Tillandsia

[MattWoelfsen]

The American Orchid Society Facebook page had a picture from a member showing off his collection. Growing amongst his orchids are different forms of Tillandsia. There were a lot of comments about Tillandsia as great companion plants for orchids. One posting suggested Tillandsia help filter air?

I am familiar with Spanish Moss. I have some growing on my Vanda corrulea. But I did not realize how many different forms these air plants come in. So I bought ten different kinds.

The care instructions are simple: mist 3-4 times a week and soak every other week. Give them plenty of light and fresh, humid air. Any other insights?

Air Plants by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

[tarev]

That's about right, I grow them outdoors year round since my little garden gets to be part shade the rest of the day. Really loves lots of air circulation,we have dismal humidity here, so it just have to get used to our dry air, so I have to be attentive in misting. During our mild winters, I keep them dry in my growcamp outdoors, protected by the plastic foil.

When they start to bloom, it has reached the end cycle, so after blooming, mommy plant will eventually die, but it may or may not do some pups before it goes, so life goes on. With my tilly's, if they make pups without blooming yet, I just let the pups stay on, makes for a bigger specimen. Some would remove the pups if it is almost as big as mommy plant. If it blooms then make pups, I just wait for mommy plant to eventually die off.

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[MrHappyRotter]

You've got a good mix of different species and/or hybrids there. Though I don't know all their names, the only one I'm not familiar with is the one in the middle with the fuzzy grey leaves. That is usually a sign that the Tillandsia likes to grow on the brighter, dryer side.

I, too, have lots of Tillandsia and bromeliads in general as companions to the orchids. The Tillandsias don't even need to be potted up, some of them I just place in the same pot as the orchids or clip to a stake that I slide into the pot.

I mist daily to every other day, except the ones I know prefer to dry out a bit, I'll let them go longer between misting.

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[MattWoelfsen]

Thank you for this additional information. I did not know the mother plant would die when it comes into bloom...but then I realized these are also in the Bromeliad family.