[GrowRR] GrowRR Digest, Vol 26, Issue 2

[Mttoptrekker at aol.com]

Hello All,
   Although Mr. Heckart has good advise with regard to light levels, and 
protection from excess rainfall, I must disagree with regard to temperature. For 
many years I'd grown a T. cyanea that had refused to bloom, although otherwise 
growing and offsetting normaly. As I had resided in southern Connecticut at 
that time, ( near New York ) and had lacked the space for a proper greenhouse, I 
would grow my plants in a shadehouse during summer and bring them indoors 
under grow lights when temperatures cooled in the fall. For years I'd seen 
photographs of Hawwaiian gardens where T. cyanea was grown effortlessly as a bedding 
plant, and wondered what I was doing wrong. It was'nt until visiting Hawaiian 
Sunshine Nursery in Hilo that the proprietor, David Fell, informed me that 
their usual low winter temperatures dropped to an average of 48 degrees 
farenheit. Armed with this knowledge, I decided to leave my plants out until a little 
later in the season to approximate this seasonal change. As temperatures in my 
area drop dramatically with the onset of fall, I was only able to chill the 
plant for 3-4 weeks before night temps would drop below 40, so to be safe had 
brought the plant in for the winter. To my surprise, the plant bloomed the 
following spring with inflorescences every bit as tall and proud as their hawaiian 
cousins, and provided that day temps during the blooming period were in the 
upper 70's with humidity above 50 percent, the fragrance of the blooms was 
intoxicating! 
  As T. ionantha is not a high elevation plant, I have not found chilling to 
have much effect on them. Although you had'nt mentioned which variety of 
ionantha(s) you are growing, I can offer that some seem easier than others. T. 
ionantha " Druid" seems easiest for me, where ionantha van hyningii has'nt bloomed 
in the several years that I've grown it, although it otherwise seems to grow 
normally, produceing an elongated pendant stem with numerous offsets from the 
leaf axils. I've considered removing some of the offsets to grow on separately 
and trying different growing conditions to see if I'm doing something 
contrary to the plants wishes. This way if one fails and dies, I'll still have the 
mother plant to keep for stock.
  Although there are probably not many bromeliad growers in your area, an 
alternate source of information may be found amongst the orchid community. It has 
been my experience that many orchid growers and nurseries often have at least 
a few Tillandsias hanging around, although they often seem reluctant to 
properly identify them. Still they may be willing to share cultural advise. 
Although orchidists have long realised the differences in temperature requirements 
with regards to the elevations that their plants reside in nature, this idea 
seems slow to gain acceptance within the bromeliad community. Here in the U.S. 
our bromeliad growers have to provide some form of protection during the winter 
months, and considering the high costs associated with heating a greenhouse, 
heating is usually kept to a minimum. Thus they are provideing a seasonal drop 
in temperature without knowing it.
  Also many growers seem to fine tune their collections with regard to 
climatic conditions in their area. The xeric, dry growing species seem to do best in 
southern California where limited rainfall is more to their liking. 
Conversely the mesic, wet growing species do best in the higher rainfall and humidity 
of southern Florida. With this in mind, you may be able with a little research 
to find plants that grow in climates similar to those that you experience.
  Although I've not visited Singapore, I'm aware that you experience near 
constant high temperatures, rainfall, and humidity. To that end, it would seem to 
me that you might seek out species that reside at lower elevations near the 
equator. Those that reside in mangrove swamps, like T.bulbosa, and kegeliana 
might be likely candidates. Also amazonian species like T. paraensis may also do 
well, though these are sometimes difficult to obtain. 
   Unfortunately the bulk of Tillandsia species seem to occur at the limits 
of their range, southwest Brasil, Argentina, northern Mexico are but a few 
examples. One might theorize that they seem to thrive on adverse conditions, with 
near extreme seasonal temperature fluctuations.
   Lastly I may refer you to an article in the BSI journal from the recent 
past ( sorry, I've forgotten the specific issue in question) authored by Derek 
Butcher, the BSI's current cultivar registrar. This article pertains to an 
invitation that "Uncle Derek" had received from the Singapore Botanical Garden to 
help identify their bromeliad collection. Unfortunately it seems that the bulk 
of their collection is reluctant to bloom given the unchangeing cultural 
conditions provided by the conditions there, thus making identification dificult 
if not impossible for many.
   Hope that all of this has been of some help, or at least provided food for 
thought.
                                                                         All 
the Best, Kevin Becroft
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