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Tillandsia stricta

I bought this guy about 2-3 years ago when it was one plant. It has since split into 3-4 plants. And now, after all these years, it decided to put up 2 flowers. I'm so excited! These flowers are SO much bigger than the T. ionantha flowers. Anybody else grow Tillandsia?

stricta_flower.jpg
 
Larry,
Very nice flowers. My stricta has yet to put up anything. I swear sometimes it seems like my Tillandsia are in suspended animation.
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Don't worry, they'll come.

I'm up to about 25 species, but I really like the fragrant types, of which I've got 7 or eight. One little flower really makes a difference in a greenhouse!
 
Great pic Larry!

Can you give us some details on the equipment you used.
I have about a hundred different species of Tillandsia, about 500 plants in total, and have pics of most of them in flower. Not all are as speccy as your stricta however ionantha is one of the better ones. I have flabelata (sp?) which I have seen in flower but my doesn't seem to want to flower, even though it's huge and I've had it about 9 years.

Cheers, Troy.
 
With Tillandsias, just sit a rotten piece of fruit next to them. The ethlyene gas starts the flowering process.
 
Tim,
Very nice tip. I forgot about the whole ethylene gas treatment to induce blooms. What fertilizer do you use btw?

Larry,
What color did the leaf tips turn on your stricta when it was blooming? Mine just put up two flowers, and the tips turned black which I thought was odd.
 
I just bought a bareroot "medium size" stricta 'hardleaf'. Is there anything besides general tillandsia care that it should get. Its blooming right now too.
 
well, the blooms are turning light already...short lifespan I guess. But according to rainforestflora(where this one came from) its about to produce some plantlets.
 
  • #10
I bought one the other day(Sat.) at a nursery while buying nep soil ingredients.
It looks like it flowered before I got it. Anyone know how often they flower?
 
  • #11
Mine is flowering again, so I'm guessing it flowers once a year.
 
  • #12
Larry it must be a "pup" (baby) that is flowering as all Bromeliads, which includes Tillandsias, only ever flower once. Bromeliads flower then produce pups and eventually the parent plant dies, this can take a long time, even a year or more. I have had Broms produce pups without flowering but I have yet to have one that has flowered more than once.

I have several T harisii that are flowering now but the flower isn't very spectacular.

Cheers, Troy.
 
  • #13
I have 4 diff species... used to have 15. they are all flowering
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troy, give us those pics! also do you have a website?
 
  • #14
Troy, I think you are correct. It has made several pups, but separating them from the parent plant looks to be a little tricky.
 
  • #15
Spec: have a look at my signature!
Those are my two web sites.

Larry: if it's flowering then sometime after it will produce mroe pups. The trick is to give the plant plenty of fertiliser when it's flowering and continue afterward. It will then produce more pups. I find that fertilising makes the plant produce 2 to 3 times as many pups than if I don't.
Re separating the pups, unless you want to have separate plants for a particular reason I usually leave them. When they are really big they almost fall apart, otherwise they look kind of cool as a little ball of plants.

Cheers, Troy.
 
  • #16
Thanks Troy, I'll spray it more often with my diluted solution of Ephiphyte's Delight.
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  • #17
My tilly hasn't moved for so long I think it is dead now...but it still looks greenish.
 
  • #18
As long as it's greenish instead of brownish it's alive. Tillandsias have scales that close when there is no moisture to be had. You'd be best off soaking it in water overnight once a week or moving it into humid conditions.
Peter
 
  • #20
Oh Thank you for this info, "just sit a rotten piece of fruit next to them. The ethlyene gas starts the flowering process."  I know squat about these plants and I have a friend who resides in Florida who has several of these and she was commenting that hers haven't bloomed. I'm e-mailing her this entire thread. Great info!
 
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