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caityross

Broken Tillandsia

9 years ago

My sister sent me an e-mail that I'm going to copy and paste.


"Okay, so I finally got Hobbes an airplant he really wanted. It was glued into a ceramic dinosaur. We had it in the kitchen while we were looking up more information and Jonas decided he wanted to help. When you were here you know how he liked to help by digging up the plants you were repotting? Well he tried to help with the air plant as well. He snapped the top off- there's like a half inch of plant still glued to the dinosaur including the roots, and another piece that's about 3/4 of an inch. The leaves are all still in a bundle, not falling apart. Is any part salvageable? Hobbes found the only yellow dinosaur they had - should I replace the plant or wait to see if it dies?"

I tried to find more information about Tillandsias, but I honestly didn't find an answer to this specific question. I told her not to throw any part away as long as it still had some green and that I'd try to find out an answer. I also asked her to take a picture, but she hasn't had a chance yet.


My best guess is wait and see, but if there is a conclusive answer, I'd love to pass is along.


Featured Answer
  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Two bits of advice to start off with your present problem, Caity. First, don't throw away the pieces. One is very likely to be salvaged (if you're lucky, then maybe both could possibly be saved.) Tillys can be quite resilient, even if cut or squashed under foot (my black thumb family relations proved this to me first hand; much to my slow, simmering rage.) Second, don't dunk the pieces immediately; let the wounds dry off naturally in a dry (preferably a lit room temperature) spot. Give it two, maybe three days to do this. Even after when you dunk the pieces do not let the wounded portions (especially if the core is visible) get wet until almost a week (or two, if you are as patient as me) has passed.

    If the plants continue to persist without gradually softening flesh/black bruising appearing around the wounds/core of the plant two weeks later then they are very likely on the road to recovery. Allow for some slight discoloring of leaves during this time (insofar it does not reach shades of dark brown or black.) Dry, hardening, hay colored browning around wounds is perfectly natural and best left untrimmed. Know that wounded tillies often take a loooong time to visibly recover. No visible growth but no bruising or rotting flesh weeks after is still a good sign. In my case, my Bandensis got torn in two by a wandering cat about five months ago. Only recently have the pieces begun to stretch out its leaves and form new pups.

    Wishing you the best possible outcome (perhaps a Christmas miracle,)

    Kei

    Comments (9)

    • 9 years ago

      Some Tillandsias and other plants can survive being broken. In the wild most plants don't have an easy life, with herbivores eating them and other animals walking on them and such, so many plants (likely the perennials) have to have recovery plans in their genes. As we don't know what kind of Tillandsia your sister has, perhaps she could check for a name tag or send a picture. If it was, say, an ionantha that had bloomed already, it might still be able to pup. I had a Harrisii(?) that lost a leaf but I kept the leaf and eventually a new plant grew from it, rather like happens with succulents. An idea might be to give your sister and her family a gift certificate to one of the online Tillandsia-selling shops. She and the kids might then be able to investigate what is offered and get some growing advice as well, and of course visit here for more ideas.

      caityross thanked debbyabq

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    • 9 years ago

      So my sister didn't get a chance to respond until she was at work- apparently a coworker has Dia De Los Muertos skulls from the same place with the same plants so she snapped photos of them. Since they're not in bloom, I'm not certain how useful the pictures are for id purposes.


      Honestly, after passing along the advice from above, I'm just going to tell her to wait and see and also get my nephew a giftcard to an online store for his birthday next month.


      Ficus Benjamina · More Info

      Ficus Benjamina · More Info

      Ficus Benjamina · More Info

    • 9 years ago

      I want to say those are Winner's Circle, but I've misidentified tillies before. Anyone else want to take a crack? Well at any rate, think it likely you'll be able to save at least one of the portions (probably the top) with tender care. Long "segmented" tillies are far more forgiving about being snapped in half than any other tillies I've encountered (glares suspiciously at the neighbors' hungry cats, neighborhood nesting jays, and various family relations who handles my lovelies like any man in the ring wielding boxing gloves.)

      caityross thanked Kei Seya
    • 9 years ago

      The names aeranthos and bergeri come to my mind, but looking at pictures of both (at RFI, which has pretty good pictures) and comparing to pictures above, the Mystery Plant looks darker (may just be how it was photographed). It also reminds me of a plant a friend got me in San Diego It came in a hanging globe and looked a lot like Mystery Plant (I have some others that look like it, too). I have no place to hang globes so put the gift plant in with my other tillies and as far as I know, it is doing fine. That it was sold in some knick-knack type shop makes me believe it is a hardy plant or it couldn't have sat around in the shop for very long without suffering due to clerks who didn't know how to care for it and other Tilliandsias. I think this because a local Walmart was selling ionanthas (probably Mexican) and I'm sure all those poor plants wound up composted. Had a manager been around I would have offered $10 for the lot, minus the silly containers they were in, but no such luck for me or them :(

      caityross thanked debbyabq
    • 9 years ago

      Well, after looking at pictures, she can't decide- if she manages to keep the plant alive long enough for it to flower I'll try to help her ID it. Apparently the top snapped off portion is looking pretty good, but the bottom is drying up.

      Thank you all for the advice- if nothing else, my nephew has enjoyed looking at all the pictures of cool Tillandsias and learning about their biology.

    • 9 years ago

      That is T. bergeri and is need of a good 24 hour soak.

      caityross thanked User
    • 9 years ago

      I'll pass that along- I assume you say it needs the soak because of the leaf edges rolling towards each other?

    • 9 years ago

      Caity, you may already know this, but if not, you can bank on Gonzer's advice. He has a secure, high interest rate in these plants :) Also, you have a good eye, as leaf edges curling is indeed a clue of need for water. Soak it as advised and make sure it dries quickly (i.e., don't let it sit in a humid area), another reason for hanging them up to increase air flow. After it has dried it can return to its decorative home and be soaked maybe weekly, though not for 24 hours. Your nephew in observing the plant can determine when it needs water and how much. He can watch for flowering and pupping as well. Bergeri are quite good at that.

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