Gonzer is right. You shouldn't need to soak it. Are you fertilizing your Tillandsia? Bromeliad food works good. I try to do mine a minimum of once a month. One thing - if you are getting blooms again you are doing it right!! If you don't want to get the wood too wet, or if the wood is too big to dunk, you can always attach the Tillandsia with Velcro. that way you can take the plant off to water it.

Hi everyone. Q Z- My advice would be to look to the "basics" for an answer. You say you have your plants "on the windowsill of my dormitory room" but you don't say how long you soaked them for. Are they sitting with the base "on" the window sill or are they "suspended" slightly up off the sill? If they are sitting "on" the sill, it's possible there is still sufficient water left in the leaf axils after draining, and when the plant is turned upright again, this water is able to drain to the base of the plant where it touches the sill. This would cause the leaves to go black due to too much water possible causing eventual rot. I don't know much about Tillandsias but I find they hate excessive water and much prefer "little and often" in the way of misting them with a hand sprayer and growing them in an area with abundant circulating air (Not in front of an air conditioner duct). Look at how they grow in nature, often clinging to a host with circulating air all around. I've even seen pictures of them growing on telephone lines (Picture 1) where they would quickly dry off after a shower of rain or heavy mist. As I see it; it's a two part equation of minimal water and maximum air circulation, and you can't have one without the other. The fact that you haven't watered them for three months means they aren't even getting the "minimal" water and could be starting to dehydrate also. They can survive without water when grown outside, but when inside they depend on you to provide it correctly. I find the leaves are a good indication; when this type of Tillandsia is growing happily, the leaves are a silvery/grey colour (left plant in picture below), but when getting too much water they are tending to be more green in colour (right plant in picture below). That's just my opinion based on what I've found with the few plants I have and there are many members here with much more experience of this genus than I, and I'm sure they can give you much better advice. All the best, Nev.

Good tips on the Butzi! I'll watch out for coconut fiber for sale around here (nearly all of our few nurseries are far, on the north side of the city, but coconut fiber searching is a good excuse for a long bus ride and walk trek). All my soft-gray strictas are fine All my plants winter indoors, then when it's nice out (i.e., nights are warm enough, no lower than 50F), they go out in a north-facing porch. Six months in, six months out. One would think the high desert would have a longer warm period but no. We are currently experiencing spring rain, and it's windy and cool out , but as the temps rise today (and certainly tomorrow) and wind calms down, I'll put out some of my hardier (grayer) plants to get some sunshine. I think the Spanish Moss will enjoy it. Maybe birds will take some for exotic nests.

Hi everyone. Stephen - I've never had much luck growing this plant although others in our area grow it quite successfully. They grow it both in a pot as well as mounted on rough bark trees and they seem to flower them every year. I was told that my trouble was that I remove pups, and it likes to clump up a bit before it will flower naturally. "Naturally" is the key word here as you will have no doubt observed that single plants are often available in bloom in various plant outlets. Most of these are probably tissue cultured plants that have been force fed and treated with "ethylene" either in liquid or gas form to force premature flowering. I have found with other tissue cultured plants I have, it takes a couple of generations of pups before most of these will flower naturally once again, I'm told it's something to do with disturbing the genes to artificially induce flowering, but I can't support this info. You can read more about how to make your plant flower at: http://www.bromeliads.info/forcing-bromeliads-to-bloom/  Another thing you may not be aware of is that this plant has recently had a name change and is no longer classed as a Tillandsia. It is now in the genus Wallisia and the name is Wallisia cyanea. All the best, Nev.