Tillandsia variabilis -- Honduran Form
 

I have a soft spot for Tillandsias, and while I'm not as knowledgeable about them as I am with slippers, I have sought a few specific species over the years. I purchased three Tillandsia variabilis about 8 or 9 years ago from Tropiflora, along with an assortment of other plants. T. variabilis is actually a USA native, though its natural range is very limited in the US, it's a species that is common throughout South and Central America. Tropiflora says they discovered this particular clone in Honduras.

I lost one of the 3 pups to disease + treatment. It picked up a case of fly speck scale from some other bromeliads that were gifted to me. I treated and treated, but they plant was severely weakened. Then it got hit with some over spray from me treating other plants with cinnamon spray. I learned the hard way that apparently these guys do not tolerate cinnamon spray, and it will burn the leaves chemically.

Other than that, these guys have done well over the years in my care. I water them twice a week year round, and typically mist them once or twice a day. That sounds like a lot of water, but honestly I probably let them get a little too dry from time to time. The T. variabilis grow in potting soil with a tiny bit of orchid potting media thrown in and some extra perlite. When I feed them, which is infrequent, I feed lightly, and use a sprayer to soak the leaves with the fertilizer solution. The roots of most Tillandsia serve primarily to anchor the plant to it's growing substrate, and it's the leaves that have adapted to extracting water and nutrients from the environment. For most of their lives, I've grown my plants in fairly bright light on the plant shelves under T-8s. They grew well, but never really seemed to get much bigger. They'd push a lot of new growth out each year, but the old leaves would die off at a similar rate.

I started doing more research, and while cultural reports vary, a lot of the in situ photos I found seemed to suggest that this species is fairly common in certain areas that are quite shady, and that they produce long, floppy leaves and bloomed in those conditions. Based on that, I decided to move one of them off the shelves, and instead grew it hanging beside the stands where it would get less light. This one developed the sloppy look, but it also grew much larger and now it's blooming. Pretty exciting after all that time.

It started spiking indoors back in July I believe, and I decided to risk placing it outside to let the spike develop in natural sunlight, hoping that would help it develop the intense coloration.

I'm tempted to cross this with my T. cyanea that's also in bloom right now. In my head, I'm envisioning a smaller sized Tillandsia Creation, with the same lovely branched paddle-shaped spike, but in reddish tones!

http://i.imgur.com/2Ay0MTal.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Iq7t8Knl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yuj2rvSl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ki5bwc9l.jpg

Very nice! Love the colors. I have 2 T. cyanea, that cross would be interesting if it could be done.

Thanks for sharing pics and thoughts.
If I only had pictures/info of the natural habitats of all my plants. Hard to find often and very useful always...

Very cool! Reminds me of a miniature of the huge bromeliads in Hawaii! :) Where does everyone get their tillandsias? I've been trying to find some without breaking the bank!

Where are you in the Bay Area? There is Paxton Gate in SF (pricy) and Dig Gardens in Santa Cruz (reasonable). There is a shop in Downtown Los Altos that carries a small selection. Yamagami in Cupertino used to carries some. I've seen not-interesting-ones at BBS.

And of course, the internet (google is your friend).

I'll try to check those out! I'm over in Berkeley. All we have at the nurseries here are the usual suspects. :P I'm trying to get something more ... interesting? Like the orchids I keep!

Anyone have any experience with ebay vendors?

Sorry to the OP for the thread-jack.

I've purchased from plantintheair on ebay but they aren't cheap and shipping isn't fast. They have very nice plants, though. I wouldn't go that route if other sources had what I wanted.

You should take a trip to Santa Cruz. Dig Gardens has many non-Phal orchids. Not a big selection but most (if not all) are species. The Garden Company across-town also has some non-Phals (they might have had a few tillies). Sorry, didn’t look at any orchid prices at either places.

Tropiflora has always been an amazing vendor for me, so I give them kudos. Good customer service. Respectable prices mostly, and a stunning, fast-paced product catalog.

Ebay is another nice source. As long as you stick to high rated sellers and you do a little research, you can get some great deals or find rare/unusual plants that might not be available at a retailer.

I've also picked up a number of plants from one of the local tropical plant businesses. The prices are much higher than what you'd find online, but sometimes it's nice to be able to hand pick the plant that I decide is the best of the bunch. And they are constantly rotating in new plants, so the selection is ever changing.

Thanks! And sorry about hijacking the thread. :( I think that tillandsias are a natural companion plant to grow with orchids, but I rarely see them outside of the kinda generic ones you find at the stores! Time to get researching! Any favorites besides this one?