Tillandsia stricta
About stricta
A highly adaptable and popular air plant with narrow triangular leaves forming thick rosettes. Produces bright red or rose bloom spikes with blue-purple flowers. One of the most widely cultivated Tillandsia species.
Care guide for ティランジア（エアプランツ）
Tillandsia属（エアプランツ）は土を必要としない着生植物です。葉から水分を吸収するため、独特の管理方法が必要です。
What the guide covers
- ティランジアとは
- 水やりの方法
- 風通し
- 日光・置き場所
- 温度管理
- 肥料
- 飾り方・固定方法
- 着生について
- 発根について
- 板付けの方法
- 開花について
- 増やし方
- 日常のお手入れ
- よくあるトラブル
Frequently asked questions about Tillandsia stricta
- Does Tillandsia stricta die after flowering? How long does it live?
Each rosette of Tillandsia stricta flowers only once in its life. Once a plant that has grown for several years blooms, it stops producing new leaves and slowly declines over months to years while producing offsets (pups) at the base. It does not die right after flowering.
The plant is built for succession. By growing on the pups you can keep the same plant going for many years, and if you leave them attached they form a clump around the mother.
- When does Tillandsia stricta flower, and what does the bloom look like?
There is no fixed season. The plant flowers once it is well established, and in cultivation blooms are most often reported in early summer. A short stalk rises from the center of the rosette and carries a rounded head of overlapping pink to reddish bracts, from which small blue-violet flowers open one after another.
Each flower fades within about a day, but the colored bracts stay attractive for several weeks. Bract and flower colors vary by origin and clone, and some clones have white bracts or white flowers.
- When do the pups appear, and when should I separate them?
Pups appear mainly after flowering, at the base of the mother plant, and a well-fed plant may produce them before it blooms. If you want to separate them, wait until each pup is one third to one half the size of the mother. Pups removed too early hold little water and dry out easily.
If the plant flowers in autumn or winter and produces pups then, avoid dividing during the cold months and wait until temperatures rise in spring.
- How do I get Tillandsia stricta through winter? Can it stay outdoors?
Tillandsia stricta is damaged by frost, so in most of Japan it is brought indoors for winter. Avoid nights below 4 to 5°C and aim for a bright windowsill that stays above 10°C.
Once temperatures drop below 10°C, cut watering back to about once a week, watering in the morning on a mild day so the plant is dry by nightfall. If water sits between the overlapping leaves during cold weather, the plant can shed its leaves all at once.
Growth Records of stricta
2
