Just looking for some confirmation/info as to whether air plants actually die after flowering. I've read this in numerous sources but I've had a couple flower which are still growing strong. Is this information simply wrong or is it untrue for certain species or is the death a slower more gradual decline?
Posted Apr 20, 2018, 11:52 PM UTC
The way people always explain it is stupid and causes this sort of confusion.
The main plant that is flowering will not produce any new leaves after it flowers, but it will start making pups.
The mother plant will eventually die (like everything that is no longer growing) but usually not before the pups are pretty large (and potentially not until after the pups have flowered and started making their own pups).
Question!?! I have a air plant who flowered a year ago, it produced one pup! But it has new growth piping from the middle. If they stop growing, how could that be?
To use actual plant anatomy terms, flowering uses up the apical meristem, the bud where all the leaves are formed (in most air plants, there are a few where that’s not the case, I have one, I think it’s bradeana, where the flowers develop from axillary buds and the spica meristem never gets used up, allowing it to keep growing).
The apical meristem, when present, suppresses growth from axillary buds through plant hormones. Once it’s gone the axillary buds can start growing. Sometimes the buds that become active are in other places than the base. I have an aeranthos that is making pups around the middle, other species make pups on their flower stalks.
Okay I’ve only had air plants for a year, so I was curious
I bought a tillandsia stricta it had a flower when I bought it. That was 8 months ago and now it has a pup and is doing fine. I googled all I could that first day scared it was about to die. I'm still confused but mine is going strong and healthy.
They take a long time to die but they do die after blooming. Anywhere from 8 months to 3 years.
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I don't know, but I had one that flowered a few years ago and only died 2 weeks ago (I accidentally rotted it 😭) I was also wondering if this information people keep saying is wrong.
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The vast majority (over 95%) of the Tillandsia population are monocarpic plants, meaning that they flower, produce seed, create offsets (usually), then die. This process only happens once. Some species die within a year of flowering, some take many years to die after flowering. For instance, Brachycaulos can die within a year of flowering, but Xerographica can live many many years after flowering. When people ask me about whether or not air plants start to die after flowering, I like to say that they aren't "dying" per se, but are more like "over the hill" at that point. So yes, they are on the downward portion of their life but can still have many fulfilling years after blooming (dependant on the species).