Tillandsia has about four hundred species and grows in various natural zones. The process of adaptation to weather changes has contributed to the formation of various flower varieties, depending on climatic conditions.
Tillandsia flower: varieties, features of home care
This exotic flower belongs to the Bromeliad species. The herbaceous flowering plant, depending on the variety, can be annual or perennial. According to the method of growth, it can be terrestrial or epiphytic. Varieties growing at home are unpretentious. The appearance and color of the plant is very diverse, depending on the variety.
Home-grown Tillandsia
Appearance story
The Swedish biologist Karl Linney named the plant after the Finnish scientist Elias Tillands, who founded the Botanical Garden in Finland.
Homeland of the plant
The flower originated in southern America. Got its distribution in Chile, Mexico. The flower grows in mountains and marshes, tropics, semi-deserts, savannahs. In wild conditions, the plant is attached with its root system to stones or trees. In Russia, it is grown only in an artificial environment.
Tillandsia: home care
For growth and development, it is enough to provide conditions close to natural.
Temperature
Tillandsia loves heat, but heat is destructive to her. In summer, the permissible temperature barrier ranges from +20 to +28 ℃. In the cold season, the temperature should not fall below +17 ℃. The room where the flower is located should be regularly ventilated.
Important! Tillandsia must be protected from drafts and sharp fluctuations in temperature, it does not tolerate them.
Lighting
Avoid direct exposure to sunlight, otherwise the leaves will get burns, which will lead to the death of the plant. A flower needs a uniform distribution of light in space. In winter, an additional light source is installed.
Note! The daylight hours for the plant should be stably 13 hours.
Watering
The degree and frequency of hydration of tillandsia depends on its variety. For species with a strong root system, moderate watering after a certain period of time is suitable. In summer, the ground in the pot must be kept constantly moist. On hot days, the flower is watered twice a day with settled water. In winter, the frequency of soil moisture is reduced so that its top layer has time to dry before the next watering.
Spraying
Suspended varieties need to be regularly sprayed, because due to the lack of a root system, the plant receives the substances necessary for the development and growth of the plant through the leaves. In winter, the flower is sprayed with warm water. During the formation and opening of the buds, the spraying is stopped. In summer, a warm shower is needed every two weeks.
Humidity
The air in the room where the plant is contained is humidified by at least 60%. Therefore, water containers or a special humidifier are installed near the pot.
Priming
For tillandsia, a store-bought primer mix for orchids is suitable. To prepare the soil yourself mix:
- one part of sheet land;
- one part of peat;
- one part of coarse sand;
- one part of sphagnum with the addition of crushed charcoal.
Before planting, it is recommended to sterilize the soil. At the bottom of the pot you need to lay the drainage at least a third of the total volume.
Top dressing
Epiphytic varieties (without root system) are fed with nutrient solutions. They spray the leaves once every two weeks. Fertilizer is mixed with water in a ratio of 1: 4. Pot species are fertilized during the period of active growth with liquid root fertilizers twice a month from spring to autumn.
Note! During dormancy and the formation of flower buds before drying, it is not recommended to fertilize the plant.
You can not use conventional dressing, as well as use organic matter - they are poisonous to the plant. Tillandsia is fed with liquid fertilizers for the Bromileevs.
When and how it blooms
Tillandsia blooms unusual and beautiful. First, it produces an ear on which bright buds alternately blossom. The colors and size of the buds are different for different varieties.
Types of flowers
Ear buds bloom one by one. Bracts are pink, purple, red, yellow, orange, lilac, so tillandsia always looks dazzling.
Flower shapes
On tillandsia, a bright peduncle is formed, usually raspberry pink in the form of an ear. Each flower consists of three petals of bright blue, blue or purple shades. Flowers bloom in turn. During this period, up to 20 pieces can be revealed. They quickly fade. As they dry, they are cut off.
Flowering period
It blooms in summer, less often it can happen in autumn and even in winter. The process of opening buds can last up to two or more months. At this time, monitor the humidity and condition of the leaves.
Tillandsia in bloom
Additional Information! Varieties without roots bloom once during their existence, and this happens two or three years after planting. Forming buds, they throw all their strength into the formation of young shoots, and they die.
Pruning
Only dried out or damaged leaves are removed. In general, the tillandsia plant does not need pruning. When the young shoots grow up, the main peduncle dies and completely dries. Then the young shoots are disconnected from the mother flower and planted separately.
Breeding
How tillandsia propagates:
- vegetative way;
- in a generative way.
