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Tillandsia
ionantha belongs to the Bromeliaceae family native to
Central America and is found from Mexico to Nicaragua.
This epiphyte is well adapted to its rather unique
ecological niche, growing attached to the high branches
of trees where it receives exposure to the sunlight that
the canopy of trees shades from the forest floor below.
It is a small stem less plant, often found growing in
clumps large enough to encircle a tree branch. Tillandsia
ionantha form a bulky rosette, standing like an aloe, 8
to 10 cm in height.
Its leaves are colored from gray to red. They are
triangular, tough, superimposed and especially erect. The
lower face is scaly and grayish. Before flowering, the
end of the central leaves (bracts) turns to a stunning
pink. At the time of flowering, the violets flowers with
long stamens like two yellow bayonets, appears in the
middle of the plant. When grown in bright light the
entire plant quickly turns a fiery crimson color, with
grape-violet flowers emerging from the center.
The culture of the tillandsia in a vegetative state is
rather easy if the humidity of the atmosphere is high.
However the flowering of the plant is more difficult to
obtain. Moreover, the plant decays slowly and dies a few
years after its flowering. The rejections which appear at
the base will flower in their turn a few years later.
Recover the rejections when the plant mother is
desiccated and place them in small pots.
Hardiness zones: 9-11 (-5°C/25°F, 4°C/40°F) in winter.
The tillandsia requires a sharp light in summer and sun
in winter. Place it close to a window directed at the
west in summer and the south in winter. The ideal
temperature in summer is 22 to 24 ºC. In winter the
temperature can be cooler (18 to 16 ºC) but it should
not go lower than 13 ºC. The tillandsia is demanding on
the level of moisture. Keep the water content of the air
high. If you do not have a humidifier, regularly vaporize
the plant with water at room temperature. If you
cultivate it in a pot, place it on a wet gravel bed.
Eliminate the yellowed leaves, cut the inflorescence
after flowering and vaporize the foliage regularly.
This plant absorbs water mainly by its leaves. Regularly
vaporize the plant with water at ambient temperature. You
can plunge the plant with its support in water at ambient
temperature (add a low dose of manure) during one hour,
then let drain. If the plant is cultivated in a pot,
sprinkle moderately to humidify the substrate, and let
drain. Let the substrate dry slightly between watering,
but never completely. In winter, when the temperature
gets cooler, reduce watering and vaporization to let the
soil dry for a short period. The tillandsia does not
tolerate mineral salt very well. For the period of growth,
fertilize once a month by vaporizing the foliage with a
solution of the 20-20-20 diluted by half.
The tillandsia develops few roots. This is why it is
often fixed on pieces of wood or plates of bark using
wire, with the roots surrounded by foam of sphagnum. Its
installation can take place anytime in the year, except
during flowering. The tillandsia can also be cultivated
out of a pot if the substrate is porous and drains well.
In this case, you can use fibers of Osmond, sphagnum moss
or sphagnum peat, and pearlite like substrate, and gravel
for the bottom of the pot. This plant once out of pot
should almost never be repotted.
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