My Plant

My mother-in-law bought me a plant for our condo. She assured me that it only needed watering once every two weeks and was very easy to care for. I do not have a grand history of keeping plants alive (I think I once even killed a cactus) so I was a bit skeptical, but once every two weeks? I could handle that. She also told me that the plant produces little babies. The only thing I could deduce from that was that this plant was some kind of fertility plant. So, at the same time, this gift was more than just a gift. It was a test. I had to prove to my mother-in-law that I could keep this plant alive because if I can't keep the plant healthy and strong, how am I going to care for a baby? Right?

Diligently, once every two weeks, I watered the plant. I let the soil dry out between waterings as the instructions stated. I gave it light (and love). And still (!) it slowly began to wither and shrivel and die. Then, I gave up. I stopped watering it and just left it on the window sill to eek out its last days.

Last night I got frustrated. At why I can never keep plants alive. I cut some of the leaves back and immediately jumped on the internet. Googling "plant with pink center" until I figured out exactly what I had (a bromeliad.) I visited bromeliad care sites, bromeliad society sites, and even found some doctoral thesis on the little buggers.

And you know what I found out? The plant is SUPPOSED to die! Yes, have you ever heard of such a thing? Once the plant flowers, it completely shuts down - giving all of its energy to the birth of a "pup" or offshoot, or as my mother-in-law put it, a "baby." I inspected my plant and low and behold, it had produced a pup.

See that offshoot, above? That's the pup.

Now the question is (according to the myriad of websites on the topic) - do I transplant the offshoot, or do I leave it there, allowing the "mother" plant to produce more pups?

I've got to think this one over a bit. With my history, though, I'm sure that whatever I decide for the fate of this pup, the poor plant will eventually die. I'll keep you posted.