tx_flower_child said:So do you want the Tillandsia for yourself or for the birds to use?
LOL! For me! The birds can find their own nesting material. I'm sure among what they find would be some Tillandsia if they can pull it loose.
I try to keep some spare coir liners on hand because they get so badly damaged due to being pulled on for nesting material that I have holes. I made a new gourd house for the Carolina wrens and hung it kind of late this spring. It's a bit larger gourd than the ones I already have in use. I try and keep some hung to encourage the wrens to use and not using the hanging baskets. It works most of the time. I hope I don't end up drowning a bunch of babies sometime or other. They can really hide those nests and I often water the baskets by submerging it in the stock troughs. Sometimes I let them soak for a few minutes and sometimes, when I'm doing that I forget them by being distracted doing something else and the few minutes can turn to a lot of minutes - like measured in hours.
That method really works for the coir baskets where I grow the Achimenes and Eucodonias. That's pretty much all I use the coir baskets for. They dry out quickly, so the dunking works well. I think the photos show why I like those containers for them. But the way the grow makes me think I could use them for growing Tillandsia if I can get them attached well enough. I sorta would like to use two of the wire frames attached to make a container about the size of a basketball and cover it with T. recurvata. I could stuff the interior with something light - maybe packing peanuts that aren't the dissolving kind or crumble up some packing styrofoam. That's what's in my head, anyway.
Here are three photos showing the phases of growth of a Eucodonia. I just got the last ones hung out this week. They aren't inclined to get an early start in spring. This particular plant has been a favorite for the wrens in the past. It has soft texture, including the stems, so they can damage it enough that it ultimately flops open. 'Course one year the squirrels thought is was their own special chaise lounge, too. I'm sure it was comfy, but it made me really cranky
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