Lennard Tillandsia

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Extension to the back area of my Tillandsia growing area.

I extended the roof by using welded mesh and treated poles. I covered the roof of the area with shade cloth. There is a banana plant growing there, so I decided to work around it. This is how it looked from the outside:

This is the banana tree i decided to leave because there was a big bunch on it:

The path and the basic outline of the left area. The bricks add heigh and also give me space to plant some creepers:

The first pieces of deadwood:

The result for now:

Here is the opposite side of the above area. I have some rocks laying around, so I decided to use them:

The big banana tree was removed after the bananas ripened and I decided to leave two of the young bananas. Now the mesh at the back was added to keep the dogs out:

The final result of the rock area with micro sprayers added:

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Hanging bigger Tillandsia species.

You need some strong fishing line, wooden rings used for hanging curtains, screw in iron hooks and some varnish.

Screw in the metal hooks and varnish to seal.

Attach the fishing line at a length that is needed

Center the plant in the ring. A small wire around the line can be used as a slider to keep the plant in place.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Tillandsia flabellata - intense red spikes!

Tillandsia flabellata is a species in the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to southern Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas) and Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua)
Two varieties are recognized:

Tillandsia flabellata - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua

Tillandsia 'Big Red'
(A consistently large form of T. flabellata, collected by Florida grower Steve Correale in 1978 from near the Mayan ruins in Copán, Honduras. Mature open rosette to 60 cm diameter x 30 cm high. The scurfed, channeled, arching green leaves, 43 cm long x 2.5 cm wide, are pale frosted red underneath (discolor), tapering to a point. Upright green inflorescence to 50 cm tall with approximately 10 salmon orange / pink branches each to 23 cm long with blue flowers. Reg. Doc. 6/2016 by Sue Styer.
Country of origin: Honduras)
in habitat:

This species can become massive plants! Plants 0.75m high and 0.6 wide is quite common. With the spike they can become higher than 1m. The leaves of the plants are very prone to damage and the plant should be hanged/placed where people or animals can not disturb them.

Some of my plants: One spiking in the background and the one to the front to show the size.

The spike forming:

Flowering - impressive candelabra:

The shiny spike and a flower:

Comparison with another form that do not form a candelabra - but the leaves are still soft and red.

Another one mounted on a trunk:

Now flowering:

Cultivation: As seen, in my conditions, the plants can be grown mounted or potted up in a very open mix. They need at least 60-80% sunlight to do well. They can be watered with the rest of the collection because they can save some water in the base of the leaves. They respond well to feeding - a little bit at a time but as regularly as possible.(I use mainly organics.)

The plant set seeds easily and 3-5 pups form after flowering. Remove the pups if they are 50% the size of the parents or leave them to form a nice clump.

Another plant from Erudite Ephiphyte: