Green Culture Singapore Articles

Contributor & Photos: Optimist • Available online 1 May 2005

It was love at first sight. The plants were weird-looking and yet at the same time endearing. A few blushing ones caught my eyes which I later learnt that they were going to bloom. I was amazed that these plants do not require soil and can be attached to almost anything. This chance encounter with airplants at a nursery in Chua Chu Kang prompted me to learn more about these plants. Back on my home computer, a simple search in Google on 'airplants' produced hundred pages of interesting information, from the plant's habitat to general care. This was the beginning of my Tillandsia fever.

Above - Optimist's collection of airplants mounted on driftwood.

Soon after, I was back at the nursery and bought nine plants. The nursery owner, who is very passionate about his Tillandsia and his lovely girlfriend helped me select and mount my precious purchase onto three driftwoods. Then it was a matter of hanging them at a prime spot along my small corridor. This was done at the expense of my wife's orchids. Obviously, she was not happy with me for moving her plants. She claimed that she had already developed feelings for the orchids through her daily watering routine even though they were not in their best of health.

Although the web provides a wealth of information on Tillandsia, I wanted to know the requirements of growing and maintaining healthy Tillandsia locally. Hence, it was back to Google and a search on 'Tillandsia forum in Singapore' revealed this website.

Close-ups of some of the flowering Tillandsias Optimist has in his collection Left - T. fuschii • Right - T. xerographica

I posted questions mostly on general care of Tillandsia within the Singapore context, for example, 'any problem with 24 hours light exposure due to the additional evening corridor lighting'. The forum members provided answers and shared their experiences. I also got to know the local Tillandsia collectors. One even generously loaned me his file of reference material on Tillandsia, no doubt painstakingly collected through the years.

Above - A flowering T. jucunda

It was also through this forum that I came across a friendly supplier who lives near my place. A few trips and many dollars saw me with the current one month old collection of thirty species. I guess I have caught the Tilly Bug. My latest acquisition and the most expensive in my collection, is a Tillandsia xerographica, definitely the mother of all Tillandsia with its majestic size.

As a working adult with regular income, buying the plants was the easy part. However, having no creative flair, displaying them was hard. Based on my limited experience with aquascaping, I took several trips to my regular supplier of aquatic plants at Lim Chu Kang to look for suitable driftwood; those with many short spiky branches to mount the plants. It then took me many attempts before I was satisfied with the way the plants were attached and positioned. However, knowing myself, the satisfaction will be short lived. Just like my planted aquarium tanks, these Tillandsia will go through several rounds of rescaping.

Above - A handsome clump of T. aeranthos 'Bronze'

In the evenings, if you happen to pass by a twelve storey apartment in Pasir Ris and notice an old man on the fifth floor admiring his airplants, occasionally stroking them; he is just trying to cool off his Tillandsia fever in the evening breeze.

	ABOUT THE AUTHOR Optimist is a member of the Green Culture Singapore (GCS) Forum. GCS is grateful for his contribution and initiative. The GCS Adminstrators would like to send our heartfelt thanks for his generosity and the precious time spent to write this article that shares his experience with the rest of the GCS family.
Above - A cute T. bulbosa