Orchid/tillandsia question

[Shiffdaddy]

Let me start off by saying that yes i know this is an orchid board and not a tillandsia board haha , buttttt id like your guys and gals advice. I'm sure some of you own a few of these neat airplants.

I recently started getting into tillandsia's and i recently got a large box of 20 assorted tillandsias on ebay. Now what i was thinking was that i could take one of my very large epidendrum radicans orchids (which has very compact growth) and placing the tillandsias neatly into spaces in between these canes. About 3/5th of the tillandsia sticks out into the spikes (and gets sun) and the rest is mostly hidden from the sun.

My question is would this be a good idea for the tillandsias? for the orchid?

Would it let the tillandsia get the light they need? \

Would it harm the orchid in any way? Besides maybe blocking sunlight from reaching the leaves cuz this plant is quite large and has plenty of leaves for photo.

Thanks,
Ben

[Bud]

they are both epiphytes so they can co exist in a simbiotic relationship...but you have to trim it because they are both prolific and can form a jungle in a year...they flower several times a year and produce babies on their spikes...be careful what youre asking for...
also its best to give us your growing zone or location in the USA...
the plants you mentioned can grow outdoors in sothern Florida, southern California and even in southern Texas...the humid atmosphere is conducive to growing them...provided they do not get to taste frost...they will all die and turn into watery mush...

[Shiffdaddy]

I am in so cal . Ya watch me come back here in a year and ask how you would go about ripping apart an epidendrum in order to seperate the tillandsias lol

[Zoi2]

The tillies are not likely to attach to your epi. Once the tillie is out of the ground the roots are pretty useless as they are basically for stability. The plants soak up water and nutrients from their leaves.
Joann

[Skirril]

I haven't had my air plants long, but I did read up a bit about them. I had originally thought of having them mounted with my orchids, but on reading about them I am not sure it would work out, so I have mounted them separately.

I am not sure about your epidendrum, but how dry does it want to be? Air plants want to be completely dry with in 4 hours of water being put on them, I wuld have thought being close to another plant would have kept them too moist. If the air plant stays moist too long it will rot. As for securing it to something you can use a glue, not superglue though, one like e6000.

Air plants can be watered with misting once a day and like to soak for half hour or more (up to 12 hours if they seem really thirsty) every few days.

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[Paul]

Tills are neat! First, I don't see that any harm would come to the orchid so no worries there. I agree that knowing how/where you're growing your epi (indoors/outdoors, zone, lighting, etc) would be useful for giving a more definitive answer. Many tills enjoy bright indirect light. Direct hot midday sun could be too much for it if that is how you grow your epi.

Zoi2 is quite correct that the tills are unlikely to attach themselves to your orchid. Glue, as was mentioned, or a wire twist tie are just a couple things you could use to attach a till. I suspect the tills would need more frequent watering than the epi, but a good misting with a spray bottle could satisfy that need.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Different Tillandsias require different care. It would be helpful to properly identify your Tillandsias.

I wouldn't mount certain Tillandsias onto your Epi because of the size that some of these can get to be (yes, some get fairly large and clump readily at the same time), not necessarily because I think they'd do harm to the orchid (which they most likely won't). It would make an already top heavy plant (referring to the reed stem Epi's) even more so.

Other than that, certain orchids and certain Tillandsias have been known to grow in very close proximity to each other on trees with no problems whatsoever.

An example would be Tillandsia flabellata growing on the same tree as Epidendrum nocturnum; both natives to Florida.

Some Tillandsias are also known to be growing on top of succulents or cacti in the wild.

Certain other Tillandsias grow along a rocky cliff face.

[Shiffdaddy]

Well King! My 20 plant assortment came with:

ionantha guatemala
butzii
crocata giant
araujei closed form
tenuifolia blue
stricta 5"
bergeri hybrid
fuchsii v gracilis
stricta stiff gray 4"
bulbosa 2-3"
juncea 6-8"
peru inca gold
brachycaulos green
caput medusae small
aeranthos bronze
ionantha x schiedeana
ehlerisana 2"-3"
aeranthos mini purple
montana
floridiana

I actually mounted about 12 of them onto my fountain in the backyard (looks very nice!). I mounted 4 around the yard (on mounts and random trees) and then placed a few into the epi.

So far so good!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If that fountain doesn't keep them wet all the time, then I'd say it's fine.

Certain Tillandsias can go for weeks w/o water.

T. aeranthos is an easy one, it can handle more water than most of the ones on your list.

T. stricta is one that I've always struggled with. Maybe it's too arid here, idk.

T. ionantha should be an easy one if you lay off the water. It grows like a succulent.

T. crocata can be tricky to grow. They like a fair amount of humidity, but they don't like to be watered all that often.

T. brachycaulos can be another tricky one. It likes Oncidium type light here in SoCal. Imo, though, this species is easier to grow than T. stricta and requires similar care.

T. butzii, T. caput medusae, and T. bulbosa require similar care. However, T. medusae can handle more water than T. butzii or T. bulbosa.

I've never had good long term success w/ T. juncea. Imo, they are easy to over water.

Be careful about T. tenuifolia, these guys look like they should be as easy to grow as T. aeranthos, but they're not. They like higher humidity, and tolerate less water than T. aeranthos does.

T. fuschii is easy, just don't water too often and give it moderate to strong indirect light.

These are just a basic run through of the care for some of the Tillandsias on your list. I haven't really grown every single one on your list, but I've grown most of them before. I still currently grow some of the ones on your list.

[Shiffdaddy]

Woah thanks Phillip! that was very informative and i'll definitely go rearrange them a little now that i know all that!