Air Plants
 

Hi,

I'm not sure if this even belongs in this forum, so I apologize if this is in the wrong place! My aunt gave me some air plants and said, "They are easy to grow. Just spray with water twice a week!" That didn't really sound right to me, so I did a search on google and came up with different advice.

I put them in pebbles within a bowl just to keep them standing upright. I soaked it in water for about 1 hour to revive them since they were very dry and stiff to the touch. They were dry again about an hour or so later. I just sprayed them once every 1-2 days in the morning. At the end of the week, I soaked it in a diluted fertilizer solution (1/8 tsp per 1 liter of water) for about an hour and then placed it back on the pebbles. I also check the pebbles to make sure there is no water collecting under the pebbles as they do not like wet feet.

The leaves are drying out and I have no idea what to do to save it. What am I doing wrong? Please let me know how I can save this. Thank you!

My growing conditions:
* Low humidity
* Current Temps: high 80s-low 90s (if sunny); mid 50s at night.
* Use a sheer curtain to give it less light if sunny and remove it if cloudy out.

If it's Tillandsia stricta, I don't too well with those and I can't give you the greatest help there.

Any other Tillandsia I can grow pretty well.

If it isn't Tillandsia, do you happen to know what it might be?

It helps a lot to know what it is, not all of them come from the same type of environments.

To be honest, I don't really know what it is. I asked my aunt for more details but all she said was "air plant." I asked for more specifics but she said she didn't know either.

I'd say they're well watered from what I see in the pics because the edges of the leaves are not curled inwards.

In fact, I'd tell you not to water them too much. Believe it or not, I grow a few species outdoors and all I do is give them a good hose down once a day during the warmer months and about once a week during the cooler months.

Soaking is only done when they're dehydrated.

The leaves on your bromeliad are supposed to be stiff. They're not the soft leafed types. This one probably comes from a semi-arid climate.

Without knowing what it really is, I don't know what else to tell you.

In fact, I'm willing to stick my neck out and venture into saying that it may be some form of Tillandsia stricta or one of its hybrids.

Thanks for your helpful advice as always! I better cut back on the soakings. All the time I thought it was dull in color from dehydration. They are curled outwards and the ends are turning brown. I thought it as a result from either too much light or not enough water. I put it behind my sheer curtain so it wouldn't get direct sunlight from my eastern facing window. I suppose I better just run it quickly under the sink in the mornings and see how things work out. In the meantime, should I trim off the brown parts?

No problem. :)

Yeah, you can remove the brown parts, those are dead.

They should receive indirect light. While some can handle strong light, it's best not to have them be in direct light.

You might also want to check how much fertilizer you're using and whether it's urea free. With these guys, having the fertilizer be urea free is of greater importance than it is with orchids. They absorb most of their water directly from their leaves, and the leaves can burn easily if the fertilizer contains urea.

The roots perform very nominal duties with these plants.

I forgot...

The silvery white sheen on the leaves are caused by these small scale-like protrusions called foliar trichomes on the surfaces of the leaves. These trichomes can be sensitive. Be careful about the kinds of additives or chemical sprays applied on or near the plants.

I'm using the same fertilizer I have for my orchids. The dilution I use is 1/8 tsp per 1 liter. It is urea free. That's good news about the roots, because mine are dead and stubby. I read somewhere that their purpose was mainly to help anchor itself. Thanks for the warning about sprays.

I grow all my tills. mounted, and only use rainwater (or melted snow). These plants HAVE to be dry before dark as they are very susceptible to rot when wet. They are very forgiving as far as a watering schedule is concerned. Beware: once they bloom for you it's hard not to become addicted!

Moving this to appropriate forum.