It certainly looks nice, but I think this setting isn't optimal for the plants. Tillandsias need good airflow, so best place for them over summer season is outside. Or at least on a ventilated windowsill.
T. tectorum, when acclimated, needs at least few hours of full sunlight to grow properly. Watering maybe once or twice per week during summer season. If you water them more, they grow more, but are greener and have less trichomes.
Other species like some sunlight too, preferably filtered by a tree or shade cloth. Fuego needs some direct sunlight to get and keep the typical red color. About watering - I water my plants by misting (until water starts dripping from them) every day when weather is nice. General rule is that plants should get dry withing 3-4 hours. When weather is hot enough, some water can stay all day inside funnel-shaped species.
And my final advice - what kills your plants fast:
Freeze or overheat (behind glass).
Watering when weather is cold.
Staying in a damp place for too long. So no glass orbs or bottles. Terrariums might be risky too.
Copper wire, some other metals and chemicals. Not every insecticide is suitable for tillandsias.

Hi raxidor, thanks for your reply.

I live in suburban area, my neighbors always let their cats roam freely in backyards. There is also quite some wildlife around (birds, squirrels, etc.). Therefore, I'm hesitant to put my plants out where they might get snatched or damaged by pets/wildlife and outdoor probably carries higher risk of pests. Anyway I just feel more at ease having them indoors with me. I do move the plants to a south-window in late afternoon (around 5 or 6pm), when the sun is less harsh (and they can get a few hours of the late afternoon sunlight before it completely sets) and sometimes open a window crack for them. As for the terrariumim I'm using, it is a cube shape, with a whole square panel open at an angle, so it gets good air flow. I just hope I'm not overwatering them with the current method of misting every other day, with 1hr soak at end of the week (on Sunday). House humidity stays 40-50% (even with AC on) and summer daytime temperatures 75-85 F which I believe should be comfortable for all the tillandsias. They do dry within 2-3 hr here and I don't put them back on their gravel upright until their bases look and feel dry.

Do you have any thoughts regarding the care of T.Butzii? I'm thinking to add one but I am hearing conflicting things; some say they are picky/tricky to care for, others say they're easy. I would think taking care of a Butzii should be similar to bulbosa, caput madusae, and other bulbous tillandsias? What do you think? Thanks

Your care should work then :)
I don't own any t. butzii, but reliable online seller describes it as species easy to grow and with the same care as other bulb type tills. That means medium sun, absolutely no water inside the plant when weather is bad, but frequent enough when weather gets hot.

I had T. Butzii, a nice bunch, but perhaps because they were outside last summer (north-facing porch, our reflected light is quite bright), they picked up something that looks a little like mealy bug and I couldn't get rid of. I have something similar on some broad-leaved greener Tillies, but I think the plants may be too tough for the pest. I'm still using things like alcohol against the pest, and isolating the plants from clean plants.

dd, I think your use of gravel as decoration is nice. You're just using it to hold the plants up, not as a planting medium. You realize already that wet gravel could cause trouble for roots or the base of the plant. I like to place some tillies among decorative rocks in dishes (but never use copper anything!), or use some pebbles in cups or small vases to give the roots something to stand on .

I strongly suspect -- and you already know probably -- that your area is too cold in the winter to leave them out except maybe in a well insulated green house. I live in the high desert but it can get quite cold even here in the city.

Your summers are likely quite sunny, but mine are sunnier as I am at high altitude, so my summer-outside tillies get northern exposure (though a few could tolerate a few hours of morning sun if I had a place for them there).

Your summers are likely more humid than mine, which the plants will be fine with. We're getting more humid here (more rain this year, hooray!), so I am soaking less unless the plants look like they'd appreciate it. I think many tillies are more tolerant of dry conditions than we realize, so watching and studying them until you understand their ways is a good idea. Xerographica likes dry (I've seen some videos in Spanish on line that show bulk production of Xerographicas in Mexico; you don't need to know Spanish to see what's happening there). Spanish moss likes humid shade and can hang in the rain now and then (videos available on them, too). I saw a video where a fellow had some growing in a tree and it survived an Ohio winter...! Yikes! Wow...

Hi Debbyabq, thanks for your feedback! Yes I am only using the gravel to hold the plants up for display purposes, I know not to let the tillies (bases especially) stay wet for more than 3-4 hr. The gravel does get wet on the surface when I mist the tillies but it all dries out within 2-3 hr (so that should be ok?). I am keeping my tillandsias on the East window for mornings occasionally, and South window in later afternoons when the sun is less intense, and other times I am keeping them on the shelf above my desk. Not using anything copper to my knowledge, and the stone gravel I'm
using in the wooden bowl/pots are just new regular aquarium gravel which I
have rinsed several times prior to use. I don't feel comfortable keeping my tillandias outdoors yet, as I've mentioned the neighbors let their pets roam out in the backyards and the risk of harm from wildlife/pests is higher outdoors. Anyways so far so good, the first bunch have survived 2+ weeks with me thus far, and the newer additions seem to be doing ok for a week (and now I have a Butzii and a Pruinosa on the way, which I anticipate receiving this week). I like the look of Xerographicas but they look like they get too big LOL :P I just want small/medium-sized tillandsias as there isn't really that much space available (my mom's plants are taking up most of the prime areas, though there's some small space on the windowsills).

