Reminder: Tillie Watering TIme!

This is our storm season and we've really had some whoppers recently. Check out these clouds and double rainbows:

Double Rainbow, MRobb, USA, 2015

The two always seem to go together,  don't they?
And when it really rains outside, it's time to water my immense herd of Tillandsias. They just keep pupping!

Here are several of the ways I've done this over the years. The main point is to put them all, gently of course, in a bucket, cauldron, vat, or series of bowls, and place them lovingly out in the tempest for a few hours.

Then drain off the rainwater and keep it for later, and put your Tillies back on display. They need a good soak at least once a week, and they love rainwater most of all.

Above are a series of trays. These don't get too heavy after the rain. One tray is slotted and that makes it very easy to use- the rain drains off.

And here are a variety of buckets. Just don't try to lift the bigger buckets after the rain if you have a bad back, they get reeeallly heavy! I speak from bitter experience....
Have a wonderful weekend and hope your weather is photo-worthy!

Watering Tillandsias: An Addendum

My well-known "Bucket Method" of watering Tillandsias can be accomplished in an even easier way when it begins to rain....

The only caveats to this method are: just make sure they go outside when there is already cloud cover (so they don't scorch), don't put them out in high winds, and retrieve them after no more than an hour or so, so they don't get waterlogged and rot.

 Rainwater is great for Tillies, they really seem to thrive with a monthly rainshower. Of course, not so easy if you are raising Tillandsias in Arizona or Saudia Arabia! And our dry season can last for months. Well, that's why this post is only an addendum.

I saw some wonderful wild Tillies this week at the Pine Island Sanctuary. Here's a long shot....

My last official installment of Tillandsia care should be ready early next week. If you are still on vacation, enjoy, and if you're back to work today, I wish you courage and strength!

Tillandsia Care Part III: Care of the Pups

Tillandsias reproduce via flowers/seeds, and via offsets, or pups. If you grow Tillies indoors, the latter is the method of reproduction you'll encounter most often. Tillandsias only bloom once in their lives, and then they offset.

Some Tillandsias, like the T. abdita above, and T. ionantha fuego, will redden up and become very Christmasy just before they bloom. Then the flower appears....

Some time after flowering, from weeks to months, a pup will appear. Some are very well-hidden, and others are obvious. As you may know from previous posts,  pups can form at the base or from the center of the mother plant. Some emerge from the side. There's a tremendous level of variation.

Tillandsia caliginosa with side pup, MR

Tillandsia magnusiana with base pup, MR

Tillandsia butzii with base pup, MR

Most pups will stay stubbornly attached to the mother plant, and this is just fine. They should remain attached until they are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the mother plant. Then, if you want to remove them, do so by twisting the pup very gently at the base with a slight downward pull. You can cut them at the base with a very sharp, small knife, but this can damage a pup if you're not very careful.

Some pups fall off the mother plant when they are very tiny. T. karwinskiana does this, as does T. albertiana and several other species. These pups tend to be tiny. They are easily lost.

Tiny pups in the palm of my hand. Just a few mm big!

In nature, I think these tiny pups get blown to, or fall on, a larger Tillie or plant and grow quietly to size over a long period of time. For your indoor garden, if you spot pups like this, perch them on a larger Tillie, and mist/water with the host plant. They will continue to grow.

Free pups housed with some Tillandsia caput medusae.

There are pup mysteries, though. For example, my T. xerographica bloomed months ago, and I still can't find an offset. Anywhere!

When I solve this mystery, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Tillandsia Care Part II: Light and Air

Tillandsias need water, light, air, and some light feeding. They don't need dirt or darkness. Those principals are all you really need to grow beautiful Tillies, but I'm going into the specifics because I think more and more people are fascinated and ready to grow airplants indoors. They've been a popular outdoor plant in the tropics and subtropics since forever, but I get questions every day about how to grow them inside the house. Since they don't need dirt, and grow slowly, they make ideal houseplants. No dirt, no bugs, no mold, no muss, no fuss.

Outdoor Tillandsias, Doing Their Own Thing

T. magnusiana, Indoors

Tilladsias require varying degrees of light, as different species grow in different environments, from mountain heights to jungle valleys. But I find that all of mine have done well in bright, filtered light. They face east, and I've also tried northern windows (unfiltered). Both directions have worked well, though east is the best. West and south, the light would have to be more muted. However, if you live closer to the Poles than I do, a south or west-facing window might well be ideal. Hot afternoon sun is not so good for Tillies, and because they cannot sit in cooling, damp earth, they can "cook" more quickly in hot sun than other denizens of your indoor garden.

Tillies also need a lot of air circulation, just like Lithops and other mesembs. They are very pest-resistant but some species, like T. caput medusae and T. paucifolia, can rot at the base if they don't have fresh air.

Tillandsia caput medusae can easily rot at the base.

