Nice Tills.

It is T. stricta.

Lovely photos of beautiful tills, Japie.
I have not seen such a colourful inflorescence on the fuchsii before - and so beautifully positioned too. I also grow Till. edithae and am still waiting for it to flower after growing it for several years - it has formed quite a nice clump. I have a few different varieties of stricta, which flower and multiply regularly. None of mine have as wide leaves at the base like yours, and the inflorescences extend further than yours.
Gonzer, is Japie's Till. stricta a specific variety?

Cheers,
Kerry

I didn't want to commit myself Kerry but yes, I think it is one of the forms of T. 'Houston'. My first impression was of a nicely grown T. stricta var. albifolia but it's holding too many leaves. 'Houston' is a winner for clump-forming tills.

Gonzer, I always thought this one below is a Till stricta. Sorry, I do not have a nice clear picture of it. Might it still be a stricta and the one on top then a Houston, or have you got another id for me for the one below?

Japie
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Wow, the leaves on that one have a really nice dark color.

Happy Growing,

Mike

Here is a better picture of what I thought was stricta:
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And it is also starting to come into flower!
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Japie

T. tenuifolia?

Mike

You beat me to the punch Mike!
I'd also say T. tenuifolia var. surinamensis (syn. var. 'rubra'), surprisingly, not an easy grow. Yours looks great.

I wouldn't have know that was T. tenuifolia but for the fact that I saw {{gwi:519833}} image on the FCBS website a while back - very memorable, IMO.
Gonzer, does this variety of tenuifolia always color up like this? It's really something.

Mike

Mike, that link showed an impressive picture and now I can dream that my plant will one day look like that! According to my first picture, Feb 2006 it was jut one rosette flowering, but had started to form some pups. And now there are 4 rosettes. So if all four of them flower now, then in another 2 years time there could be 16 rosettes?!!! That will be great!

Japie

Did you notice the growers name in that photo? Hmmm....guess I'll have to give 'ol John a visit next week.

Glad you liked that picture Japie - hope yours grows up to be a big purple ball too!

Gonzer, is John Arden the guy who had "The Aristocrat" ?

And now T fuchsii is not alone anymore!
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Treehaus, yes, 'Arisocrat' is one of John's. In fact, I'm going to get several more out there. It is probably the most striking Tillandsia.

And here is Till edithae in flower, finally!

Japie
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Hi Japie,
Your edithae is just beautiful - what a lovely Christmas present. Excellent photos too. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Enjoy!

Cheers,
Kerry

That is a really neatly shaped cluster of blooms, and a nice shade of red.

-Happy growing!

Mike

Gonzer, here is a picture of what you reckoned could be T tenuifolia var surinamensis with a fower on:
{{gwi:519859}}
I also find it very easy as it gets no special attention and flowers and multiplies regurely every year!

Japie

Japie, after seeing the plant first-hand I've got to ask you this: How often are your plants tested for steroids? ;-)

Geez, I'm embarrassed when I compare those to my Tillandsias!
Those are gorgeous!
They are the only Bromeliads I have, do you have any tips? They're inside, I live in NYC, they get South sun though...and are in some Spag. moss?
Thanks,

Thanks Emily. Unfortunately, I have NO experience of growing Tillandsias indoors. All mine, I just tie them to a piece of wood or a live tree branch outside in the garden. I have an irrigation sysem that goes off twice a day with a fine mist spray in summer where my Tills are growing. But it does not hit them directly. Just create a moist atmosphere. But almost once a day I walk around with a hosepipe and wash off the paving around my swimming pool and then I also wash off the leaves of all my plants around the pool - including the Tillandsias. And I never feed them! But for growing them indoors, you better get the advice from some one else!

Japie

Emily, have you asked Herb Plever how he does it? He's written several articles for the Journal, so I know he grows under lights and dips his plants in a dilute fertilizer solution. He apparently gets very good results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Herb Plever

Emily, I will create a new thread about the topic of growing Tills indoors, since I would be interested to hear what other folks have to say as well. Thanks for bringing this up.

Mike

Thanks for the suggestions! And thank you Mike, I saw the post but hadn't read it yet..... I thought it was just a coincidence someone else interested in growing them indoors!