Large Air Plants

Plant or Animal Product Type: Tillandsia
Indoor/Outdoor Usage: Outdoor, Indoor
Brand: The Drunken Gnome
Material Feature: Natural
Color: Green
Sunlight Exposure: Partial Sun
Unit Count: 1 Count
Product Care Instructions: water
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3
Moisture Needs: Moderate Watering

Tillandsia Stricta Hard Leaf

Tillandsia Stricta Hard Leaf

We are a family owned and operated farm and nursery specializing in Tillandsia Air Plants.

We pride ourselves on selecting the finest Tillandsia available and carefully packaging and delivering them throughout the country for plant enthusiasts of all experience levels to enjoy!

Tillandsia Stricta hard leaf is a small to medium sized, easy to grow air plant. It's leaves are firm and evergreen. Tillandsia Stricta hard leaf has irregular leaf growth, spiraling upwards along the center of the plant. It's optimal temperature is 75 +/- 10, with tolerance for higher temperatures and humidity. Tillandsia Stricta hard leaf blooms in spring to early summer with one vibrant flower spike with pink inflorescences and bluish-purple flowers and will clump with time.

Stages of Tillandsia Stricta Hard Leaf

T. Stricta Hard Leaf is a robust medium sized evergreen variety with a firm dense rosette of smooth-edged straight leaves. T. Stricta Hard Leaf displays colors of green to dark green with small, less prominent trichomes. When transitioning into bloom the leaves will change from green to a soft pink color focusing around the bloom.

The leaves are a great indicator for the plants need for water when they show signs of curling. Care must be taken to ensure water does not pool in its bulbous base, as this will cause rot. Good air flow will assist with drying and turning the plant upside down after watering will prevent water from pooling.

T. Stricta Hard Leaf blooms in spring to early summer. They have one of the brightest blooms in the genus with one vibrant flower spike that has apink inflorescence and bluish-purple flowers.

Their flowers can be enjoyed for several days and will then begin to dry up over the next couple of weeks until the entire inflorescence has completely dried out. At this point you can trim the inflorescence for aesthetic purposes or leave it as is.

Fertilizing your Tillandsia with The Drunken Gnome's Bromeliad & Air Plant Food will help encourage budding and brighter blooms.

T. Stricta have a life cycle of growing to maturity and then blooming. Before, during, or after blooming T. Stricta will start producing new baby plants called offsets, which are also known as pups. Stricta is a quick grower that produces lots of pups that clump together to form a ball. On average it will produce between 1 - 4+ pups.

The pups will obtain nutrients from the mother plant as she ends her lifecycle. They can be separated once the pups grow to 1/3 or half the size of the mother plant. A gentle tug and twist will not hurt the plants as you remove the pups.

No matter what stage your T. Stricta(s) are in at the time of arrival, they will continue to grow and change over time.

Once you receive your new air plant(s), it's important to give them a good soaking and acclimate them to their new environment.

Take care of your air plants and provide for them by nourishing them with adequate sunlight, airflow, water and nutrients and they will reward you for years to come!

Tillandsia General Information

Enthusiasts of all kinds love to attach air plants to all types of objects such as driftwood, hanging in an air plant holder, or placed in a glass orb terrarium. Indoor grown Tillandsias generally need to be watered about 1-3 times a week by spraying the plant and kept in indirect sunlight. Not only are they fun and easy to keep, air plants are also a great choice of air purifying plants. Whether they are kept in your home, garden, office, kitchen windowsill, terrarium, vivarium or enchanted fairy garden, these adorable little plants will naturally clean and filter the air around you while adding a little bit of nature to your indoor space.

Tillandsia have a life cycle of one plant growing to maturity and blooming. Before, during or after blooming (depending on the species) your plant will start producing offsets (pups). Most plants will produce between 1 - 4+ pups. The pups will obtain nutrients from the mother plant as she ends her lifecycle. They can be separated once the pups grow to 1/3 or half the size of the mother plant.

