Greetings, Hive gardeners and plant lovers! It's been a while since I did a dedicated air plant post. Actually, I have only ever done 2 of those.
The first post is about my very first air plant and it was also my first post ever. It was not very informative because I did not know much about air plants at the time but it was during the time when it first bloomed. I've had this plant for 4 years now! In that time it has produced many pups (baby offshoots) and bloomed 3 times.
This little guy came from my original plant. It is growing very slowly. I might have plucked it too early but that was already a long time ago. A good time to pick them is when they are at least half the size of the mother. For more information on their care (and pictures), click here.
In that post, you'll see the previous air plant's twin brother, which used to be beautifully mounted on a piece of maple heartwood. Unfortunately, this one didn't make it after being knocked over by one of my other sisters.
Maybe now I can use it just as a decoration. Rest in peace.
The main mother also had another pup though that I had left attached for a long time. This one started to decline in health for some reason though and was turning yellow.
After removing it, it started to recover. It began turning green again, growing back the white parts that absorb water on the leaves, and developing a pup surprisingly! I think what it did not like before was getting a lot of water in the middle of its rosette of leaves. These plants only like a small amount of water on the outer-most leaves.
That's all for that family tree. The line ends there.
The next plants are unrelated but the same species, Tillandsia ionantha.
Long ago, this skull just had a simple pineapple head. now he's growing more "hair".
Another one with the skull motif, however this one also got dropped and died.
My sister caused the death of 2 of my air plants. It is ironic that I should now have to care for her 2 plants. The smaller one is not an ionantha, that's all I know. The bigger, darker one that's sunken in the hole is. Do you like the cactus style mount? I gave it to her.
This plant has moved out of its glass cube due to watering issues and outgrowing its home. I believe it is Tillandsia ionantha var. Peanut Fuego. It is the first air plant I bought for myself.
And here is a present day picture of it! The beef bone I mounted it on is perfect because the hollow center will keep the bottom of the plant aerated and dry. Imagine if it were still sitting on a flat surface and all the water collecting under it. That would make it prone to rot. Now that it's out of the cube, I can also water it more evenly across the hard-to-reach places.
This is the newest member in my collection. I purchased it at a really cool plant store in the city. I don't know what species it is yet.
I really like this one. At first I was nervous that it would be finicky and need different care than my others but it is fine with a light daily misting just like the others. Sometimes, when I don't have rain water or am lazy to go out and get some, I just water them with a little orchid fertilizer mix (since I use the spritzer for my orchids as well). They seem to like it. Another thing I noticed about my new specimen is that it is blushing, which means it will either bloom soon or grow pups soon. It could still be a while though. My Peanut Fuego plant blushed and then took forever to fill out its pups. And it still hasn't bloomed.
Do you like the snail shell mount I made for this plant? Thinking of creative mounts is one of the best parts of having an air plant.
I hope you enjoyed my air plant update. Keep your fingers crossed to see some weird blooms soon!