Description
About Tillandsia copanensis x zacapanensis
Tillandsia copanensis x zacapanensis brings together two Central American highland species that share a look. Copanensis comes from the Copán region of Honduras. Zacapanensis comes from Zacapa in eastern Guatemala. Both grow in dry, bright, rocky country.
Because the parents are so similar in habitat, the cross is unusually consistent. You get a heavily silvered plant with stiff, gently recurving leaves and a tidy symmetrical rosette.
The trichome coat is dense enough to read white in strong light. As the plant matures the leaf tips recurve harder, which gives the rosette a soft, rounded outline rather than a spiky one.
We offer it as seedlings and as plants around 7 inches tall. Seedlings are useful for growing on, while the larger size is ready to retail immediately.
Growing Tillandsia copanensis x zacapanensis: Care Guide
Both parents are dry-country plants. Therefore treat this as xeric and give it strong light.
- Light: High light throughout the day. Direct morning sun is welcome and keeps the silver bright.
- Water: Soak 20 minutes every 10 to 14 days. It stores water well and forgives a missed week.
- Drying: Invert and shake. The tight rosette centre traps water, and a wet centre is how these are lost.
- Airflow: Good airflow after each watering.
- Temperature: Comfortable from 50°F to 95°F. Highland origins make it tolerant of cool nights.
- Feeding: Feed monthly through the growing season with diluted TillyBoost Fertilizer. Seedlings respond especially well.
- Mounting: No soil. Mount on cork or wood, or grow it loose in an open tray.
- Pups: Offsets follow bloom. Separate at one third the size of the mother, or leave them to clump.
For fundamentals see our Air Plant Care page. More crosses like this sit in our Rare Air Plants.
