The December 9th meeting is at 2:00 P.M. at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Classroom #3. Please bring a friend and some food or drinks. (Cookies, candy, cheese, crackers, chip, dip, or salsa)

Dana Field is sending us plants for our bingo prizes. We will also be having a plant raffle for a bromeliad from Jamaican Gardens. All Bromeliad Society members get free parking for the meetings. (Regular parking lot in the winter!)

At 1:00 P.M., the executive committee is meeting in classroom #3 to plan next years meetings. Anyone else interested is invited to attend.

This newsletter issue is a look at other Society Newsletters across the United States. The first is an article from the Nov/Dec 2001 issue of the Southeastern Michigan Bromeliad Society.

A Winter Caveat:

As days grow shorter, plant metabolism slows. Even if our house temperature remains unchanged, bromeliads cannot grow as much during a 9-10 hour fall/winter day as they did during the 15 hour summer days. To accommodate the metabolic slowdown we can go a bit easier on the water (keeping tanks full but letting plants dry out a bit between waterings). We can put the plants in a location where they get the strongest light available. Sometimes that means simply moving them closer to the window. We can keep the plants cooler, also accomplished by moving them closer to the window. Cooler air is more humid, a real boon for plants existing in the 20-30% relative humidity typical of homes in winter. Fertilizing should be suspended until March to avoid a toxic buildup of fertilizer salts which the plants can't absorb. There is a silver lining: at low temperatures the flowering process slows down so we can enjoy the flowers over a longer period of time. Next time your Billbergia blooms, put on your sweater, then put the plant in a 55°-60° room.

Did 'Ya Ever Wonder?

Jay Thurrott

Did 'ya ever wonder how much light is 'low light' and how much more does it take to become 'bright light' and , eventually, 'full sun'?

If someone can answer this one, bromeliad lovers worldwide would be very appreciative! I've rambled on about this before, but wouldn't you think that someone would come up with a quantitative measurement (sorry, that's the chemist in me coming through) for the level of light striking a plant's leaves? I know, there's always a light meter reading...but good light meters are a little pricey and unless you take average readings over some time, they don't really take into account those moving shadows or the filtered light that comes through the gently rustling leaves in shade trees. No.. Light strikes the meter, the reading jumps up; shadow hits the meter, the reading goes down-what number do you use? And, as if that is not confusing enough-the same amount of light that brings out the brightest colors in bromeliad leaves in the summer (when the humidity is high and the plants are in an active growth period) burns the leaves in the springtime (when the humidity is low and plants are just entering that growth period). You wind up with a plant with ugly brown spots on the leaves. Is two hours of bright sunlight enough? Is six hours sun too much? Most of us who enjoy growing bromeliads and have had some success over the years are aware of this and visually keep track of the amount of light on our plants. If it seems that too much light is hitting them, we just move them to a shadier location. This is what comes with experience. But how do you explain this to the new hobbyist who wants to know exactly where to place his newly purchased bromeliad? "Can I put it in my front yard?" "How about the north side of my house?" I can't tell you if that's a good spot unless you take me home with you and I watch that spot for a day or so. Honestly, sometimes you just find yourself lapsing into the mantra: Filtered light...go toward the filtered light!