Description
About Tillandsia ‘Nugget’
Tillandsia Nugget crosses crocata with duratii, and both parents are strongly scented. That makes this one of the few air plants you can sell on fragrance as well as looks.
Crocata is small, densely furred and yellow-flowered. Duratii is large, silver and famous for curling its leaves backward around whatever it touches. Nugget lands between them.
The plant is compact and thickly trichomed, with leaves that curl and recurve as they lengthen. Silver cover is heavy enough to read pale grey-white throughout.
The scent at bloom is the real draw. Duratii’s perfume is among the strongest in the genus, and Nugget carries a good share of it. We offer medium at 6 to 8 inches and large at 10 inches and up.
Growing Tillandsia ‘Nugget’: Care Guide
Both parents come from dry, bright habitat. Therefore treat Nugget as xeric and grow it hard for the best scent.
- Light: High light. Strong light tightens the curl and, more importantly, drives heavier flowering.
- Water: Soak 20 minutes every 10 to 14 days. It handles dry spells easily.
- Drying: Invert and shake. Curled leaves trap water where they overlap.
- Airflow: Good airflow after each soak.
- Temperature: Comfortable from 45°F to 95°F. It takes cool nights well.
- Feeding: Feed monthly through spring and summer with diluted TillyBoost Fertilizer. Well-fed plants flower more, and flowers are the point here.
- Mounting: No soil. Hang it or wire it loosely, and let the curling leaves grab their own support.
- Pups: Offsets follow bloom. Separate at one third the size of the mother.
See our Air Plant Care page for fundamentals. For more scented plants browse our Fragrant Air Plants, or our Rare Air Plants for other hybrids.