I think everything you are doing sounds fine. I've used aquarium gravel, too -- and have used fresh-water aquarium water for watering plants as well, and soaking Tillandsias. So anyone with an aquarium can recycle water that way: dip out old water, put aside, replace that with fresh treated water. Then take the old water (which has fish and snail poop & urine in it) and use that for tilly soaking and eventually watering potted or in-the-ground plants.

The only outdoors threat may be insects. Also wind. I've wondered if any nest-building bird might take some Spanish Moss to try out, or even nest in one of my baskets, but not so far. I had some blooming Victoria tillies hanging out and I thought that might interest the hummingbirds, but I don't know if they noticed (they might not have believed there could be a Mexican plant up north here!).

Maybe you can hang some of your spare tillandias from your mother's plants -- they can cozy together and you can remove yours when they need their baths. You're right about the size of Xeros. Mine was about the size of a softball when I got it (~2012?), and it's about 2x that size now and should continue growing. If it decides to bloom, I may need to move to a bigger apartment with a spare room for it! Not really... but it will be a challenge to care for! There are various smaller plants that look a lot like Xeros, like the Chiapenses and some of the other gray, almost ball-shaped plants.

But in any case, you are approaching the new hobby at a nice rate with good ideas! I hope your new plants arrive safe and sound (I've ordered from several places and not had any trouble despite the distances), as soon you -- we'll all have to wait until spring to order more.

Thank you Gonzer, Tillandsia Sensei/Master for your wisdom. -bows- I give you my sincerest gratitude. I do have a few more questions... is it really ok to only give a Tectorum water once a month (and by that do you mean soak, or just mist or what process?), or perhaps it would be ok if I were to mist it once a week instead of soaking once a week? And lastly, do you know anything about the care for a Pruinosa (I am anticipating receiving it along with a Butzii soon), is it any similar care to the other bulbous tillandsias (medium-low light / once a week soak in general)? Thank you for any additional insight you can offer :), I would greatly appreciate it.

Also thank you debbyabq for your additional feedback/response :)

I have 3 t. pruinosa plants and they seem to be really easy to grow. Compared to other bulbous types they can take more light thanks to big trichomes on their leaves. They grow fast when you water them regularly over summer.

Thanks for the info Raxidor :) Unfortunately, my shipment got delayed in the mail =_-" grrr USPS -shakes fist at USPS in frustration-... lol, I was supposed to have them by Saturday, but now I will likely have them by Monday or Tuesday... I just hope they are ok having not had sunlight for almost a week now. I've gotten most of my recent tillandsias from CTS Airplants (in California) and they usually arrive in good condition even after 4-5days in shipping.

They'll probably be okay, I hope they arrive today! I've ordered several times from CTS. They first year they were great! The next year... some communication problems but I eventually got everything, including a Xero I still have. I skipped a year or two because I had no need to order anything from anyone (and had my local gal to buy from). But this year in the spring I ordered from CTS and it was okay except they seem only to use USPS. This year ordered successfully from Rainforest Flora (of California, used UPS) and a year or two ago I ordered successfully from Plant Oddities which I think is in Kentucky. They are good at replying via email, too, and switched me to UPS when I found out they planned to use USPS. UPS is good at delivering to my apartment door (unless they give it to USPS to deliver, which happens a lot with Amazon orders...).

Yeap! My Pruinosa and Butzii arrived today, I was so glad and relieved lol. The Butzii is gorgeous, I love the wild-looking spots-n-stripes on it :). I am a bit concerned about the Pruinosa, it had several damaged bottom leaves (leaves with sunburned or otherwise scarred spots) which I gently pulled off because they were unsightly, but the inner leaves have a brownish tint. I'm not sure if it's something I should be concerned about or if it's normal for all bulbous tillies to have slightly brown-tinted inner leaves. Attaching two pics of the Pruinosa from different angles, and the Butzii. Do you think my Pruinosa looks normal or sickly? :< I just got it too >.< so I do hope it's ok.

Write to the seller immediately, just in case you have to make a claim in the future (check their faq or equivalent on how they handle that). Praise what arrived in good shape; detail what you observe about the other plants, and take pictures in good light in case they'd like to see them, too. Your plants will probably be okay after they've had some time outside the box and feel your loving care. The Butzii does look good. The white speckles on the top pruinosa concerned me, but in the 2nd picture, they look like tricombs (sp?) and that's okay, means the plant doesn't need a lot of water. The 2nd picture's brown is concerning; maybe Gonzer can give you a better diagnosis. It may be that the plant will realize it has a nice new home and it will start pupping to make up for the brown areas. :)

Yea, Pruinosa has thicker fuzzy trichomes than a lot of the other bulbous tillandsias I now have. I actually wanted it because of its fuzzy appearance, it just looks so cute xD.

That pruinosa - it looks like minor damage by wrong watering, it shouldn't endanger whole plant. Just don't soak that brown spot. Water the plant by dipping/misting the green parts of leaves only until it gets stronger.

Thanks Raxidor! That's helpful info to know :)