Collecting Tillandsia's - Orchid Board

kg5 · #1 06-26-2015, 06:59 AM

As the dust is settling after a huge amount of research & it is still going on and considering how much space with low levels of sunlight we have.
Most of the space having only an hour of very filtered sunlight at best. Being not happy with the artificial light options in our sub-tropical coastal, bay island, climate.

The term air plant or tillandsia describes better what sort of plants I am how collecting. No soil type media plant to grow in is my criteria. Plants who's root systems float around in mid air or attach to a piece of wood or decorative item.

Miniature orchids come to mind.

Any orchid recommendations to add to the collection would be very much appreciated?

One area 5m x 6m x 2.4m high has 3 sets of stack shelving with 4 x 1m x 6m shelving stacks coming up to start with.

Have a thick, small mesh fish net that does not perish to make hanging walls for the attached tillandsia's to hang onto.

Have figured out how to import bare rooted plants which I still have a headache from because its in mostly legal terms and expressions with very little reality to it all. With contact people who have had a gut full of people finding out the cost of importing a couple of plants and stonewall you out of total frustration that started years ago.

All is not lost for the cattleya's and friends as they will have a 15m x 1.2m shelf and pot hanging room above that shelf area.

What I have been through to get to this point......but it still is very exciting......

mremensnyder · #2 06-27-2015, 01:48 AM

I can't speak for collecting Tillandsia in Australia, with the restrictions and such. In the US, Tillandsias are a great and in most cases fairly inexpensive venture. Much like my collection of FL native orchids, I am trying to assemble a collection of FL native bromeliads, almost all of which are Tillandsia species. Most Tillandsia species will do well mounted to wood or many other mounting materials, or suspended from wire orchid hangers. I am sorry you are having such difficulty obtaining species over there. I see a bunch for sale on eBay Australia.

kg5 · #3 06-27-2015, 02:48 AM

Thank you so much for your reply!

Yes bromeliad tillandsia are not so common here.

Great to hear you collect them as well.

The prices and lack of variety have sent me off shore.

Looks like I maybe able to get as many as 70 to 75 different with my 1st buy. I need to get a good number so the importers permit, custom inspection, phyto-sanitary certificate and mailing costs evens out over many plants.

At least the importing info I now have will make me look at some of the better nurseries in SE Asia. To put an order in to export the many different plants takes a lot of research time that is for sure. But is very rewarding!

What was really exciting is the term tillandsia( if I have it right) means air roots. Which mean most orchids really. But looking for orchids that are easy to grow without any media is very interesting to myself and my wife for that matter. But the cattleya's etc have a lot of room in the shade house with good growing conditions. Could not have a shade house without them.

The lotus is another plant that is not so common over here. In a couple of months I get to start off with hopefully will be 39 different, maybe more. The test lotus plants are still growing and they are not going to get much more colder weather than what they have already had. I was really hoping they would get a dormant time. The tuba's are looking good as a food. lol Getting close to finishing the shade house and then to start on the lotus house. The shade house has been very difficult and is taking a long time but we have had a lot of unseasonal rain. But the way the roof has to go up is really slow & painful. The lotus house will be heaps easier.

Optimist · #4 06-27-2015, 09:10 AM

I just started to collect miniature orchids. Most are in the bright shade category, but there are a good amount of low shade types. that is 500 to 1,500 footcandles. I do not know how to work that out in any other measurement. A normal room with windows and without lights on is about 200 footcandles, so these do not require a lot of light. They are not one particular type, just as you have low shade warm growing draculas and masdevalias. The orchids I have now are native-species orchids and extremely small. They need terrarium like conditions, but with proper conditions can be grown out on a table or other. These are indeed "air plants" and need only misting and occasional drenching. It is recommended with good water.

Haraella oderata (originates in Taiwan)
Bulbophylum Catenulatum (Philippines)
Dendrobium aberrans (New Guinea)
Cadetia Talori (Austrailia)

Speaking of the last two, they are fairly local to you. There are quite a few bulbophylums, dendrobiums that are very small. There are also quite a lot of small orchids originating in the countries and islands right around Australia that might be a good fit if you can find a green house that dabbles in local flora.

kg5 · #5 06-28-2015, 12:03 AM

Thank you very much Optimist for the orchid info. Very interesting!

