Tillandsia ixioides is native to South America, particularly Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is found at various altitudes ranging from 0 to 2000 meters above sea level.
Tillandsia ixioides, also called as Anoplophytum luteum, Tillandsia lutea, Tillandsia ixioides var. occidentalis, is a species of the genus Tillandsia. This species was described by August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach in 1879.
IDENTIFY TILLANDSIA IXIOIDES AIR PLANT
Tillandsia ixioides is native to South America, particularly Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is found at various altitudes ranging from 0 to 2000 meters above sea level.
It is a medium sized epiphyte (about 20 to 25 cm), slightly caulescent, with short branched stem that has few, elongated, thick leaves spirally arranged all around the stem. The sheaths are little or not scaly, the limbs are often wrinkled at the base and thin at the end. This species has the particularity of having very stiff leaves, brittle and almost spicy at their end.
This air plant bloom from the inflorescence that are in a loose cluster. The bracts of the flowering stem are imbricate, scaly and straw-colored. The floral bracts are scaly and straw-colored. The flowers are non-tubular, 3 to 4 cm long, carried by short pedicels. The petals are a beautiful golden yellow. The stamens and pistil are included.
TILLANDSIA IXIOIDES 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:
Tillandsia ixioides requires good light and enjoys full sun (avoid the afternoon in summer if the plant is young or has not been used). Place the plant very close to a window indoors in the winter and out in the summer in a sunny situation.
Temperature:
The required temperature ranging from 10 to 32°C. Get it early enough in the fall if you grow it outside, so that it does not face night temperatures below 4 or 5 ° C, especially if it is wet. The plants can faced temperatures close to 0 ° C (sheltered and dry) for a few hours without damage.
Humidity:
This air plant need the moderate level of humidity. Good aeration is required, the plant must dry quickly (in less than an hour).
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Tillandsia ixioides can be grow suspended or mounted on a solid substrate that does not retain water. You can glue the plant directly to the surface with a strong adhesive, or you can wire the plant to the base. Don't cover the base of the plant with moss or it may rot. It can be grown on almost any imaginable decorative mount, including shells, rocks, slate, driftwood, etc.
Watering:
Twice a week in summer, once a week in winter according to the luminosity and the ambient humidity. Obviously when it rains and if you grow it outside, it counts as a watering. It is quite easy to grow as long as there is enough light and watering is not too frequent.
Fertilizer:
This air plant can be fertilized with the moderate doses. 1 to 2 times a month in the summer and 1 time a month in the winter.
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