T. streptophylla
by weirdlittlepony
This post has been a long time coming. I’ve been procrastinating, I don’t know why! It can’t be due to reluctance to feature this species, because T. streptophylla is way up there on my list of all-time favourite tillandsias.
There are three of these sweet little plants in my collection, picked up at different times. They seem to exhibit slight differences in appearance, probably due to slightly different genes as well as initial growing conditions – I’m currently aware of two main types of T. streptophylla, the ones from Guatemala and the ones from Mexico. I haven’t paid enough attention to which type is from where. It doesn’t matter to me, you see. I just love the look that T. streptophylla has, no matter which variety or gene pool a particular plant came from.
After all, what’s got me intrigued by this species is the smooth roundness of its pseudobulb base and its long, wide, gracefully curling leaves. So beautiful. Just so beautiful. Their genes also tend to be strong in hybrids, which makes T. streptophylla crosses very popular. I certainly love them (and have several)!
dweller by the river 
[…] really matter if they are heavy on trichomes, which explains why I like T. caput medusae and T. streptophylla so much, but am not really that partial to T. ehlersiana even though by appearance alone it does […]
Nice streptos! They are my favorite too! But they are so hard to come by. Where did you get yours? And anywhere good in SG to get tillandsias?
Hi Serene, they’re really quite easy to find, you’d be surprised! I get 99% of my plants from Singapore’s top importer, Kevin Cheong who owns Pick A Plant. His plot is in Choa Chu Kang but if that’s too out of the way for you, he has monthly Sunday sales at the Visitor Centre entrance of the Botanic Gardens and also has a regular stall at the Farmer’s Day Out events at Hort Park. He’s very easy to find on Facebook.
Hi! I recently bought 2 streptophylla’s 1 with a blooming pup and another that’s still young. I live in a tropical country and also live in an apartment too so I was wonder if you ever bathe / soak your tillandsia’s. Particularly your streptophylla. I noticed some bugs when I bought it around the bulb area and don’t know what to do with it
help..
Hi! Yes I do when the weather gets hot and dry sometimes. My tillies are outdoor plants and get a lot of direct sunlight, though not that much direct rain cos of the way the building is designed. When I soak them it’s usually only for an hour, then I drip dry and hang them out again. Daily watering is just a good drench with a spray.
For minor bug issues I soak them in a solution of dishwashing liquid for 3 hours then rinse and hang out. Usually works. Hope this helps!
Can you tell me how to distinguish the ones that came from Mexico from the Guatemala?
Sorry, Ana, life happened and I’ve not really been into the plants for a while, so a lot of these little details have faded into the back parts of my memory. I have a feeling the ones from Guatemala look “fuller” or something along those lines, but I really can’t be sure. It’s been a long time.