Tillies Then and Now: Tillandsia Caput Medusae

Wow, what a difference a few years can make for a Tillie! Here is one of my T. caput medusae- this is one of the more common, sturdy, and beautiful Tillandsias that one can find for sale. They are well worth the effort! So, then and now....

You can see a pup or two, very small. Now fast forward a few years....

Wow! The pups have pupped, and one has bloomed, and now we've got the third generation growing. In terms of size, it has tripled from the earlier version. Not so easy to water now! T. caput medusae can grow into huge clumps of dozens of individuals. They like to hang sideways or upside down, and in the wild, they harbor a lot of ants. Mine is ant-free, and happy enough. I'll keep you updated on its further growth, provided there is still space for me in my living room!

Weekend Walkabout: Sirmione Memories and a Tillie Grandbaby

Today I am reminiscing about my wonderful autumn at Lago di Garda, Italy. This view of the lake from Roman poet Catullus's favorite town, Sirmione, sums it up:

Sirmione, Italy, Billboard by Yoko Ono, photo Marla Robb, 2015

In my own garden, far far away from Bella Italia, the crotons are blooming extravagantly!

Croton in Bloom, MRobb, 2015

And I am happy and proud to report that my Tillandsia intermedia has a grandbaby. Three generations of Tillie in a couple of years. T. intermedia is the one that grows upside down and can pup from either end. Mine has been pupping in pretty much a straight line. They kind of look like pale green squids:

Tillandsia intermedia, MRobb, 2014 (I think)

This Tillie looks high-maintenance but is cared for in the regular Tillie fashion. A few mistings per week, an upside-down perch, fertilizer in the water once a month, and weekly soaks. Moderate sun. Mine hangs in a north-facing window and I'm in Zone 10, USA USDA. So here's the grandbaby!

Tillandsia intermedia pup, MRobb, Dec 2015

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy some glorious gardens while you're at it!

Addendum: Clumping Ionanthas

Here are a couple varieties of Tillandsia ionantha that have been allowed to clump peacefully.

Varieties of T. ionantha, clumping. MR2014

These pups are big enough that they could all be separated from the mother plants. Use a clean, very sharp, small knife and cut the pup off at the base. Let the plants heal in plenty of circulating fresh air. Once the wounds are healed, the plants can be watered again. That usually takes just a couple of days. Enjoy your Tillies!

New Things For Spring

It's not quite spring here yet, but it will be soon, as spring starts early in the subtropics. So I am traying something new. No, that's not a typo....

I'm really trying a tray!  This is a garden-starter. It comes with compressed, dehydrated sterile soil in little nylon pouches. I add clean water to the pouches, open the tops, add my seeds of choice, pop the top on the tray, put it in a spot with medium heat and medium light, and wait. So this will be my herb garden of smelly plants, particularly peppermint, dill, and lime basil.  We'll see how it works.

I've got my usual stem cutting from my humongous scented geranium going:

They take about 2 weeks to grow strong roots. Then they can be planted outdoors in the garden, or in a pot.
And the Tillies are pupping like mad. Here's an adorable baby T. magnusiana (the fluffball Tillie):

I like T. magnusiana as single specimens, so when this pup has doubled its size, I'll separate it from the mother plant. The more magnusianas, the merrier, right? What's springing up in your neck of the woods? I think with the strange weather, more gardeners will be starting their plants indoors this year.

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.

Tales o' the Pups, Part 2 (Tillandsias)

Here's Part 1 in case you missed it:

http://mylifeamongthelithops.blogspot.com/2013/10/tales-o-pups-tillandsia-pups-that-is.html

My Tillies continue to pup like there's no tomorrow. Last time I wrote about Tillies that pup at the base. This week, I've got some hidden and subtle pups to show. Here are three of them. It's hard to find images of Tillandsias and their pups, so I hope this will add to our global photo album of Tillandsias.

