Tillandsia cyanea

Growing in Pots, Balconies & Indoors

Tillandsia cyanea (Tillandsia cyanea) is one of the few tillandsias that will also grow in a small pot of open, airy mix, though like all air plants it is just as happy mounted and out of the soil. The grower confirms it makes a fine houseplant, and in bright, indirect light it grows and colours up beautifully indoors.

Quick Details

• Container Size: Can be potted at about 5-10 L (1.3-2.6 gal) per plant, or simply mounted on cork or bark like other air plants.
• Indoor Suitability: A genuine houseplant – the grower grows it indoors; it thrives in bright, indirect light.
• Best Spot: Bright shade (the grower grows it in full shade with light); keep it out of direct midday sun.
• Soil & Drainage: None needed – it feeds through its leaves and must dry off quickly after each watering.
• Watering in Pots: Likes more water than most air plants – keep it lightly moist, but still let it dry a little between waterings.

Indoors & On the Windowsill

• A real houseplant: The grower keeps this one indoors. Give it a bright position with even a little soft light; a bathroom or kitchen suits it because of the humidity, but then water less. Keep it well clear of ventilators, heaters and air-conditioning, which dry the leaves too fast.
• Windowsill growing: A bright sill out of harsh midday sun is ideal – the extra light keeps the rosette compact and well coloured.
• Overwintering: These are tender tropicals. Indoors they are happy year round; if they summer outside, bring them in well before cold nights arrive.

On a Balcony or Patio

• Light & wind: Air plants enjoy the warm season outdoors in bright shade – hang them from a rail, branch or bracket. Shelter from wind and hot midday sun, both of which scorch and dry them, and mist more often outside because moving air dries them fast.
• Practicalities: No pots to lift or drain, so weight is never an issue – just make sure water can run off freely and the plant dries within a few hours.

Choosing the Pot, Mounting & Long-Term Care

• Pot or mount: Unlike its cousins this one can sit in a small pot (5-10 L (1.3-2.6 gal)) with strong drainage holes and no standing saucer, or be mounted on cork or bark – the grower notes tillandsias should lean on or attach to a surface rather than be buried.
• Potting mix: Use a very open, airy blend – orchid bark with perlite and a little coir – never dense, wet potting soil.
• Watering & feeding: Likes more water than most air plants – keep it lightly moist, but still let it dry a little between waterings. Feed only lightly, with a very dilute bromeliad feed misted on or added to the water.

Bloom & Flower Guide

Quick Details

• Bloom Season: Spring to summer
• Flower Appearance: Small purple-violet flowers emerging from the edges of a flat, fan-shaped pink bract
• Edibility: Ornamental only — grown for its flowers and colorful bract, not eaten

Detailed Blooming Overview

Pink Quill puts on a two-part show. The eye-catching part is the flat, paddle-shaped pink bract (the ‘quill’), which can hold its color for weeks or months. From along its edges the true flowers appear — small, vivid purple-violet blooms that open a few at a time and are individually short-lived. As a bromeliad, each rosette flowers once in its life and then produces offsets (pups) to carry on.

Flower Characteristics

• Small purple-violet flowers borne in clusters from the base of the bracts.
• Bright pink, flattened bracts that look like the main feature and last far longer than the flowers themselves.

Bloom Care & Thinning

• After flowering: Once the rosette has bloomed it slowly declines — leave the pups to develop and they will become the next flowering plants.
• Keeping the color: Bright, indirect light and soft water (rain or filtered) bring out the strongest bract color.