I think it's caused by lack of natural air flow. My plants usually do that when I move them indoors for winter. After watering they stay damp for few hours. When water evaporates slowly, all compounds dissolved in it precipitate mostly on plant tips. They get "clogged" and die. Placing tills on south windowsill helps a bit, but when weather is constantly gloomy, they get dry tips anyway.

I haven't grown tillandsias for very long. I did have some last year, but my little kitten got a hold of them and tore them apart. I came home one day and found little leaves scattered all over my bedroom, haha. I finally bought another one this season as well. It was also glued into a glass globe. Which I promptly removed. This kind lady at Home Depot sold it to me for the "Black Friday" price, because she said I come in there all the time buying plants, lmao.

I grow mine under a regular 23-watt (100w equivalent) "daylight" fluorescent light bulb, which gives off light in the 6,500K color range. Almost right away, it began to color up very nicely. I keep the light on a timer, and after it shuts off, I'll take my plant and soak it for roughly half an hour. I like to use rainwater. Which I collect a lot of, to use to water almost all of my plants with. Though, I've used regular tap water before with no problems. I just prefer using fresh rainwater, which my area gets a lot of all year long. After its soak, I'll take it out and gently shake the excess water off. Then I leave it hanging in my bedroom, where I keep my ceiling fan going. I can tell it's been growing, because the little cup I use to soak it in, I can see the tips of the leaves sticking further and further out of the top.

I was reading about them on here and seen someone mentioned using a metal whisk as a makeshift pot for them. I thought that was a clever idea, and when I was at my local grocery store, I found a cute tiny whisk that was the perfect size for my tillandsia. I may continue to use it for now, but might use something else later on. I don't really care for gluing them down onto some mount, but that's merely just a matter of preference.

I leave it hanging off of my light in the corner of the room (out of my cat's reach), where the air gently circulates over it, slowly drying it back out after its half hour soak. Once a week, I've been giving it diluted orchid fertilizer as well. When I first got it, it was just plain green. Now it's beginning to blush a nice shade of red.

(On a side note, I've been surfing the web for more of these cute little plants.)

Great work, Photo! Whisks are a good idea. I've stuffed bigger whisks with bulbosas from time to time. There are quite a few places on line that I have bought plants from, but since we get a real winter (it's about 32F now, expecting a snow, with a blizzard across the mountains and into the plains to our east), and the tillandsia sellers are in California and Florida mostly (I think Plant Oddities is in Tennessee?), I'm waiting to order anything until maybe April 1st. I note your profile tells me you are in an area that gets winter, too (I used to live in Tulsa). However, this give you plenty of time to do research on line, and several online sellers have email lists you can sign up for to get ideas.

As for the brown tips problem Kelly is having, it seems you are doing everything okay (unless maybe you are dunking your plant in tap water; filtered or fresh-water aquarium or rain/snow water is better). It may be that your office is just too dry. If you or any of your colleagues have the sniffles, sinus problems or the like, that may be an indication of too-dry air. If Tillandsias liked terrarium settings, I'd suggest that, but maybe you could figure out a way to mount the tilly so that it is above water (say, sitting in a shot glass -- depends on size of plant, of course -- then sitting that on a bed of gravel that is in a saucer -- hey, maybe use a decorative tea cup and saucer! Keep gravel moist. Perhaps also dunk the tilly a little more frequently.

Paul Isley (Rainforest Flora) says (in a YouTube video) he just dunks his tillandsias, shakes them off and puts them back on display. Of course, he has greenhouses and a huge stock, so most plants probably are dunked on the same schedule you use. I ordered plants from them this year and instructions for some said to soak them immediately upon unpacking, but I knew that wasn't right for some of them (crocata, for example). I emailed them asking about this and Isley himself wrote back (or his assistant did via his email address; still a neat thing!) and said the plants are rather dry in the greenhouse, so he warns new buyers to soak just in case. People who buy in person can ask; new mail-order customers we hope have done some research.

So I think the problem you may need to solve is humidity -- without the tillandsia being constantly wet. Let us know what you decide to try :)

I live in central Arkansas, and we haven't really had that much of a winter so far. Just a warmer than usual and really wet one. I initially moved most of my plants back indoors when the temperature dropped, but ended up moving a few back outdoors to soak up some winter sunlight. Tho, it will get colder again in less than a week. Gotta love Arkansas weather, it's pretty much all over the place.

