Description
About blooming tectorum caulescent
This is the blooming tectorum caulescent listing: the long, stem-forming tectorum from our Tillandsia tectorum Caulescent Form base listing, shipped while the plants are in spike. Stock is limited and appears only when a crop flowers.
Tectorum blooms are quiet and beautiful. A short spike rises from the fuzzy silver head with pink to rose bracts and pale violet flowers, and against the white trichome coat the pink looks painted on.
On the caulescent form the head sits at the end of a stem, so the bloom is held out from the mount, and a hanging plant flowers at eye level.
We grade blooming plants from 5-to-7-inch smalls and 9-to-10-inch mediums up to larges, extra-larges and specimens as available. Larger plants are long stems with several heads and can carry more than one spike.
Tectorum is slow, and a blooming plant is years of growth. The spike lasts for weeks, the plant is the most drought-proof in the catalog, and it offsets along the stem afterward.
Growing blooming tectorum caulescent: Care Guide
Tectorum wants almost no water, and in bloom it wants even less. Mist lightly every few days, keep the spike dry, and give it the brightest, airiest spot you have; strong light keeps the coat white and the bracts pink. Never soak a tectorum in flower, and never let water sit in the fuzzy head. Hang the stem so it drapes and air moves around it. After bloom, a short dip every couple of weeks in dry weather is plenty, and the offsets form along the stem on their own.
- Light: Very bright light with direct sun.
- Water: Mist every few days. Dip 10 minutes every 2 to 3 weeks after bloom.
- Drying: Shake and hang. The fuzzy head must dry fast.
- Airflow: Strong airflow always.
- Temperature: 35°F to 95°F. Cool nights are welcome.
- Feeding: Feed lightly with diluted TillyBoost Fertilizer at quarter strength, no more than monthly.
- Mounting: Wire the base and hang the stem. It suits hangers from our Air Plant Displays.
- Pups: Along the stem after bloom. Leave them on.
See the base listing for year-round stock, browse more Currently in Bloom, or read our air plant care guide.
