Tillandsia air plants care and culture

Tillandsia air plant is a genus of the family Bromeliaceae. This genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after the Swedish physician and botanist Dr. Elias Tillandz.

IDENTIFY TILLANDSIA AIR PLANT

Tillandsia air plant is native to the forests, mountains and deserts of Central and South America, the southern United States and the West Indies. They normally grow without soil while attached to tree branches, barks, bare rocks, etc.

Most of them are epiphytes, some are aerophytes. Their roots are mainly used as anchors. The Tillandsias absorb water and nutrients through their leaves, covered with so-called trichomes (epidermal cells that have the shape of small hairs) that capture the humidity of the air and rain. The more arid the areas from which the various species come and the longer their trichomes. It is a very important indication regarding their cultivation, because the Tillandsias with the long trichomes (the T. tectorum) do not absolutely love the excess of water, while those with the almost absent trichomes (the T. bulbous) need frequent wetting.

Tillandsia plant has a relatively short life: 2 to 10 years (usually 2-4 years). The culmination of their life cycle is the flowering, after which the plant gives life to the side jets (from 1 to 4) and withers as they mature and become adult plants. Some species (T. ionantha or T. aeranthos) form new jets very easily, sometimes even before flowering; while in others (T. xerographica) they can die without producing them.

TILLANDSIA AIR PLANT CARE AND CULTURE

Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.

Light:

Almost all Tillandsia air plants can tolerate direct sun in the morning and in the afternoon, but in the hottest hours (12 to 16 in summer and 12 to 15 in winter) they need protection, not so much for the intensity of the light but rather for the heat produced. Then there are certain species (T. aeranthos) that love a lot of light and grow in full sun all year round. For most species, 20000-30000 lux can be fine with a 12-hour photoperiod.

Temperature:

Tillandsias come from the various countries of Central America. The temperatures vary according to the area (south or north, mountain or plain), however they all adapt to intermediate / intermediate-hot conditions: 17-29 ° C in summer and 10-22 ° C in winter. We must remember to decrease the wetting during the coldest periods.

Humidity:

These air plants need the minimum humidity level of 50%; ideal 60-70%.

Substrate, growing media and repotting:

Tillandsia air plant must never be put on the ground or glued on the supports (the glue damages the base of the plant). If we fix them on the pieces of cork or on the branches that we have available, they will willingly produce the roots that in turn with time, will stick to the support itself. Alternatively we can make a circle with a hook using aluminum wire (never iron because it rusts) and place the plant on it.

Watering:

The Tillandsias vaporize with water (possibly without salts or osmosis) every 1-5 days depending on the season and the nature of the species. It is very important to let the Tillandsia dry quickly after wetting (in 2-3 hours), because if it remains wet for a long time, it will rot. The water must never accumulate in the center of the rosette, because even in this case the rot is inevitable.

The wetting must never take place in the evening: the plant will not have enough time to absorb the water because it requires exposure to light in order to do so.

Fertilizer:

To fertilize the Tillandsias we use the liquid fertilizer for orchids. I recommend adding 1/8 of the dose indicated on the bottle to the wetting water. The fertilizations are to be done once a month.

Propagation:

Propagation is by seeds or by offsets called "pups". A single plant could yield up to a dozen pups. Offsets can be separated when about 2/3 the size of their mother to encourage a new colony.

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