As for using the whisk, I'm not totally in love with it, lol. It just looks too "kitchen-y." I've found some interesting things to use online that I may end up going with. The whisk was only a $1.00, so I thought I'd give it a try. It works great for keeping my little till far away from my cat. Ever since I bought it, she's been bound and determined to get her paws on it, haha.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Tillandsia's are one plant that I can't seem to master. Maybe I'm too focused on it growing/flowering. I really want it to produce pups so I can have a clump of plants eventually. Anyway, the bottle I have it on, has water in it. I thought of the humidity too. It is also within a cluster of different plants to increase the humidity. All 3 plants around it have trays that I fill with water to promote more humidity. I do have a thermometer in my office that stays right infront of the plants. Currently in my office it is 72 degrees. Lets see if I can upload some pictures for you guys.

This is right after its bath.

Sorry for the back quality of the last photo. I tried to zoom in. Anyway, you can see the bottle on the right, thats where my tilly usually sits. Its drying at the moment. Maybe I'll just leave it be. I really just don't want to kill it. :)

Thanks again for all the advice. I really appreciate it.

Photo, New Mexico is sending blizzard your way... actually, we're on the backside and have gotten a lot of snow, particularly in the area between our mountains (east of Albuquerque) and the Oklahoma border, so it's moving your way. It's about 33F here at 2:20pm, sunny, but windy. This is about as warm as it will get for the rest of the week, brrr! Maybe a bit more snow tomorrow, too. As for whisks, maybe you're like me: you collect things that might be used to display Tillandsias some time in the future. All kinds of cups, shot glasses, wine glasses, lots of wire (not copper), twine, nice pieces of wood, etc. I have a couple of boxes full of that kind of stuff.

Kelly, I think your Tillandsia, an Ionantha, looks fine! You might consider laying it more atop the bottle than having it act kind of like a plug, though it must make folks stop and ask about it, then wonder if they can get similar plants. I know you take it out to bathe it. You might also get some nice small rocks to put on the soil of the potted plants, and your Tillandsia can vacation among the other plants from time to time. One great thing about Tillandsias is you can move them around so easily. Nothing has to be permanent. I used to know what that tree-like plant in the 1st and 3rd pictures is called, but maybe you can get some flexible wire (I use memory wire found in the craft section at Walmart) and make a little loop in some and hang the Tillandsia in that plant like an ornament. I would not hang one on the painted soldier though in case the paint might hurt the plant.

Your plant, if it remains happy, will eventually turn red to some degree (see Photo Synthesis's pics). It will bloom, the flowers will die back, the plant will think about it for a while (weeks or months maybe) and it will begin to pup. I'm getting some clumps of Ionanthas doing this, but they aren't as cool and fancy looking as the ones in pictures on websites.

Also, your pictures look great! When you eventually order some, be sure to take pictures of them, too, with their labels or some other form of identification in each picture, for future reference.

I tried to upload two pictures but it wouldn't let me directly, so I figured out another way to do so, using this Houzz site. Maybe I can put them below...

Okay! it worked :) This clump of Ionanthas started out as one, which bloomed and began to pup, without me paying much attention. Now two of the pups have bloomed (the one below first, then the one on top). They'll pup and eventually I may have to split them up before they get too crowded.

My other picture is "Ionantha (rubra?) about to bloom, in bowl with rocks, other Tillandsias, and ceramic cat who caught a bird"

Okay so its been almost 2 weeks and I had to cut the tips of my Tillandsia again. The brown tips just keep on creeping down the leaves. How do I get rid of this? Should I dunk my plant 3 times a week instead of 2? I spray it randomly, maybe about once a week. Oh maybe it needs an overnight soak? Its right under a light bulb, and in the path of a NE facing window. I'm not sure what else to do. Would increasing the humidity even more help? Today its 40% humidity outside. With the windchill it feels like 5 degrees. Its freaking freezing out! I have a feeling this is going to have another slow demise just like all my other Tillandsias had. I can't seem to get the hang of this!

Thank you Photo Synthesis for that explanation. It acutally makes sense. I won't cut the tips of my leaves anymore. The new growth looks okay, I could probably spritz it every other day, just to see if I can prevent it from browning.

I ordered a grow bulb for my lamp, in hopes that my tillandsia will perk up a bit. It looks kinda drab and dull.

I will master these little plants!!

Seems like decades ago I read that mixing grow light bulbs with cool white bulbs (one each in a two-bulb fixture) was the way to go when one has to use that kind of light. Just FYI. I think just about anything is better when compared to the big plants I have that sit in a south-facing window -- but I have to close the blinds because it's gray and snowy out and the plants might get too cold. Usually, with sun, the room warms up nicely, but it's been wintery lately and as I type it's snowing heavily and beginning to stick, an amazing sight here in Albuquerque!