Wow, Japie! What a beautifully grown plant. I think you're right about the shady/moist culture. In Steen's newer book (Bromeliads - The Conniseur's Guide) he says something to the effect that punctulata straddles the line between the gray and green-leaved Tills. Your plant looks quite big - how big is it?

Japie the orange color looks like all the plants I have seen..never red

Ok, sometimes I get mixed up with orange and red. But what ever the colour, a little bit more intense would have been nice1

Treehaus, it's dark and cold and wet outside, so the picture is not very good. If you cannot make out the numbers, it is a 30cm ruler next to the plant.
{{gwi:478365}}

Japie

HDD, I was a bit curious about the description of the colour, so I went back to Steen's new book that Treehaus mentioned "...breaking out in large masses of flower spikes with pink, orange or red bracts, " And in his older book: ".. the flower stem is brick red to about half way up to the spear shaped inflorescence"

And Baench: "Rote hochblätter umhullen die gestauchte Infloreszenz" (Red scape bracts surround the inflorescence).

So, I do not feel alone any more calling it red! :-)

Japie

I checked FCBS and its orange on there also...maybe gonzer knows this one

I think I found what I was looking for, but it will still be interresting to hear what Gonzer, and others, have to say.

Check out this link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Till punctulata

I have(and i think Gonzer can back me up,if he remembers my pic posts)the Giant form of this plant with flowering stems easily double the length of the plant-like giant red clubs. Mine are grown in the warmer side of SF bay,but not a hot summer climate.They are in full to part sun in a 16" coconut liner basket,and they have filled that basket with adults and pups. My favorite Tillandsia since they look like no other and really do have that collected- on- Mars feeling. They have taken 30f winter nights(for a couple of hours)several days over the last three years. Someplace i have pix. With dial up it takes forever to go back a years worth of Photobucket pix's!

Stanofh, thanks for the info. And to save you some dial-up time, your picture is in the link below.

You think I will be able to get those multiple flower heads if I feed my plants? Or are those multiple heads a trait of the giant form? The picture in the link above that I also posted, also shows multiple heads and those plants were fed regularly. Sad to say, but my tillandsias never get any food. Ok, maybe once or twice a year a little foliar feeding!

Japie
Japie

Here is a link that might be useful: Tillandsia from Mars

The plant has universally been described (by Rauh and others) as having red-orange bracts. I can't recall ever seeing a specimen with what you would call straight red bracts. It's not found growing solitary but in large masses. Stan, your old 'mars' post mentioned Oaxaca. A group of Tillandsias that are found there (oaxacana, andreuxii, and macdouglii) are among the harder plants to aclimate to the "normal" collection.

My T.punctulata was grown for years in a warm humid greenhouse.I dont recall any real set back when put outdoors around May 04. Last year i took it out of the terra cotta pot knowing that they liked the crowding,a little bit hesitant. Nah,no prob again.
Also japie, i think i posted a newer photo of them in full bloom and color. One other thing-i never cut off the faded blooms that seem to hang on for years.Is that good? or does it make any difference at all?..to my eye even when they brown they look exotic.
btw,i feel bad about that little exchange back then with HDD.

Stan, if I can be a butt-inski (sorry Japie!), the subject of cleaning your plants ('specially Tills) of dead inflo's and dead leaves is a subject I've been waiting to touch on. Many growers I know prefer the natural look such as nature gives us. You'll notice plants in nature with years of dead growth growing fine. The problem in cultivation is/are the presence of insects like mealy's and scale that are not found in these plants natural habitats. Mealybugs, especially, love to hide in between the bracts of dead Till flowers wreaking their dastardly deeds until sometimes the plant is beyond repair. I prefer to cut away the dead inflo except in cases where the plant flowers so rarely (latifolia var. leucophylla) that keeping the stalk attached reminds me of what it looked like. I also like to remove dead leaves that are really ratty looking except on the long caulescent forms which tend to give the length of the plant some character. I'll shut up for now. (you touched a nerve)

I was hoping you would do me the honours to reply Gonzer, Stan obviously does not know that I am still a novice regarding tillandsias! And now "while I have you on the phone" do you think I will be able to get my plant to give me a multiple inflo next time by feeding it regularly? Or is it a specific clone that does that?

Japie

I'm sure that feeding played no part Japie. Just luck of the draw...or a nice clone.