Tillandsia

Well, I have acquired another plant that is well adapted to an environment that is nothing like here! It's labeled "Aeranthos x Stricta Hybrid ", and is about to flower. This is my first Tillandsia, and I'm curious about its habits. I've read what I can find, but love to hear from those with more experience. This one has stubby little roots, are they functional at all? It's small with no pups, will it die after flowering? The local agaves always do, but the naturally growing ones will leave lots of offsets and sometimes baby plants will sprout along the flower stalk. Anyhow, meanwhile it is interesting and looks like it will have a nice flower, even without a lot of roots. I'd be happy to hear any suggestions for care!

I grow lots of Tillandsia but have pretty much gone to only carrying/growing those native to America, specifically S. Florida. I just find it interesting to grow native plants, at least when it comes to the Tillandsia.

Yes, without pups, your plant will die. That being said, pups will often not form until flowering or even weeks/months after flowering. So don't despair!

Those roots supply practically no nutrition. They are more to anchor the plant. Spray the leaves regularly for maximum growth, health, and flowering. Since I grow many hundreds of orchids as well as hundreds of other tropical plants along with the Tillandsia, my Tillandsia get fertilized all the time. I just use more diluted fertilizer than the label calls for. A great phrase to remember when it comes to fertilization is "Weakly-weekly".

These are all native to Florida.

Oh wow, great pictures! I didn't know we had any natives. I like the mounts, is that second one on cork? How do you water the mounted ones? What I read was to immerse the whole plant every few days, and don't leave any water on the roots, such as they are. Do the mounted ones grab on and hold? How did you get them started? Thanks for the pictures and info.

Gosh, lots of questions here.

Yes, cork. I use sweet gum, hickory, heart-pine, cypress, cedar, oak, and Gulf of Mexico driftwood. I have some wood that nobody knows what it is! Of coarse cork as well. I actually use cypress that is documented to be a minimum of 150 years old. The stand of cypress was cut back in 1924 (the Corps of Engineers drained the property and the cypress would have died, in case there are "tree-huggers" out there............LOL) and the rings of the cypress were counted. I also have cypress knees that make really beautiful and interesting mounts.

I use a pump-up sprayer/mister in the late fall and winter, when the Tillandsia are inside my greenhouses. They are simply watered with a hose in the spring, summer, and early fall. I don't worry about what gets wet and what doesn't. Do you think Tillandsia, growing wild, doesn't get rained on? The roots of Tillandsia are mainly for anchorage, so yes, those roots will grab-hold onto the wood mounts.

I am not sure about the question of how I got them started. Sorry.

Ken

Hey, these guys are pretty! What can I do to encourage a pup?
On the mounted ones--is there a drainage hole at the bottom of the cupped part?

I know of no way to encourage pup formation. What do you mean "Cupped-part?"

On the mounted plants--is there a little cupped area in the wood where the plant sits? Or are they sticking by their roots (or glue?) to a slab? The roots seem so pitiful, it is very strange to me to pick the plant up by the leaves and move it around, that doesn't work with anything else I have! If it survives flowering, I'd like to give it a better base. Will they survive if planted with an orchid companion? Thanks for your replies, it's great to have advice--I do appreciate it.

No, the plants are all attached over sphagnum moss/coconut fiber, and then wrapped with a light layer of coconut fiber (to hold everything together). There are no cups or anything else to hold water. These epiphytes want moisture but then want to dry out quickly.

I do occasionally use a 1/2 coconut shell,with holes, that is wired to the wood mount, but that's another story.

I have never used glue.

I mix Tillandsia and orchids, and, since they both need basically the same care and growing conditions, this works fine. I also mount different orchid varieties on the same mount, giving a completely different result. That's a bold move for most orchid growers, but I don't mind stretching the envelope. Different varieties grow along-side each other in nature, so why not?

Ken

Hmmm, this is getting a little clearer, thanks! Would Tillandsia grow in a basket, in orchid medium? Would the poor little things grow roots and actually anchor themselves? I guess that's not the point for "air plants", maybe I'll try mounting it if it survives. Are any natural woods toxic to plants? We have a lot of juniper and cedar here, but it's quite aromatic and I wonder if it would discourage growth. I am somewhat of a tree hugger, thank you very much, but am happy to see wood recycled into fun projects whenever possible. None of us goes on forever! Your greenhouse must be a lot of fun, you've figured out things that work where you are.

I use cedar all the time without problems. Mainly I would just shy away from treated wood, regardless of the wood. Here is what I use, and I have numerous pieces of wood that even the tree experts can't identify: heart pine, cedar, cypress and cypress knees, oaks, hickory, walnut, Gulf of Mexico driftwood (who knows what these exotic woods are?), grape vine (CA), sweet gum, and Portuguese cork.

Since Tillandsia grows on fixed structures, I always mount mine on wood of some sort. I really don't know whether it/they would grow well or at all in orchid mixes. That being said, I have stuck handfuls of T. recurvata "Ball Moss" in small clay pots, and it seems to be doing fine. There is no media in the pots, just the ball moss. What you might try, if you want some Tillandsia in baskets, to mount the Tillandsia on some sort of wood, and then put that into a basket of orchid mix. That just might work. Heck, I might just do that and see for myself.

Ken

After considering the usually very low humidity levels here, and browsing on-line products, do you think a tree-fern basket with some coir fiber stuffing might give the air-plant a better home? If the Tillandsia fails to survive blooming, I could re-use the basket for a small orchid. I'll have to look into ball moss, sounds odd and rootless also!

All Tillandsia have roots. They seem to form enough roots to latch onto whatever they are growing on. Again, I just don't know about growing Tillandsia in different fashions. All mine are mounted on various woods. The nice thing about growing Tillandsia, particularly in your area, is that they prefer to stay on the dry side. But they do like humidity. I mist mine all the time and in the spring-fall, when they are all outside, they just get sprayed with water from a hose every week or so.

Keep in mind that it could be weeks/months after blooming before the plant will pup. Be patient. As long as the "mother" plant has color, there is the possibility of a pup(s) forming.

Ken

Update: The flower is long gone, but I have three pups sprouting among the leaves, so I think this one will live. I've been tossing it into the dog's water bucket for a good soaking every few days, and misting in between. I'm going to try to mount it on a small tree fern slab, I want to see if the roots will develop and stick. Thanks for all the good advice!