From Green to Blush

T. Ionantha Rubra is a small sized air plant with short and thick leaves that grow in a round shape. They display a bright lime green color with prominent trichomes at their base. When transitioning into blush, their leaves will begin to change from green to a vibrant pink color.

The leaves are a great indicator for the plants need for water. When underwatered, they may show signs of leaf curling, browning and/or may be dry to the touch. Care must be taken to ensure water does not pool in its base, as this will cause rot. Good air flow will assist with drying and turning the plant upside down after watering will prevent water from pooling.

Bud Formation & Blooms

T. Ionantha Rubra blooms from early spring through late summer. They have a long lasting blush with shades of red, rose, and pinks followed by an impressive bloom displaying a rose colored inflorescence and bright purple flowers.

While their flowers only last for a few days, their intense blush can be enjoyed for several weeks and can remain colorful for weeks after its bloom.

Fertilizing your Tillandsia with The Drunken Gnome's Bromeliad & Air Plant Food will help encourage budding and brighter blooms.

Reproduction & Propagation

T. Ionantha Rubra have a life cycle of growing to maturity and then blooming. Before, during, or after blooming T. Rubra will start producing new baby plants called offsets, which are also known as pups. The Rubra is a quick grower that produces lots of pups that clump together to form a ball. On average it will produce between 2 - 8 pups.

The pups will obtain nutrients from the mother plant as she ends her lifecycle. They can be separated once the pups grow to 1/3 or half the size of the mother plant. A gentle tug and twist will not hurt the plants as you remove the pups.

Receiving Your Airplant

No matter what stage your T. Ionantha Rubra(s) are in at the time of arrival, they will continue to grow and change over time.

Once you receive your new air plant(s), it's important to give them a good soaking and acclimate them to their new environment.

Take care of your air plants and provide for them by nourishing them with adequate sunlight, airflow, water and nutrients and they will reward you for years to come!

Roots

Tillandsia roots have one task, strictly for anchoring to any tree, rock surface, structure or host plant (even one another). The roots take in no nourishment from the host nor do they supply the Tillandsia with any nutrients. Tillandsia roots are used to secure a place for growth and position the plant to receive optimal light and water.

Roots are not an integral part of an air plants life or health and the absence of roots is not a sign of poor health.

Do not plant their roots in soil as it will cause the air plant to rot. For aesthetic purposes roots, may be removed from just below the base of the air plant using scissors.

Leaves

Tillandsia rely solely on their leaves to absorb rain, draw in moisture and nutrients from the air and allow for photosynthesis to produce food for the plant. Leaf colors and textures vary from few to many, wide to thin, silvery, white, lime green, dark green to almost black. Leaves can be ridged, stiff, brittle, soft, flexible, succulent, smooth and curly. Some have microscopic, less pronounced trichomes (Mesic) while others have fuzzy, white, enlarged highly visible trichomes (Xeric). Leaves surrounding an inflorescence may “blush” or turn bright red, pink, orange, peach or yellow as blooming season arrives. In some Tillandsia (T. Brachycaulos, T. Fuego, T. Victoriana) the majority of the plant turns intense red/pink. The blush usually subsidies back to green after flowering.

Flower

When it comes time to flower, from the center of the plant develops the inflorescence, the stem or spike reproductive portion of the tillandsia, from which the flowers emerge from the bract. Later if successfully pollinated a green seed pod will form from the base of the flower. The duration of the blooms varies among plants. Typically, the stem or inflorescence emerges with a colorful bract. Then the flowers bloom from the bract. The flowers expire, then some time after the inflorescence spike dries and browns and expires, as well. At this time if pollination has not occurred or the formation of a seed pod is not desired, the entire spike may be removed from between the leaves with a clean set of scissors.

Pups

After flowering, Tillandsia enter the next phase of life: producing seeds, pupping or both. Depending on variety, Tillandsia can form pups at the base of the plant, from the inflorescence or along the stem. After some time of facilitating seed formation and nourishing the process of pup development and growth, the parent plant will wither giving way to those pups to start the cycle again. With good care, the parent plants health does not typically decline until pups are mature enough for survival on their own. Some varieties of Tillandsia will form a clump with passing time of this continued cycle. They can remain as a clump or the pups may be separated individually once they become 1/3 or better of the mature size.