives off and starts a chemical reaction within the plant that induces bloom. When effective, you should see a flower stalk in six to eight weeks.