As you know, guzmania is a plant that, after its time, dies. However, with any luck, it is possible that, before doing so, it will leave you some children. One of the usual questions of the guzmania towards the children is, how do they separate?
Well, this time we are going to focus on that ideal moment and we will give you the keys so you know how to separate them and the advantages and disadvantages that you can have when doing it (or leaving them). You are ready?
How to separate guzmania from children
If you have had guzmanias you will know that, After flowering, the most normal thing is for the plant to wither and the leaves to dry up. In fact, it is normal to lose it and not be able to do anything to avoid it (it is its life cycle). However, before that happens, surely you have noticed how other little plants grew around it. These are the suckers and they are the ones that, after the death of the mother plant, will continue to provide you with new flowers and also new suckers. Thus, we can say that you are not going to lose the plant, but that you will experience the whole process.
Now, how are they separated from each other?
The first thing to keep in mind is that, to do anything, you're going to need to get the plant out of the pot. You will have to remove all the substrate you can from the plant to be able to see the suckers you have (in fact, it is normal for some to have come out, but surely there may be others hidden.
Once you have all the children located, You will have to remove them carefully so that you do not break the shoot or the small roots that it may have.
The next step, once you have the shoots, is to plant it in a pot. We recommend that you do it in a substrate of peat, perlite and worm humus, so that you have a better chance of success and at the same time give them a lot of nutrients. That way they will have an "energy shot" with which they will be able to develop much better.
When should the children of Guzmania be separated?
One of the doubts that you may have when separating the children of the guzmania is the moment to do it. Some believe that it is best to do it before the mother plant withers, to prevent its rotting from affecting the pups in any way.
However, others believe that it is not good to remove them until they are well developed, even if the mother plant no longer continues.
The truth is that experts recommend separating only when the guzmania's children are at least one-third the size of the parent plant. In this way, a knife is used to give a clean and precise cut with which to do as little damage as possible to that new plant.
How many children can a guzmania have
In general, a guzmania It is a plant that can have up to six children. However, we cannot state this categorically because it may be the case that he only has one child, or none at all; or on the contrary, that she has eight or more.
Many are of the opinion that, if you want a guzmania to have many children, you have to separate the young as soon as possible, because that way the plant is encouraged to grow more. But, that also exhausts the plant sooner, so you have to keep that in mind.
While the care of the guzmania is something that will influence the offspring that the guzmania will leave you, the state of the plant would also enter into this, if it has been well cared for since it was little or not, etc.
What is better, leaving the children or separating them?
And here is the big question. As you have seen before, we have explained the process to separate the children of the guzmania, but what happens if they are left with the mother plant? And if they don't break up? What advantages, and disadvantages, are there both to separate and to leave them alone? Well then, let's see it.
Let's talk first about the advantages of leaving the hijuelos de la guzmania untouched. And therefore developing and growing all in the same pot. One of the first is that by growing up with their mother and being nourished by her, they will develop greater resistance, besides that their flowering will be faster when transplanted. In these cases, all you have to do is remove the dry foliage of the mother that is dying and keep the area very clean to avoid diseases from it.
On the other hand, Leaving the children with the mother is the same as what happens in nature, in their natural habitat. In this way you will get a wider and denser bush, and also more attractive. You even get all the plants to flower at the same time because they are born, grow and develop at the same time.
Although those are the advantages that you will find when leaving them, we must also talk about the disadvantages. One of them is the fact of the lack of space. If you have them in a pot, sooner or later they will need more space to grow or else they will they could stop, or worse, get sick from not being able to get the nutrients they need.
In addition, When the children are left to the guzmania, she will not throw more, so if it only has one, you can keep only one (and if it is a plant that you appreciate very much, you will not like it to be lost for anything).
How long does it take for children to get ahead?
Once you plant them in their pots, with the substrate that we have recommended, you must continue taking care of them like the guzmania you had. However, it will not be until about four months have passed that she will be perfectly rooted and mature.
In the meantime, they will only be young plants and, as such, you have to be a little more aware of them so that they do not leave us. If those months pass and you see that it succeeds, be happy because it will mean that you are closer to enjoying your flowers again.
Yes, We warn you that it will not be as fast as you may think. And it is that, after those four months, in which you can already see your plant as a mature guzmania, It will take about two years until you see it in flower. So do not be scared if you see that it does not bloom because it is normal.
Of course, it can also happen that it blooms earlier, but that will depend on many factors, both specific to the plant and external to you.
Has it already become clear to you how to separate the children of the guzmania?