Tillandsia magnusiana with pup, MR, 2013

My favorite fuzzy Tillies, T. magnusiana, are as close to  airplant pets as it gets. They're soft, fluffy silver balls that fit nicely in the hand. I swear they'd purr if they could. The sacred Tillie of the Maya has equally cute pups. They grow quite hidden at the base for a month or so, then suddenly, a lower leaf will lurch away from its fellows, and there you'll see the pup, only about 1cm in diameter.

Tillandsia caliginosa with pup, MR, 2013

Tillandsia caliginosa has a cleverly disguised pup branching off from the base, approximately two leaves up on the mother plant.

Tillandsia filifolia with pup, MR, 2013

T. filifolia pups at the base, but the pup grows in a direction perpendicular to the mother plant. It's very hard to spot at first. This pup has been growing for several months and is now clearly visible. You can see the central rosette of the pup clearly in the lower right corner. It's darker than the mother plant.

Well, that's enough pupping for now! Have a wonderful weekend and happy gardening.

Tales o' the Pups (Tillandsia Pups, That Is)

Tillandsias, or Tillies as I like to call them, have two methods of reproduction. One is the usual method, with flowers and seeds (apomictic or not, I do not know!). Here you see a Tillandsia juncea, a large (30-40cm) Florida native, in the seed-throwing phase of its life:

Tillandsia juncea with seed pods, MR 2013

T. juncea's flowering phase lasts a long time. The inflorescence takes several months to grow and the blooms last for several weeks in early summer (for Zone 9b). The seeds take several months to ripen, then the pods burst in fall and the seeds fly everywhere. You can see one flying away in the upper right corner of the photograph.

But Tillies also reproduce asexually, by pupping, or offsetting. Pups can grow from almost anywhere on the mother plant. For T. juncea and T. ionantha (a petite Central American Tillie), multiple pups grow from the base. They can stay attached to the mother plant more or less permanently, or drop off and grow in a new spot. Here you can see a T. juncea with pups (right) and T. ionantha (left), with pups growing from the base of the mother plant:

Tillandsias with Pups Growing From the Base of the Mother Plants, MR 2013

There are many other styles of offsets, which I'll be sharing over the course of time....

A Tilly For the New Year: Tillandsia butzii

Ah, Tillandsia butzii, one of my favorites, and one of the "creepier" Tillies. They grow mostly in Southern Mexico and Panama, and they like their humidity and water. The outer leaves form pouches that usually house ants in the wild. The ants will leave detritus which gives food to the tilly, and the leaves protect the ants, so the relationship is symbiotic. Of course, when you grow them indoors, the tropical ants aren't so welcome! When you water indoor butziis, you have to be sure to drain those outer leaf pouches, or the plant can suffocate or rot. You can see a tiny pup on the lower left of the left-hand butzii.

You can see the lovely mottling of the leaves in this closeup as well. Beautiful!

Bloomin' Sundays!

Here's what's blooming, or pupping, around my garden this weekend....

Lithops:

Bloomin' Lithops!

Mammillaria:


Bloomin' Mammillaria!

 Fenestraria (Babytoes)--Yes, AGAIN!

And some extremely small Tillandsia pups:

What's blooming around your garden?? Have a great weekend!

Seedlings' (and Pup's) Progress

My Lithops seedlings are finally showing their secondary, adult leaf pairs! I have to say, since this is my first crop, it's exciting:



Lithops Seedlings at 6 months

You can see the most prominent pairs at the bottom left and right of the photo.

Many of my Tillandsias are busy growing their pups. My smallest Tillies, T. funckiana, are about 5cm when adults. One has a pup that just fell off, and it's doing fine. But so tiny and wee!

It's slightly less than 1cm long, can you believe it? But it's taking water, and has just about doubled in size in a month. I'll feature its parents later- T. funckiana is a fun and funky species (of course, it's right there in the name!).

Have a super weekend, and for those in NE USA and Canada, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean, I hope your recovery efforts from Sandy are going well and your power is back on (or comes back on very soon). My outdoor garden took a fair bit of damage from Sandy, but nothing like what happened to your gardens up north, and to our east.