@tarev and @drdawg, thank you! I might try getting one to grow if one comes my way. Sadly I have no windows, and the heat still climes over 110F outdoors.

Update on my T. ionantha.

A very healthy and happy tilly, Tiffany.

Hi everyone. I got my first tillandsias today. I don't know which cultivars they are but I have them tied to a long chain. They're over the kitchen sink in front of a south facing window so hopefully they'll get humidity and good light? I gave them a spritz of water because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to soak them? The leaves unfurled and they look alright afterwards.

I am not sure if I am doing it correctly but I soak mine every week or two depending on how they look. I also feed the once a month in their soaking water.

Thanks for those tips JB. Do you feed yours through the winter months too? I wonder if I'll need to get purified water or will tap water be OK?

Here they are. The set up isn't pretty but hopefully once they start producing offsets it will look nicer.

I treat my tillies like my orchids, less soaking during the winter months, just some light misting every two weeks. And same with my orchids, doing the misting early in the day and making sure I shake off excess moisture from the crown as I leave it to air dry.

Thanks Tarev. I'll mist them instead of soaking them this winter. I'll make sure to let the crowns dry. So far I've been misting every morning but I'll wait another week before I mist them again.

We all have our "tricks" for growing tillandsia. My tillandsia, some in a greenhouse and some in the solarium get a good watering every week, in an oversized sink in the solarium and with a hose in the greenhouse. I have never worried about doing a shake or dry. I kind of water them like they would be rained on in nature. But I do have lots of air-movement in the solarium and in the greenhouse, so that aids their drying. I am a big proponent of good air-movement. I never stop fertilizing any of my tropical plants, but do so less often and with more a more diluted mixture. The only plants I pretty much stop watering are those that need a (dry) rest in the winter. Those will lose their leaves in the fall/winter, being deciduous or semi-deciduous. When they begin to re-grow their leaves, watering and fertilizing will begin again.

Thanks Drew. Since they're not mounted on anything does that solve the air flow problem?

I don't know who "Drew" is, Cameron, but for me at least, being mounted or just hanging somehow, makes no difference. I want air to move around all my plants, as it generally does in nature. Though tillandsia are not prone to pests, I cannot begin to tell you how few problems I have with pests and fungi, and I grow 1000+ tropical plants. Air movement is the key as far as I am concerned.

Sorry Ken wrong person. I have some wine corks, would it make a good medium to mount the tillandsias on? If I glue them to the corks, would I have to submerge the whole thing? Sorry for all of the questions. I have a lot of my houseplants crowded in front of two windows. Sadly I always have issues with pests mainly fungus gnats and mealybugs. This year I haven't seen many fungus gnats, but in previous years I had major issues with them.

Boy, if you ever need any wine corks, I have hundreds of them. I don't know about whether they make good mounts. I have a huge natural cork slab that has a dozen Florida native tillandia mounted. I simply fill the sink, and its a large one, and then put that slab upside down in the water. I let it soak for about 10 minutes and then hang it back up. That's my winter watering, Cameron.

What sort of air movement do you have in place?

I guess I'll sqaush the wine cork idea? One day I'd love to get a cork slab but only after I've obtained a lot of tillandsias. I have a fake driftwood aquarium ornament but it's not that attractive. I don't have a fan in the kitchen where the tillandsias are and they're probably about 3-4 feet above the kitchen sink.

The nice thing about tillandsia, Cameron, is that the can grow in so many environments. They are not 'picky" plants. You don't need a lot of tillandsia or a large cork slab. I have single, small-growing tillandsia mounted on tiny pieces of cork (larger than a wine cork though) and single, large-growing ones on cork sized to their growing needs. Of course, my "Florida Natives" are on a really large slab, something like 18"x32". The smallest piece of cork is only 3"x4".

I think I still have a cork plaque made up of numerous wine corks glued to form a flat surface and then framed in wood, just like a picture would be framed. Though I don't use this for anything (but should), that's something that is easy to make and it can be sized whatever one wishes.

It is still dark out but when it lightens, and when I finish boxing up some plants for shipment, I will go out and take some photos.

That's good to know because I want them to thrive. I may just keep them attached to the chain? I'd definitely like to see photos of your various mounts when you get the chance? I bet they're stunning? I'm going to get some purified water today. Could I add a drop or two of peroxide to the water when I mist or would the peroxide damage the scales on the plants?

I don't know the answer to the questions, Cameron. I don't use peroxide in watering or misting.

OK I'll just use purified water. I got three more today. Two are the same ones I posted and one looks like pine needles.

Here's the newest one.