Using K-lite (or any orchid fertilizer) on Tillandsia

[DirtyCoconuts]

So I made some frames of wood and mesh and I am going to hang some of my tillys on them to be able to enjoy them a bit more then huge bottlebrush tree in the yard where they flourish

I realized that in cultivation people soak them which I’ll not do. I’ll hang them somewhere they get rain but without the tree runoff I fear they will be hungry

Can I spray them with my same orchid fert? I don’t know about them mechanically with their trichomes and roots for only holding...

Thanks in advance!!

[WaterWitchin]

There's someone on Off Topic thread who grows TONS of Tillies. Might wanna check through his/her thread...

[estación seca]

Avoid dyed fertilizer and avoid copper. Most bromeliads are very intolerant of copper. Pineapples are an exception.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

There's someone on Off Topic thread who grows TONS of Tillies. Might wanna check through his/her thread...

i have been ruthlessly hijacking kg5's thread and i felt bad, but you are right....they are very well informed and always DO answer me

thanks E.S.- i will look at the contents of the fert to see if there is any copper

---------- Post added at 12:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 AM ----------

copper is .038% so i will stay away from that and just use rainwater until i find something suitable for tillys


thanks for that heads up E.S.

[Ray]

FWIW, I use low-dose K-Lite on my "Epiphyte Tree" and the tillies are doing fine.

[estación seca]

I've been told dust in the air provides most minerals to them, and nitrogen can be a limiting factor. There have been special fertilizer formulations sold for bromeliads but I don't know of any now.

I've used ammonium sulfate solution, about a teaspoon / 5ml of granules per gallon / 3.78 liters, on Tillandsias at my mother's house. I fertilize them when I visit, 6-8 times a year (until March of this year.) It made a noticeable difference when I began doing this. I don't have any here because our summer nights are usually too hot for them. More than 1-2 nights above 85 degrees F / 30C and they suffocate and die.

I'm sending an inquiry to Tropiflora about what they use for their bromeliads. I'll report back.

[DirtyCoconuts]

many many thanks!

[Ray]

Just an editorial comment here - I think that "copper toxicity" is a matter of concentration with anything.

I certainly wouldn't spray them with a copper-based fungicide, but I suspect the amount in most fertilizers is of no consequence.

For example, Phyton 27 is 5.4% copper and is applied at 1-2 teaspoons/gallon. At the lower concentration, that means you're applying a solution that is 0.007% Cu.

K-Lite contains 0.038% Cu and for 100 ppm N, is used at about 2/3 tsp/gal, resulting in a solution that contains 0.00003% Cu, some 213x less.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Sweet. Thanks Ray.

I am pretty sure I have sprayed them with my Klite mix in the past too but I was mostly trying to get educated about their feeding needs

If ES finds a great product from them, amazing, otherwise I’ll just use half strength Klite

[kg5]

In the USA there is a Tillandsia fertiliser called Epiphyites Delight. Do not seem to be able to buy it from Australia. It is the only non urea fert that I can find.

Fertilization: A mist every week with Epiphyites Delight or Epsom salts during the growing season will help the plant.


The info below comes from "A resource by Lloyd Godman"

( Epiphyte’s Delight fertilizer was developed for a special reason. Nitrogen promotes foliar growth. If you have Tillandsias, Orchids, or other epiphytes and you feed them, take a look at the nitrogen content. If it’s high in urea, the plants can’t use it because the urea needs a bacteria in soil to break it down into ammonia and nitrates. Since the epiphytes don’t have any soil they can’t break down the urea. It was for this reason that we had Epiphyte’s Delight formulated. It contains only ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen which is immediately accessible and usable by the plants.)