I have found that CD housing works beautifully for Tillies. I just make sure that, if the CD rack is metal, it's been sealed, as zinc and copper are toxic to Tillies. They are in a large, airy room with ceiling fans, next to an eastern window that can be screened if it gets too hot or bright.

A Tillandsia High-Rise Apartment Building.

So plenty of air, plenty of light, and you're all set! The next Tillie Care post will be about specific housings/mounts for Tillandsias, what works and what doesn't. See you then!

Tillandsia Care, Part One: Tillies Need Water!

I've been getting so many questions about Tillandsia/Airplant care, that I'm embarking on a series for y'all. The first will be about how to water your Tillandsias. Some nurseries or unscrupulous stores will sell Tillies with the idea that, "all they need is air." I have heard this so many times it makes my eyes roll! This is very unfair to gardeners who are plunking money down for these plants, and of course, it's unfair to the plants, because they die. Tillies don't need dirt, but they sure need water!

My personal method, the Bucket Method, is illustrated in this post:
http://mylifeamongthelithops.blogspot.com/2012/09/watering-tillandsias-easy-way.html

I have lots of Tillies, so this works for me. Outdoor Tillies can be sprayed down with a hose every couple of days. But let's start at the beginning....
Tillandsias are New World epiphytes, so they live in a variety of climates. Some live in lush rainforests, others in arid semi-deserts. Some live high up in trees where they get lots of sun, others, down low where there's nothing but shade.

Tillandsias use CAM respiration, just like succulents and cacti. They take up CO2 at night, rather than during the day, and they lose very little water from their stomata. This means they can go for long periods without any water. But more than 10 days and they'll start to take on damage. A dry month or more can mean death for many species. The tips of the leaves will brown and curl, the plant will seem very dry, like a cornhusk, and drought spots will appear within the leaves.

I don't have enough time to keep my 100 Tillies on separate watering schedules, so I bucket-water them about every 4-5 days, then mist them every day they aren't bucket-watered. This has kept them very happy so far. I add special Tillandsia fertilizer to the water on the first watering of the month. Tillie fertilizer has no boron, zinc or copper, all of which hurt them. Many commercial orchid fertilizers are fine for Tillies, and some cactus fertilizers are OK, though the one I use is specially compounded by a Tillandsia nursery in California. I make sure the water is very slightly acidic, about 5.5pH. If you live in a hard water area like I do, just add 4-5 drops of white or rice vinegar to every liter of water, and you'll be in the ballpark. Mist with filtered tap water or rainwater.

Don't let the plants sit in water, ever. They won't be able to respire if they are always wet, and if water is kept on the base, or bulb, of the plant, it will rot. Some Tillies, like T. intermedia, T. caput medusae, or T. xerographica, should be drained/dried on their sides or upside down so they drain properly and don't retain water.

T. intermedia, drying upside-down.

And never leave your Tillies sitting in water for more than 60 minutes. Soggy is not good for them.


Tillandsias respire mostly at night, so it's best to water in the morning or afternoon. That means their leaves are nice and dry by the time they have to do their main gas exchange.

Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section. The next care guide post will be about light and placement of Tillandsias within the home.

Tillandsia Care Part One- No Dirt, Please!

I had a lot of fun this weekend at our local nursery. The garden staff really know their stuff, and take good care of a huge array of tropical, subtropical, and desert plants. They have a large section devoted to Tillandsias, and customers are starting to cotton to them. But most of us have no idea what to do with an air plant. I didn't either until a couple of years ago.

What do most people do with air plants (Tillandsias) when they get them home? Stick 'em in a pot of dirt.

Years ago, I brought a nice Tilly home, stuck it in a pot of dirt, watered it every day (because it was from the tropics) and watched it rot. Never again! This weekend I was speaking with a small group about Tillandsia care, and thought it was a good time to do a series on the basics. We all want our Tillies to grow and thrive, and it's not always obvious what to do to make that happen. There's not a lot on the Web, either.

Tillies Not In Dirt

These Tillandsias are in homemade pots, but there's no dirt involved, and I don't water them in the pots. They get watered in a bucket, then drained, then stuck back in the pots. The pots can have some orchid mix, or some rocks, in the bottom, and there should be air around the base of the plant so they don't rot. That's all you need. Here's a closeup of a Tillandsia caput medusae in its dish:

T. caput medusae

Plenty of air circulation keeps the base of the plant healthy. They have little roots, but those are only for gripping tree trunks, telephone wires, and small children (OK, not the latter). And some have no roots at all, like this T. argentea fineleaf:

T. argentea fineleaf

All water and nutrition is absorbed through the trichomes on the leaves, but more about that later. For right now, Tillandsias belong in a dish, or a glass globe, or hanging off of something. It's fun to figure out what to do with each one.

The next Tillie post will be about light, then there will be one on water and nutrition. Enjoy your Tillies!