Tillandsia care

Use this forum to discuss matters relating to xeric Bromeliads such as Hechtia, Dyckia, Puya, Tillandsia and related species. This is where one posts unknown plant photos for ID help.
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Cactifan800
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Tillandsia care

#1

Post by Cactifan800 »

About a month ago I purchased a dozen or so different varieties of Tillandsia's.
I have quite a few of the bulby types (butzi, Medusa, bulbosa) and a few different types of ionantha.

Can they grow normally if you do not mount them? Currently I'm dunking them in water for 1 hour, twice per week and than place them on a dry surface (glass with pebbles).
They recieve bright light and gets dunked into micracle-gro once a week.
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#2

Post by Stan »

That's waaay too much often feeding them. If you keep them outdoors and in no hurry..never is about how often they need to be fed.
Outdoors, I found that bulbous Tillandsias are happiest mounted upside down. The bulbs shed water best and it seems to me most photos I've seen of them in habitat are of them growing upside down or sideways.
My small bunch of Tillandsia butzii look pretty good upside down. Of course if that's what they prefer,it's not upside down when you think about it. Its US who try to force them to live upside down to them.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#3

Post by Cactifan800 »

So they live upside down in nature? Does the leaves try to face upwards if you hang them upside down?

I will cut down on the feeding :D

Can you use construction adhesive or silicon to mount them?
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#4

Post by Stan »

Cactifan800 wrote:So they live upside down in nature? Does the leaves try to face upwards if you hang them upside down?

I will cut down on the feeding :D

Can you use construction adhesive or silicon to mount them?
No,the leaves actually face down. It's a hard look to get used too..but they do better,I noticed it myself after rotting out bulbous plants over the years. That stopped when I did the upside down thing.
You might try Super glue gel. Its fast. Or any brand like it. Silicone works,but its slow to cure.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#5

Post by Cactifan800 »

I hanged this no id tillandsia with cotton twine.
Did I do it right? How can I make it look more natural?
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Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#6

Post by Stan »

Fine,just exchange the twine for wire. That Tillandsia will in a couple of years break that twine..and then you have the risk of the nice clump breaking into small pieces..like back to square one. It could be T.bergeri...fast grower for a Tillandsia.
It and that Monstera grow easily outdoors in Sydney.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#7

Post by Cactifan800 »

Stan wrote:Fine,just exchange the twine for wire. That Tillandsia will in a couple of years break that twine..and then you have the risk of the nice clump breaking into small pieces..like back to square one. It could be T.bergeri...fast grower for a Tillandsia.
It and that Monstera grow easily outdoors in Sydney.
I didn't think about the twine breaking. I will use wire or fishing line.
As for the monstera, I'm just keeping it insect free before a relative of mine pick it up.
I don't want to risk my tilandsia outdoors, we have magpies and mynah birds that will steal plants. I have bulbs stolen, aloe/haworthia dug up and cacti chewed. Those bastards :D
We have monstera growing all over the place in Sydney. I'm going to see if Monstera adansonsi and R. Tetrasperma will survive outdoors this season.
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#8

Post by Stan »

Those last two will grow easy enough in Sydney. They both grow in soucal just fine,and the R.tetrasperma is known to grow in the bay area. I had one and ..for some reason gave,GAVE!, it away large in a pot. Actually I had the monstera too..but it died outdoors in one long cold rainy winter long ago. If I were to try again I think it would be a different story. I might have learned some things in 20 years of this. They used to be common at Home Depot...then went absent years ago.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#9

Post by Cactifan800 »

I have seen people that scout nuseries for popular plants.
They just buy the lot and try to resell them.
R.tetrasperma, M. Adansoni and different types of peperomia.
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#10

Post by Stan »

One thing I noticed about the bulbous plants? If you look close,the leaves have a groove in the middle that looks to help it shed water..upside down.
There's a photo on the internet of the bulbous Tillandsia's growing by the thousands on Mangrove trees in Mexico. Not a single one is upright..many are even sideways- seems to me hardest way to keep a grip on a branch,but they like it.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#11

Post by Cactifan800 »

Yeah it certainly does. What is odd to me is that bromelaids like to store water in between the leaves, yet Tillandsias like to shed water.
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Viegener
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Re: Tillandsia care

#12

Post by Viegener »

I'm pretty neglectful of my tillandsias here in LA - they often go two weeks without water, but they're thriving. I think they like it on the drier side. Also mine are either in dense arrangements or big old clumps. I think single plants dry out faster, but they help each other in large groupings. If you see them in the wild they are usually in enormous clumps.

You don't need to soak them in water. The leaves are specialized in picking up moisture very quickly, and after that they shed it. A lot of tillandsias live from fog and mist in tropical climates. I just spray them down with my garden hose on a sprinkle setting.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#13

Post by Cactifan800 »

I have been spraying the hangers every few days.
The ones in glass are dunked twice a week. I plan to hang them all eventually. Dunking has caused offsets to fall off.
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#14

Post by Stan »

Sounds like the dunkers are indoors? They are not indoor plants. They need sun,fresh humid air ( always more humid than indoors,even in dry climates) flowing around them.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Cactifan800
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Re: Tillandsia care

#15

Post by Cactifan800 »

Yes they are on a window sill in my bedroom. I was watching a gardening show on TV and they said Tillandsia are the "IT" plants for indoors right now :D

I will get them outdoors soon...surprisingly, I have noticed a few news leaves and they look pretty perfect growing indoors.
Stan
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Re: Tillandsia care

#16

Post by Stan »

Cactifan800 wrote:Yes they are on a window sill in my bedroom. I was watching a gardening show on TV and they said Tillandsia are the "IT" plants for indoors right now :D

I will get them outdoors soon...surprisingly, I have noticed a few news leaves and they look pretty perfect growing indoors.
Windowsill helps,but I guarantee you that soon you will tire of that high intensity dunk and spritz....and take them outdoors. When you do? make sure they are in light shade to acclimate them to more light.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
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