Tillandsia

Day 45: This is an experiment. Having previously overwatered any Tillandsia in my care, only to have the plant die when it developed mold in its roots, I plan to follow the instructions to the letter despite what my instincts tell me. My history with other houseplants has proven that my instincts are wrong at least 50 percent of the time.

For some bizarre reason, there are a few difficult exotics which thrive for me, such as a 15-year old Dioscorea (a member of the Yam family), a species the grower admitted to losing consistently before the plants attained two years of age. Yet I kill African Violets with abandon, overwatering some, underwatering others and never striking a happy medium. I've tried Tillandsias before. After all, they are an epiphyte or "air plant," meaning they grow without necessity for soil, requiring only the occasional misting with the occasional addition of fertilizer to the spray. Members of the same family as the larger Bromeliads, in the wild these plants simply rest in trees, drawing nutrition from whatever other decaying plant matter washes onto their roots. How can you fail to grow a plant like that?

We'll see. This one followed me home from a nursery today. If it's still around in a month, I'll be pleasantly surprised.