Tillandsia Anita is a beautiful houseplant that many people grow at home. For a culture to develop normally and flourish abundantly, it needs to provide quality care. It should include proper watering, fertilizing.
What does it look like to which family
The culture belongs to the Bromeliad family. It is a low bush with a dense rosette of dark basal leaves. A characteristic of the plant is a wide spike-shaped inflorescence, which protrudes on a small peduncle from a rosette of leaves. The culture is characterized by bright blue flowers that contrast with pink bracts.
Unusual flowers are characteristic of tillandsia of this variety.
Important! After the death of the peduncle, young children appear in the leaf sinuses, and the mother’s outlet dies. Further flowering should be expected from young plants.
Briefly about the history of the appearance
Tillandsia Anita is a hybrid of Cyanaea. It is a highly decorative culture, which was created on the basis of blue tillandsia - an epiphytic plant from the Bromeliad family.
Homeland of the plant
The mother plant comes from Peru and Ecuador. It grows in areas that are located at 550-1000 m above sea level.
Tillandsia: home care
The culture is characterized by developed roots, so taking care of tillandsia Anita at home does not cause difficulties.
Temperature
The plant is considered quite thermophilic. In the room you need to maintain the temperature in the range of + 17-26 degrees. Culture does not accept temperature fluctuations well, so it should be protected from drafts. This is especially true in winter. In summer, the flower can be taken out to the balcony.
Lighting
Culture requires not too bright diffused light. In spring and summer it can be kept on the northern windowsill. In winter, there will be little light for the flower, so it must be transferred to the western or eastern window.
Watering
Watering the crop is recommended with soft water. It should be defended or boiled. To make the water softer, it is allowed to add lemon or vinegar to it. After watering, the soil should be moist, but not wet.
Important! When watering, it is recommended to pour water into a leaf outlet. It should stand for a while, after which the water should be drained.
The plant must be properly watered
Spraying
Periodically, leaf sockets must be sprayed. For this purpose, soft and settled water should also be used. When flowering, it is recommended to carry out the procedure carefully so that water does not get on the peduncle.
Humidity
The plant needs optimal moisture parameters - at the level of 70-80%. During the heating season, indicators should be increased artificially. To do this, put the flower on a pallet with wet pebbles or use special household devices.
Priming
For the cultivation of the culture requires a special substrate. To make it, you need to mix in equal proportions sheet soil, moss sphagnum, chopped pine bark.
Top dressing
Every 2 weeks it is recommended to feed the plant with liquid fertilizer. It is allowed to use the drug for orchids. In this case, the dosage indicated on the package is recommended to be reduced by 2 times. The plant perceives foliar top dressing well. It can be sprayed with a weak solution of fertilizer.
When and how it blooms
In order for the plant to bloom lushly and abundantly, you need to properly care for it. Thanks to this, the culture will retain its decorative properties.
A characteristic feature of the plant is a flat inflorescence. It has a spike shape and is located on a small peduncle. The bud includes flowers in a deep blue hue. Its structure also includes bright pink bracts. They overlap each other.
The flowers wither quickly enough, and the spike with bracts lasts quite a long time. After flowering in the leaf sinuses, processes are formed. The mother socket is dying.
With proper care, tillandsia blooms profusely
Pruning
Trimming potted tillandsia is not recommended. The plant discards old leaves on its own.
How to breed
Many gardeners are interested in breeding culture. This procedure is carried out in various ways.
Seeds
Planting material can be prepared at home or bought in a store. To germinate the seeds, you need:
- Make a composition based on sand and peat.
- It should be abundantly moistened.
- Put seeds on the surface in a small layer, not covering with soil.
- Water the substrate again.
- Cover the container with foil and move to a lit place. It is important to maintain a sufficiently high temperature there. It should be +25 degrees.
Shoots appear after about 1 month. The plant will bloom only after 5 years.
Division after flowering
After flowering, many daughter rosettes are formed on the plant. To propagate the culture, they must be separated and moved to new containers. This is done with children who have grown to the right size and have roots.
To plant a plant, you need to make a special substrate. To do this, sand and peat are mixed in equal parts. When the children are separated, the damaged areas must be treated with wood ash.
Pots should be placed in a shady place. The temperature regime should be at the level of + 22-25 degrees. It takes a maximum of 3 months to fully root. After this period, the young culture needs to be planted in a new container. In this case, a substrate for orchids is used.
Important! The breeding procedure is recommended in spring or summer. The seedling will bloom in about 2 years.
The flower can be propagated by dividing
Transfer
To achieve the development of the root system and flower, the plant must be systematically transplanted. The first time this procedure is performed after the acquisition. But you need to do this only if the plant does not bloom.
Procedure:
- Take a larger diameter pot and transplant by transshipment.
- The remaining space is filled with earth.
- Watering the soil is allowed only after a week. Before this, you need to spray the foliage.
A wide pot is needed for transplanting. The root system of culture is growing due to the formation of daughter outlets. In a deep container, decay processes associated with fluid stagnation can begin.
The next transplant is carried out after 3 years. It is permissible to carry out only after flowering. For this, it is worth using soil that is suitable for orchids. Its composition must certainly include bark and peat.
Important! After transplanting, the flower of tillandsia needs care. Every spring, the topsoil is changed.
Culture is recommended to be transplanted in a timely manner
Possible problems in growing
If you violate the rules for caring for tillandsia, there is a risk of various problems.
Pests
The plant practically does not face pest attacks. In rare cases, it is attacked by a scale insect or mealybug. In such a situation, insecticidal drugs are used.
Other problems
With improper care of blue tillandsia, the following problems may appear:
- The absence of daughter sockets - in this case, fertilizer must be applied.
- Rotting of the stem - while reducing the number of watering.
- Softening the leaves - you need to increase the air temperature.
- Drying of the outlet - in this case, the children need to be given strength and move them to new containers.
- Gray spots on the foliage - the bush should be treated with fungicides.
Tillandsia Anita is a popular flower that has excellent decorative properties. To achieve success in its cultivation, you need to provide the culture with quality care.
