Hey all,
I was at a little town festival a couple weeks ago, and bought a georgious tillandsia. It is huge...over a foot in diameter. She had a bunch of them, and this was the only one in bud. My first instinct for some reason was to get one that wasnt in bud, but my boyfriend convinced me to buy the one that was in bud. My question is this. I know that they die after they bloom, but that they produce babies before they die. Other then that, Im new to tillandsias. There are no babies on this plant. will it produce babies after it blooms, or did it already start producing babies that the lady I bought it from may have already cut off? Im just curious, as, it is such a georgious plant. I hate to loose it after it blooms and have no babies to continue with. Also, another question. I live in mississippi, and it is quite humid here. All the information I have read on tillandsias say that they should be soaked in water every week or so. I asked the lady I bought it from, who claimed to be a member of the bromeliad society wether I shoud soak it or not, and she said no no no...youll kill it if you soak it. She said to spray it about once a week. Ive been spraying it every day. It seems to be doing well, but two of the bottom leaves look a little brown and dry. What do you think? Thanks.
budding tillandsia
Most Bromeliads produce pups either after a blooming sequence, or whenever the plant reaches a reasonably mature size. There are exceptions such as the Florida native Tillandsia utriculata that is monocarpic (i.e. does not pup).
Most Tillandsias prefer part to full shade and are highly epiphytic (i.e. nutrients and moisture are absorbed by the leaves instead of the roots). They generally like high humidity and soaking them in something like rainwater once a week is good for them as long as they are allowed to dry out reasonably soon. Be careful about spraying any plants with tap water, It's great to drink but typically contains dissolved calcium and magnesium that will plate out on the leaves when the water evaporates.
There are a few Tillandsias that grow on the western South American coastline in the Atacama desert where it essentially never rains. They survive on the morning dew and sparse nutrients that are in the air. Needless to say, they don't grow very fast. Most desert growing Bromeliads are "CAM" plants that fix nitrogen differently from most plants. (It's a moisture conservation strategy.) These need to dry out completely by night.
Check out www.bsi.org and www.fcbs.org for cultural information.
Dave