Tillandsia and Terrariums
Let’s
get the taxonomy out of the way. You may have heard the term ‘tillandsia’
before, but it’s unlikely you’ve heard, unless you’re a horticulturalist or
botanist, terms like aerophyte, epiphyte, trichome, or bromeliaceae. In laymen’s
terms, we’re talking about air plants, of which tillandsia is a genus of more
than 700 species of perennials native to Guatemala specifically, Central and
South America broadly, some parts of the West Indies, and even the deep south
of the U.S.
These
amazing plants thrive without a bedrock of soil. In their natural habitat, they
often attach themselves to trees and fallen wood, are hydrated by dew and occasional
rain, and grab nutrients from decaying organic matter like leaves, insects, and
tree limbs.
They’re
starkly beautiful (Avatar-ish), and very hardy. Some grow fat limbed and juicy inside, like
a succulent, and require virtually no attention. Others have delicate limbs
like spider legs and need a little upkeep.
I love
their simple, spindly appearance, and the fact that they don’t require a lot of
work. Yesterday, I received delivery of six Guatemalan tillandsia, with wispy
limbs and a delicate green color. They arrived in good health, and I want to
keep them that way.
They
went into the glass and wood terrarium that I bought last month. I had originally
put soil and succulents in there, but fungus gnats quickly took hold (this is a
brutal winter for gnats), so I removed the succulents, dumped the soil, and
cleaned and sterilized the terrarium. Then I ordered the tillandsia.
Since tillandsia
needs no soil, but fungus gnats do, I don’t have to worry about gnats. I
scattered in a few pebbles that I had just cleaned and dried, and spread the tillandsia
over them. In five minutes, I had a gorgeous tillandsia terrarium that even my
husband saw and said, “Wow, that’s cool”.
Because
these are the delicate variety of tillandsia, they’ll need misting with fresh
water weekly.
Contrary
to what some believe about plant geeks like myself, we don’t want to take on
tons of extra work in our indoor and outdoor gardens. The name of the game is
to shepherd plants kindly and effectively so that they’ll thrive and have happy
lives, and keep the maintenance down to a minimum.
That
doesn’t mean that geeks don’t like puttering around plants, talking to them, plucking
off dead foliage, administering water and nutrients, pruning for size and
shape, repotting, and cleaning up. We do. We like it. A lot.
What
we don’t like is a steady diet of hard labor when it comes to gardening. So, we
build irrigation systems on timers and lay weed shields under our veggie plants,
and instead of battling fungus gnats in a soil terrarium, replace the soil with
stones and plant carefree tillandsia instead.
And
there’s no compromise with tillandsia. They are absolutely gorgeous, and with simple
care, many genus of tillandsia will bloom. The blooms may be small and
short-lived, but they’re beautiful.
Live
in peace.
