Tillandsia "Collection"

Tillandsia

Tillandsias are commonly known as the "air plant" because they don't have any roots and can be grown without any potting mix.  These are also part of the bromeliad family which is another type of popular tropical plant that you can find readily in your local grocery store or home improvement store.

Anyways, tillandsias were my first introduction to the tropical plant world.  I got my first tillandsia, I think, in second or third grade from one of my favorite stores at Pier 39 in San Francisco, called Shell Cellar. It was a little plant stuck in the hole of a purple sea urchin shell.  It was very pretty.  This first tillandsia drowned to death by my inexperience with plants.  I had the misconception that humidity meant placing the plant in an inch of water 24 hours...it is now in a better place.

Later, when my mom got her own office at work, she had and still has this obsession of placing a live plant in her office.  It is just so hard to convince her that she has a black thumb.  She has sent ferns, orchids, and bromeliads to the intensive care unit (aka my orchid growing area) for me to play doctor to the neglected plants. Anyways, back to the point, I convinced her that if she wants a plant in her office, then she should get an air plant. Even with my mom's black thumb, she was able to grow a healthy tillandsia.  Here's why:

Mom's first tillandsia with offshoot tillandsias

After some experimenting, tillandsias are one of the easiest tropical plants to take care of.
Watering: For lazy people, like me, place the entire tillandsia in lukewarm water for an hour in the morning, once a week, so the water between the leaves will evaporate by nightfall.  If water is between the leaves, this makes the plant susceptible to fungi or rot.  Fungi and/or rot = dead plant.  If you like watering, then spritz water onto the plant 2-3 times in the morning every day or every other day.   OR you can run the tillandsia under lukewarm water in the facet IN THE MORNING for a couple of seconds.  Just make sure there's not water in between the leaves.The tillandsia's leaves will turn from a olive color to a grass green colored when watered thoroughly.

Flowering Tillandsia

Light: Keep it bright and shady.  There should be light, but not the type of sunlight that would blind you if you read a book under it.  My mom had been able to grow it under her regular office light with no problem.  I've been able to grow it alongside my orchids with no problem
Flowering: Oh yes, tillandsias do flower.  Normally when you buy tillandsias they're not in flower, but you can make them flower.  They flower when they are exposed to the gas called ethylene which is readily found in ripening fruit especially bananas.  My mom wanted a flowering tillandsia, so I placed the tillandsias alongside the bananas in our fruit bowl in almost complete darkness. Two weeks later, there was a pink flower growing in between the leaves.  Unfortunately, once tillandsias do flower, no more leaves can grow from the mother plant, but little tillandsias will grow from the side of the mother plant which can be easily divided for more flowers and tillandsias.

New Arrivals!!!!!!!

Summer season is finally here, but it also brings along finals season...the time where every high schooler dreads. At least I dread it.  I'm balancing three honors class with an AP class, it's a miracle that I'm still alive.  Anyways, while taking a break from studying Chemistry....I'm going to post a couple of new orchids that I obtained recently.

Dendrobium Hybrid

This is a NOID dendrobium-phalaenopsis hybrid.  They cross bred the common moth orchid/phalaenopsis orchid with a dendrobium orchid.  I got this little plant for $7.99 at the San Francisco Flower Mart.  I wish I took pictures of the flower mart to show, but I was too mesmerized by the orchids, potted plants, and cut flowers that were selling at unbelievably reasonable prices.  It was the flower version of Costco!!! Hopefully, I'll be making another pilgrimage to the flower mart soon to take pictures... and snag a few orchids.

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On the left is a Milt. Maui Mist 'Golden Gate' that I won in a auction on ebay.  This is from a reputable provider called Kawamoto Orchids located in Hawaii which has amazing cattleya orchids.  The orchid had two spikes when I bought it with a great root system that was overflowing from the top.  Unfortunately, on the leaves, I noticed spider mite damage, but I didn't see any spider mites on it.  I'll be watching it closely. 

 Miltoniopsis Maui Mist 'Golden Gate'

This orchid was $11.99 + $12.00 shipping.  I thought it was worth it because I love the water fall pattern and the simplicity of the flower.  The Miltoniopsis orchids that sell here in the Bay Area are either too white or does not contain enough of the waterfall pattern that I love.  Miltoniopsis hybrids are fairly easy to grow, though I accidentally killed a cheap miltoniopsis hybrid that I bought from Trader Joe's by overpotting.  I learned from my mistakes and I'm trying again.
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All of my orchids are in quarantine in case they have any bugs or anything undesirable located in or on the plant.  I usually keep them on the first floor of my house or in my room, but usually downstairs because I won't be distracted while studying by my orchids....orchids in room = get nothing done.  From experience, I've noticed that plants begin to show their dislike in two weeks.  The first two weeks are the most stressful for the plant and the owner.  After the two weeks, usually, the orchids have adapted to their new environment and should begin to thrive.