Spainish moss care
 

So i ended up receiving two nice clumps of living spanish moss for free wrapped around a plant i ordered. I really want to try to grow them to a large size so i can move them outdoors to try and increase humidity for my outdoor growing orchids. I've done some research online but all I've been getting are very mixed cultural requirements. Some say to not hand it against walls as the heat absorbed from the wall will kill the plant. Others say that hanging it on anything metal will kill it. I've also seen some reports that if the plantlets are not facing downwards then the whole thing will die. And then there's those people that report great success just by hanging it on anything and watering it regularly. I through with all of these mixed tips :((. Does anyone grow this stuff and if so, do you guys know if what others say are true?

Tillandsias in general grow like weeds in the dew zone of coastal Southern California:

1 No copper. Not in fertilizer, hangers, water sources. But weak fertilizer is good occasionally.

2 If you get nightly dew, just hang it in a tree in part sun/part shade. Stand back. In S Cal this is on the coast side of the coastal hills, or just a little inland from there.

3 If you don't live in a dew zone, you need to spray it with water almost every night, but it needs to get dry between waterings.

4 No full sun unless humidity is sky-high (which is almost never is in S Cal.) Otherwise, dappled sun is best. Full sun in Laguna Beach, Pacific Beach, Oceanside, San Clemente... you get the picture.

5 Don't put it in a high-humidity terrarium. It requires very bright light and almost daily drying out.

6 Night temperatures over about 80 for more than a few days are often fatal.

7 No frost.

A general exception is T. recurvata, "ball moss." It takes a lot more sun than most.

As to your questions... Yes, hanging against sunny walls in S Cal will probably kill it. Metal hangers are fine if they have no copper. You can use dental floss to attach Tillandsias to trees. Hang them from their little stems and they will figure it out.

I would guess most Tillandsias die from being too wet or too dry for too long, too sunny, or too hot at night.

If you ever visit an area where Tillandsias live in habitat, you'll understand right away.

Wow thanks for the detailed response! Guess I will have to change my culture a bit.