[GrowRR] GrowRR Digest, Vol 26, Issue 2

[DENNIS HECKART]

Hi Kevin,

Although I agree that T. cyanea can take lower temperatures and may even 
induce it to blooms, it has not been the deciding factor for my cyaneas to 
bloom.  I am at about 300 ft., much lower than David Fell, and the 
temperature has not gone below the mid 70's for the last 7 months, and they 
are all in bloom now.

The amount of light, air circulation and humidity seem to be the deciding 
factors.  My experience has been that given the latter two but still grown 
in too much shade, the tillandsias will not bloom.  Given bright light, 
correct humidity and air circulation, they all bloom.

Best regards
Dennis Heckart

>From: Mttoptrekker at aol.com
>To: GrowRR at bsi.org
>Subject: Re: [GrowRR] GrowRR Digest, Vol 26, Issue 2
>Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:54:01 EDT
>
>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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