Tillandsia Ionantha Air Plant Propagation

I bought one air plant, Tillandsia Ionantha one year ago. It had flowered about 5 times and produced about four new buds. After that, it has never bloomed, only once it had failed to bloom properly. You will know when there will be a bloom when the leaves turn purple or red.

I had propagated the air plant by carefully separating buds from the main plant. You will be tempted to remove many leaves and my advice is to stop doing this. Just remove the leaves that are brown or rotten. Keep the base of the bud dry. When you are done removing the unwanted leaves, place the bud onto a plastic water opening. See the photo below. I have cut the plastic bottles into halves and used the opening as a holder. In this way, when you spray water mist onto the leaves, the base of the plant will dry quickly. The base of the plant and the leaves must dry within four hours to remain healthy.

Yes, you need to water the air plants. A lot of people, including people who sell air plants, did not know that air plants need to be watered regularly. However, you need to keep the air flow moving around the plant to avoid accumulation of stagnant water. Stagnant water in contact with the air plant will harm it. I used an air spray to spray water directly onto the leaves. If you have forgotten to water or away on long holidays, you may want to soak the whole air plant into water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you need to remove the air plant from the water and shake the plant to remove excess water. Keep the plant ventilated to dry the water within 4 hours. Avoid doing this at night because the plant needs to breathe too. The three buds below were very tiny half a year ago, now they have grown bigger. 



Air plant buds