',34: 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



TILLANDSIA. 



or 70°. When well rooted remove the 

 glasses, and let them have a fortnight to 

 get hardened a little before moving into 

 4 or 5 inch pots ; pinch off the points at 

 the same time, keep them in a temperature 

 similar to that in which they have been 

 struck, and allow the heat to rise in the 

 daytime correspondingly with the weather. 

 They need to be well supplied with 

 moisture at the roots as well as in the 

 atmosphere ; syringe them overhead in 

 the aiternoon ; a little shade may be re- 

 quired when the weather is sunny. 



We have already intimated that the 

 plant has a persistent erect habit of 

 growth, and it is not well to attempt to 

 alter this by training further than stopping 

 the young shoots to cause them to break 

 out several branches ; to effect this a second 

 stopping will be required in June, after 

 which it may be necessary to put a single 

 stick to each for support ; this will gene- 

 rally be found sufficient, as their erect 

 cylindrical form, when preserved, fits 

 them for associating with other subjects 

 of a more bushy shape. By the end of 

 June they will need moving into the pots 

 in which from this time they are to be 

 grown and flowered ; these may be from 8 

 to 12 inches in diameter, according to the 

 strength of the plants and the size they 

 are required to attain. After they have 

 had a week or two to get established they 

 will do better in a low, light pit where 

 they can be stood with their heads close to 

 the" glass, admitting a moderate amount 

 of air in the daytime, and encouraging 

 growth by closing early ; give as much 

 shade as mil keep the leaves from being 

 injui'ed when the sun is powerful, but not 

 more, otherwise the plants will become 

 drawn and be deficient in the solidity of 

 growth which is so necessary to ensure the 

 full complement of bloom. 



Towards the end of August give more 

 air and less shade, and do not syringe over- 

 head so often. From the time the pots are 

 fairly filled with roots manure-water, not 

 too "strong, will be an assistance. The 

 temperature through the summer may be 

 such as ordinary soft quick-growing sub- 

 jects of a like character require, and should 

 be regulated according to the weather, from 

 60° to 65° in the night, and proportionately 

 more in the day ; reduce the warmth given 

 as the autumn comes on, but they must 

 not even then be kept too cool, or their 

 roots, as well as the heads of the plants, 

 will get checked in a way that will inter- 

 fere with their blooming ; 60° by night 

 with 6° or 8° higher in the day will suit 

 them through the later months of the year 

 when they will be in flower. After the 



blooming is over as many of the plants 

 may be saved as are required to produce 

 enough cuttings for another year, and the 

 remainder may be thrown away, as young 

 examples will usually be more useful. 

 The old plants for stock should be kej)! 

 during the winter at about 60° in the 

 night, and the soil should be slightly 

 moist, but not so as to encourage much 

 growth until towards spring. 



Insects. — Aphides and red spider some- 

 times attack this Tliyrsacanthus ; to keep 

 them down syringe and fumigate. If any 

 of the worse description of insects make 

 their apjjearance they must be removed 

 by sponging, as soft-leaved plants of this 

 description have not enough substance in 

 their foliage generally to bear dressing 

 with insecticide strong enough to kill the 

 insects. 



TILLANDSIA. 



These Bromeliaceous stove plants are 

 mostly epiphytal in habit. Some of them 

 have exceedingly handsome flowers, as in 

 the case of the charming T. Lindenii the 

 exquisite blue colour of which is equalled 

 by very few tender subjects, wliile others 

 possess little beauty in their flowers, but 

 have handsomely marked leaves, like T. 

 zebrina. They are all of dwarf habit, 

 having more or less of the peculiar vase- 

 like arrangement of the leaves present in 

 the Bromeliaceous plants generally. Thev 

 are handsome subjects for the decoration 

 of warm plant structures, such as Orchid 

 houses, where their form of growth and 

 their appearance contrast with the imi- 

 formity of the principal occupants. But 

 coming, as most of them do, from parts of 

 the world where there is always, or nearly 

 always, present a considerable amount of 

 atmospheric moisture, with a good deal of 

 warmth, they will not bear being kept in 

 a cool, dry place ; nor should they be 

 allowed to get dry at the roots. They are 

 increased by seecls and suckers, the latter 

 is the method that will most commend 

 itself to the generality of growers. 



Plants of these Tillandsias that have 

 flowered usually afterwards throw up from 

 the base suckers more or less in number. 

 These should be allowed to acquire strength 

 before they are taken off. If severed from 

 the parent plant while very small much 

 time will be lost, as they will thrive a deal 

 faster attached to the plant on which they 

 have been formed than when separated, if 

 the separation is affected before they have 

 gained enough strength. It is necessary 

 that the material in which they are to be 

 grown should be of a loose, open descrip- 



