Tillandsia House Air Plants Lichens

[kg5]

Believe it is best to put all my tillandsia questions & info into 1 thread.

My plants at present that have adapted to my growing area will be listed below. Am on a salt water, waterfront block in the sub-tropics.

The Tillandsia's that have been chosen to grow-on in some numbers. Tillandsia's are hard to come by in Australia. They are not native for us here.

T. bergeri

T. bulbosa

T. butzii

T. caerulea

T. cotton candy

T. crocata

T. dura

T. funcikana (both a small form and large form)

T. ionantha V ionantha, ruba, califano, mexicana

T. mallemontii

T. plagiotropica

T.paleace (small form & large form)

T. streptophylla

T. stricta

T. tenuifolla

T. tricoholepsis

T. usneoides ( have found 5 plants that will grow here. They are thick stems type. Many types have failed living here.)

There are plenty of other tilly's that are growing nicely in the Tillandsia House.

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Nice list!

[kg5]

Some images inside tillandsia house.

The middle shelving and roof mesh for hanging.



Side shelving

[kg5]

What I am using to position cuttings and divisions that I am wanting to grow-on by hanging them.

The small peg are from China the sizes are 25mm or 1" and 35mm or 1" 3/8"

The wire is stainless steel and is found in cake decorating.

Also using a stainless steel swivel also from China. So as to stop the plant growing into a sun bias shaped plant.

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Looks really good. The biggest clump I ever saw was T. paleacea at The Plant Man in Old Town San Diego. It was at least six feet high and three feet across, swinging on a chain with three inch links. (1.82 meters x 0.9 meters, 7.6cm links)

[kg5]

Really like the T. paleacea . My large form is still very small. Amazing that these plants, in the right place, grow so big.

Am so pleased I got my T. paleacea plants before the Aus boarders got shut down to Tillandsia's. They are expensive now. A small cutting from the large form selling for $10 sadly.

[kg5]

This is my last harvest from a largish ball of T.bergeri. The cuttings were a small size and they were cut last OCT 2016 and they grown strongly. This is 3rd T.bergeri harvest.



This is a T.ionantha mexicana harvested. Started with separating some pups a month ago with no hassles over the last 3 to 4 weeks. So 5 days ago took over 100 pups from 25 plants. The top left is the parent plants. Am hoping some will pup again. Their is still a strong 4 months more of the growing season to come. So if they are going to pup again I figure now's the time to find out. The bottom left is same plants that are still in pup just to see what happens to plant heath and happiness by leaving them to clump up . This is my 1st harvest of this plant.

[kg5]

Tillandsia incarnata is the one plant I have had heaps of trouble with when it comes to the so called easy growers.

Have google searched for the symptoms. They are the stem dies back from the base up and totally kills the whole plant. Can not find anything about this at all. Hoping someone can help me here.

Have had to water once a day. They are separated from all my other plants. Possibly got sun burnt and the damage has taken some time to show up. It was a really tough 3 months never at night went under 26c or 80f to day time constantly not under 36c or 98f with total humidity.

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Tillandsias have CAM metabolism, and open their pores to breathe at night. If nights are too hot they can't breathe and collapse. The same thing happens with other CAM plants like Crassula and Echeveria. My experience has been they won't survive more than a night or two of 85 F / 28C.

[kg5]

Interesting about tilly's need to breath at night. Sounds like you have an answer for the T. incarnata losses.

All others tilly's have coped very well. Most hot nights have a cooling breeze or cooling takes place some hour before dawn and some hours after dawn.

A temp difference of 10c or 18f from night to day makes us more the sub-tropics with cooling coastal winds from the N/E & S/E is more the norm. It is a warmer place through the colder months which is very nice as well. The growth in the tilly's has been amazing over this hot time. The tilly.s are loving it now having two wall being open to the cooling breezes blowing straight onto them.