Tillandsia Really need help, SOS

18 years ago

After watching my tillandsia show me signs of injury and deterioration for three months I feel its time for a post of many questions asking for SOS help.

I live in Singapore where the climate is a consistent >90% humidity all year round and the temperature around 30 degrees celcius or 90 degrees farenheit all year round as well.

My tillandsia have been exhibiting the following signs: leaf tips turning brown (both young leaves and old leaves), yellow patches in the center of leaves (and in some cases resulting in dying of the whole leaf), more than normal amount of curling of the leaves (both length and width curling).

There's only one tillandsia retailer in Singapore as far as I know (tillandsia biotope) and I've been going to them for growing advice. They've told me my plants are suffering from dehydration, and the solution is to water more more and more. I've gone from a once daily watering regime, to twice daily, and now twice daily, soaking for an hour each time, and a twice a week 8 hour soak. The tillandsia have shown no improvement. They've told me the yellow patches are sunburns. I've put the tillandsia on a balcony that doesnt get any direct sunlight. I doubt sunburn is possible without direct sunlight.

Recently, I showed these to a person over the internet who retails in the US. He said the opposite -- overwatering causes the same symptoms as underwatering. He said I've been grossly overwatering. Water once every 3 to 4 days, a simple drenching under the tap, and no more misting daily! Give 2 hours of morning sun if possible. I'd like to ask confirmation from you guys before I do this in case it's going to take things for the worse. I've never heard of overwatering causing leaf tips to brown. I've only heard of overwatering causing rot in the plant.

These are images of the plants I own and the damages that they've sustained so far:

xerographica:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2082/xero5lu.jpg

There are yellow patches on the leaves (not obvious in this photo) and the leaf tips are browning even for the young leaves. This is a dessert plant. It's beyond me how this can dehydrate in my tropical climate.

streptophylla:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2793/strepto1vf.jpg

The leaves have these yellow sunburn patches that only show when wet. It's also beyond me how indirect sunlight can burn the plant. The Singapore retailer says its extremely dry and hot cause the center of the plant is red, the leaf edges are red, and the plant is really curling.

unknown plant: (my retailer in Singapore says its a latifola caulescent but the American retailer who saw this image says its an incarnata)

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/489/unknown5cl.jpg

The leaves are curling (length curl) and the tips are browning even on the younger leaves in the upper portion of the plant.

Exserta:

http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/5003/exserta8ax.jpg

The leaves have green and yellow patches to them ( not pictured here). The retailer in Singapore says this is sunburn. The picture here shows the core. I think it's rot but I'm not sure. How can tillandsia rot and be dehydrating at the same time...

Capitata marron:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/630/capitata9hs.jpg

The leaves are length-curling in the photo. They're also width-curling at the base but that's not so apparent here. They're forming o-shapes.

cyana (anita):

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/4764/cyana2pm.jpg

She certainly is a sorry sight. I think the photo will do the talking for this one...

These plants havent changed at all since I bought them. Maybe they're hibernating or something....

aeronthos (purple variant):

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7172/aeranthos2qz.jpg

flabellata:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8841/flabellata5zn.jpg

roland-gosselinii:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2048/roland5co.jpg

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Comments (3)

User
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ischan, first glance tells me your plants are getting too much water. The scale-like trichomes are not even apparent in your photos. Xerographica, being a dry lover, should be growing in a more tight, compact form. Your streptophylla also exhibits signs of excess moisture. With your humidity at such constant high levels, cut back on the watering and soaking. Better to have too little water than too much. One is reversible, the other isn't. By the way, you've mentioned nothing about feeding your plants.
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ischan
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi gonzer, some of these plants were photographed wet. The sunburns show up more easily when the leaves are wet. (If I photoed the strepto dry, I doubt even I could see the sunburn. Same goes for the rot around the center of the exserta) Just trust that yea, they do dry eventually.

Aside from looking wet (cause they are :bag:), are the curling leaves and leaf tip die-backs tell-tale signs of too much water as well?

I have some tillandsia fertilizer but I haven't been applying it dilligently. The last time I tried, the bottom three leaves of the cyaena turned brown the following morning. This fertilizer is supposed to be specific to tillandsia, sold to me by Tillandsia Biotope. Unfortunately, I can't elaborate more except note that the bottle has the following written on it: 21:21:21 + TE + Vit B1 + Growth Homorne. It's supposed to be done once every two weeks and dilution is half a liter of water per tiny tiny spoon (the spoon's in the bottle and it appears to hold as much as a pinch using your index finger and thumb would).

I've ignored the feeding for now cause I can't even get the watering and the sunlight right.

Last I went trawling on the internet , I found that tillandsia are supposed to be given 20 000 to 40 000 luxes of light for 12 hours a day. (!!!!!) On my shaded balcony I can manage about 4000 luxes, (using that formula for digital cameras to measure luxes, ( 70 * apeture * apeture ) / ( iso * shutter speed )There's other resources for measuring luxes with a camera... look em up on google. Type in "measuring lux with a camera"

What the heck? Will direct sunlight exposure even get me the 20 000 to 40 000 luxes they're talking about?
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User
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What food you have is basically Miracle-Gro with trace elements, an all-purpose fertilizer. Leaf curl can easily be traced to overwatering. Many of my dry-loving tills get sprayed only once a week, even when the weather's warm.
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Tillandsia Really need help, SOS

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ischan
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Tillandsia Really need help, SOS

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ischan
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