Tillandsia roots have one task, strictly for anchoring to any tree, rock surface, structure or host plant (even one another). The roots take in no nourishment from the host nor do they supply the Tillandsia with any nutrients. Tillandsia roots are used to secure a place for growth and position the plant to receive optimal light and water.

Roots are not an integral part of an air plants life or health and the absence of roots is not a sign of poor health.

Do not plant their roots in soil as it will cause the air plant to rot. For aesthetic purposes roots, may be removed from just below the base of the air plant using scissors.

Tillandsia rely solely on their leaves to absorb rain, draw in moisture and nutrients from the air and allow for photosynthesis to produce food for the plant. Leaf colors and textures vary from few to many, wide to thin, silvery, white, lime green, dark green to almost black. Leaves can be ridged, stiff, brittle, soft, flexible, succulent, smooth and curly. Some have microscopic, less pronounced trichomes (Mesic) while others have fuzzy, white, enlarged highly visible trichomes (Xeric). Leaves surrounding an inflorescence may “blush” or turn bright red, pink, orange, peach or yellow as blooming season arrives. In some Tillandsia (T. Brachycaulos, T. Fuego, T. Victoriana) the majority of the plant turns intense red/pink. The blush usually subsidies back to green after flowering.

When it comes time to flower, from the center of the plant develops the inflorescence, the stem or spike reproductive portion of the tillandsia, from which the flowers emerge from the bract. Later if successfully pollinated a green seed pod will form from the base of the flower. The duration of the blooms varies among plants. Typically, the stem or inflorescence emerges with a colorful bract. Then the flowers bloom from the bract. The flowers expire, then some time after the inflorescence spike dries and browns and expires, as well. At this time if pollination has not occurred or the formation of a seed pod is not desired, the entire spike may be removed from between the leaves with a clean set of scissors.

After flowering, Tillandsia enter the next phase of life: producing seeds, pupping or both. Depending on variety, Tillandsia can form pups at the base of the plant, from the inflorescence or along the stem. After some time of facilitating seed formation and nourishing the process of pup development and growth, the parent plant will wither giving way to those pups to start the cycle again. With good care, the parent plants health does not typically decline until pups are mature enough for survival on their own. Some varieties of Tillandsia will form a clump with passing time of this continued cycle. They can remain as a clump or the pups may be separated individually once they become 1/3 or better of the mature size.

One of the advantages of having air plants is their versatility. You can display your air plants on cork bark, in glass terrariums, alongside crystals, in table top pots, shell containers, suspended planters, wall mounts, wood mounts and so much more.

Use fishing line, wire, glue, twine or yarn to affix your plants. Use pebbles, rocks, seashells or moss as decorative substrates. Some species of air plants will branch their pups, creating their own display. It is important to make sure your air plants can receive plenty of good air circulation and sunlight. With how versatile air plants are you can definitely let your creativity run wild! The design possibilities are infinite!

To promote growth, color and blooms, we recommend fertilizing your Air Plants with our ready-to-use Air Plant Food 1-2 times per week during regular watering. As a general rule, a plant in a hot position will require watering every 2-3 days. In a darker, more humid environment, watering once per week can often be adequate. This can be achieved by misting or soaking the plant. If outdoors, a hose can be used. When soaking a plant, leave submerged in a bowl of water for 10-20 minutes before shaking off excess water (do not submerge flowers). Air plants need to dry out completely between each watering and must never have water sitting at their base as this will cause the plant to rot.

Whether you are crafting a personalized gift or providing the medium for someone else to get creative with, air plants are an excellent gift choice for so many different occasions! Air plant gifts are ideal for Holidays, birthdays, housewarmings. Teachers, employees, co-workers and college students love them too! They are easy to care for and make a great gift for someone who loves plants but doesn't have the best green thumb!

We package our Tillandsia in beautiful bright colored tissue paper with a simple care guide and an adorable Drunken Gnome Sticker before sending them from our greenhouse to houses everywhere! They are sure to bring happiness to all of your favorite people!