Have a light meter coming for the 2nd time. I have ordered a light meter with two different sellers. The 1st had to refund me as an item not received and now the 2nd one is over due by a week.

Not having a good run trying to get a light meter. All this has taken up nearly 2 months.

But looking at the shaded area I have to deal with does seem to be very bright which encourages me. It is strange going around looking at different shaded areas but there is a big difference when it come to shade. It is very surprising. Just have never seen the obvious before. Even with stacking shelving the shaded area is still going to be very bright. I built a make shift shelving structure to see what would happen. Very glad I did. I'm finding it all so very fascinating.

mremensnyder · #6 06-28-2015, 07:12 PM

Queensland, in general, should be a fairly favorable area for growing Tillandsias outdoors. Tropical/subtropical climate, frost free or mostly so, wet and dry season in most areas. Though Tillandsias are native to environments as diverse as the different climate zones in Queensland, so each plant's needs will be a bit different.

Assuming you are trying to build a varied collection of a bunch of different species (or hybrids), I would think it would be easier to just gradually buy them online at $15-$25 a pop, than to try importing large quantities on your own. I could be wrong though.

That is my approach with orchids, and other plants I collect and I am far from wealthy! I just spend way too much on orchids.

kg5 · #7 06-28-2015, 09:58 PM

The cost and lack of variety of the bromeliad tillandsia here has made me look for an overseas nursery.

I am still researching. But I am putting the tillandsia's into 4 main groups other than dry lovers and wet lovers that I believe I can accommodate. Our climate here seems to be very special for a large amount of the bromeliad tillandsia.

Have looked at sellers in Australia that sell their plants at $25+ And hardware stores with them stuck onto something pretty that has not long to live because it is in flower for $26 to $35 per plant. Some locals have an interesting variety here that I can look at and it is nice to be able to say why one type is doing well and why another one is not. But I have seen about only 15 different. Selling may offend some but it is important for us to generate income. It helps with the luxuries in life like food. lol

If I buy 45 different that I reasonably know will grow here at 10 plants per type has a total cost of around $1.50 per plant and that is landed into our shade house.

Still got about another 40 possibles that I am still looking into. Mr goggle is great for this info. After reading customs info I believe I have a limit of 450 plants so some 10 plants of each may turn into 5 plants of each. Or maybe I will leave the order as it is.

The other advantage we have is eBay selling experience. We started selling on the 1/25/2011 and are close to 4,000 positive feedbacks at a 100%. Plus we have experimented with plant material mailing. The listing style is very different than what we are now doing. We are researching it all as much as we can.

Australia customs has over 450 bromeliad tillandsia as being able to be imported into Australia. Which in itself is amazing.

It will be nice to add some orchid to all this......

Bent55 · #8 07-06-2015, 01:34 AM

One suggestion with tillandsia... Take pictures. They can be really slow growers so it's very helpful to be able to refer back and see how much they've grown.

kg5 · #9 09-02-2015, 01:16 AM

Quote:

I would think it would be easier to just gradually buy them online

I took your advise mremensnyder and I am very happy that I did.

Must be nearly to 40 different now. There is very little available at any one time but it changes very quickly.

Looks like I have jumped the fence into tillandsia country.

estación seca · #10 09-02-2015, 02:14 AM

If you live on a coastal bay island with frequent night time dew, tillandsias should grow for you with almost no effort whatsoever. Every few days during the dry season, spray them with water in the evening. One small piece of most of them will grow into a large mass in just a few years; in fact, some of them grow so profusely you will have to get rid of some. I would not order five of any variety.

Don't mount them. Use dental floss or ultraviolet resistant fishing line to tie a small lasso around the plant, and hang it under a tree or from the eaves of your house. Or just set them in the crotches of trees, on top of outdoor tables, anywhere.... They will not be anchored, so a cyclone could blow them away, but that is all they need.

They are not hard from seed, either, you just have to learn how to do it and be willing to take some time with tiny little things.