Replenishing the Old Collection

Around February, my tillandsia collection diminished to nothing...
They were ravaged by mealybugs, suffered from rot, or suffered from underwatering.  Overall, it just left my tillandsia collection from a grand total of five to a grand total of a 1/3.  Pretty sad, I know.  The mealybugs were the most disappointing of all the ailments that my tillandsias suffered. It was just that I noticed a couple of mealybugs on my neofinetia falcatas one day, and the next thing I knew the source of the mealybugs were from the inside of the little leaves of my tillandsia.  I tried to do everything in my power to get rid of the mealybugs...but it was just too far gone. 

But, recently I was able to snag some great deals on tillandsias at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden gift shop.  They had my favorite tillandsia that I have been looking for months that was eaten away by voracious mealybugs.... 

So yeah...this little tillandsia fuchsii v gracillis was the tillandsia that I have been looking for months.  It is really hard to find, and the only place that I know that sells this tillandsia is on ebay.  Only problem is...the shipping is $6!!! And the location of the seller is just a five hour drive.


BOTTOM: I also got a really nice mounted tillandsias for $25.  When I first saw it, I thought it was really pretty especially with that gorgeous bloom.  There's spanish moss on it, and three different types of tillandsia.  I got it for my mom, but mainly I wanted it because it was just a great deal that I couldn't resist passing up. 

RIGHT: This is my 1/3 that I have left of my original tillandsia collection.  It is a little "pup" from the mother plant that had two "pups" growing from the side.  I just broke off the larger of the two "pups", and I am now growing it without dirt in a 0.5 inch pot.  Pretty small...but this one I didn't kill.  My mom did...Did you know how she killed it? She watered the poor thing at night and the water got trapped between the leaves.  It died of rot...DO NO WATER EPIPHYTIC PLANTS AT NIGHT!!!!

BOTTOM: I also picked up my first carnivorous plant.  It's a Drosera...or sundews.  I mainly picked this little guy because he was cheap and doesn't have a dormant season like the venus fly trap which is a plus.  I have it in a little jar sitting in rainwater that I collected for my orchids growing with my orchids.  So far...it seems happy with new "tentacles" growing from the base.