Tilly’s EVERYWHERE! Tillandsias, aka Air Plants, are super fun and come in an assortment of unique shapes, sizes and colors! Tilly’s are in the bromeliad family; they’re related to the pineapple! I wouldn’t recommend eating them though, although the ASPCA does say that they are non-toxic. I would look at them as ornamentals!
You can tell a lot about a Tilly just by looking at how many trichomes it has! What on earth are TRICHOMES? They are teenie little hair-like structures all over the flesh of the plant. The more the plant has, the more silvery-white and fuzzy they look and the more light they will need! Those little trichomes help to keep the Tillandsia humid and cool during periods of sun exposure and heat. If the Tilly is smooth and mostly green looking, they like lower light and more humidity. All Tillandsias can live happily under a grow light as well, or with your terrarium pets who too enjoy supplemental environment lighting. I have TONS in my Leopard Gecko tank, she loves them!
To water your Tillandsias, you will want to soak them bi-weekly. Fully submerge them for an hour or two and then give them a good shake-off to remove excess water. I also recommend letting them dry upside down (aerial roots up) to make sure no water baubles are left to rot in the crevices. If you notice that your Tilly seems to dry out fast, you can mist them regularly or increase the watering to weekly. Each environment is different; more light and heat mean more water needed. If you choose to fertilize your Tillies, I’d use an organic orchid fertilizer in the water once a month during spring through summer!
Tillandsias are epiphytes; their aerial roots are purely for hanging on to something. You can utilize these, ignore them or trim them off. All Tillandsias will only flower once, then they become Tilly making machines! Shortly after your Tilly has finished blooming, a pup will emerge from the side and grow up to be an exact replica of the mother plant! In a year or two with proper care, they too will flower and continue the cycle! Seriously…. TILLYS EVERYWHERE!