Kids
Children are called side shoots. Their intensive growth falls on the period of full formation and opening of buds. One plant can produce from three to eight daughter shoots.
Shoots with a strengthened root system are planted separately. The soil is prepared from peat and sand, mixed in equal proportions.
If only one baby has formed, then the faded plant is removed to make room for a daughter's shoot. Young tillandsia will delight in flowers in two / three years.
Seeds
For seed germination using a moistened mixture of sand and peat. Seeds are scattered on top of the ground without sprinkling on top. The container is covered with glass or film and put in a bright warm place. Sprouts form after 25-30 days. Flowers appear only after five years.
Rooted babies of tillandsia for breeding
Transfer
The plant is removed from the old container, cleaning the roots of the earth, and placed in a wide and shallow pot. A thick layer of drainage, with the addition of charcoal, is laid at the bottom.
Additional Information! Perennials are transplanted in the spring, once every two to three years.
Possible problems in growing
Tillandsia flower requires the creation of favorable microclimatic conditions. Pests can occur in a plant that is weakened by transplantation or improper conditions.
Pests
The main danger to tillandsia - scale insects and worms. They are removed from the plant by wiping the leaves with a soapy solution. With severe infection, special insecticides are used.
Other problems
Plants of the Bromeyl family are subject to fungal and viral diseases. Black spots appear on the leaves. To cure the plant, you need to trim the affected leaves.
Main problems:
- The appearance of brown spots on the leaves is due to improper watering. It is necessary to adjust the moisture and apply exclusively filtered water.
- The lack of the formation of buds and flowers occurs when there is insufficient lighting and insufficient humidity. The plant is rearranged in a bright room, an additional light source and an air humidifier are installed.
- Leaves may become brownish due to sunburn. In hot time, the pot with the plant must be shaded, protecting it from direct sunlight.
- The decay of the flower occurs if tillandsia planted in ordinary soil. Or due to excess moisture in the soil. It is treated with a complete replacement of the soil.
- The leaves curled and dried up - there is not enough moisture, you should spray the plant more often.
Kinds
In nature, there are several hundred species of flower. Only some of them can be adapted for growing in a pot.
Atmospheric (epiphytic)
Plants with lush leaves, with virtually no root system. Thick scales on the leaves help the plant feed and maintain water balance. The main varieties of this type:
- Tillandsia usneoides (tillandsia usneoides) has the second name "Louisiana moss". Thin filiform leaves with gray flakes. Interior compositions are created from it on supports, snags for tillandsia. Home care for tillandsia is simple: regular watering and temperature conditions from +18 ℃ to +21 ℃.
- Tillandsia ionanta violet-flowered (tillandsia ionantha) has leaves of a silvery shade, a flower is blue-violet. During the formation of the buds, the leaves become reddish.
- Tillandsia "The head of the jellyfish" (Tillandsia caput medusae) has the shape of a bulb with adjacent leaves, which are bent to the top at the top. Inflorescences are colored red.
- Tillandsia xerography (Tillandsia xerographica) is the largest species. It grows to 1 m in height. The leaves are silver, twisted at the ends. Leafy bracts are bright pink, and the flower itself is purple.
- Tillandsia bulbose (Tillandsia bulbosa). The leaves are thin, long. When the plant blooms, the upper leaves turn red, and the flower takes on a lavender hue.
- Tillandsia Cotton Candy (Tillandsia Cotton Candy) 12 cm high, diameter of the outlet about 17 cm. Adapts to the apartment temperature mode, in the winter it suffers a drop of a degree to +12 ℃. Requires infrequent watering. It needs a lot of light, it grows even in direct sunlight.
Tillandsia epiphytic species
Potted
Endowed with green narrow leaves in the form of a rosette. Spike inflorescences with bright bracts are formed:
- Tillandsia cyanidea blue (Tillandsia cyanea) has a rosette of grassy leaves, the color changes from red to brown-striped. Flowers of blue or blue hue, bracts are painted in bright lilac or pink tones.
- Tillandsia Anita. Its scaly leaves are narrow and spiky. They form a rosette, in the center of which on a short stalk there is a blue flower with pink or lilac bracts.
- Tillandsia lindenii (Tillandsia lindenii) has a large inflorescence, as well as the color of the bracts. In the inflorescence, they are saturated red or light pink, and the flowers are painted blue and have a white eye.
Tillandsia potted
Tillandsia is an exotic plant that easily adapts to various conditions. To grow a beautiful and well-developed flower, you need to properly care for it. Then he will add variety to the interior, emphasize his feature.
