There Tillandsia Icowards is a plant belonging to the Bromeliaceae family and is native to South America (Chile - Peru).
It is an epiphytic plant and comes in the form of bushes with linear and succulent leaves whose color is green in the lower part of the plant and becomes red-purple in the upper part during flowering.
The particularity of the Tillandsia is that of being able to vegetate without the aid of the soil, contradicting the most obvious botanical notions.
In fact, thanks to the "trichome peltates", a sort of microscopic hair scattered on the leaves, the plant is able to assimilate from the air everything that a normal plant assimilates from the ground.
For this reason they can be grown on rocks or logs.
As if that weren't enough, it seems that these plants are also able to assimilate the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) deriving from the combustion of petrol and diesel.
Normally the plant has a green color, which will turn bright red when it flowers in order to attract hummingbirds to pollinate.
Air plants do not need to be grown on the ground, in fact a support (such as plant holders or pots) that allows them to receive the right light and ventilation is ideal for them.
WATER | spray twice a week avoiding wetting the base of the plant. In winter if kept outside, only if necessary to prevent the plant from drying out completely.
LIGHT | very bright exposure with exclusion of direct rays of the sun.
TREATMENT | the plant does not tolerate temperatures below 10°, the ideal temperature is however around 16° to allow the plant to flower well in the following vegetative phase.
FLOWERING | if you want to see it, you have to wait for the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. It emits small pink spikes from which intense purple flowers bloom.