Spanish Moss in the Making

After having 2 years of foliage jungle of hoya,
orchids (which never bloomed) and ferns that turned my garden to a jungle..
And the with the new look  - I had added back the Spanish Moss
Or what is left of it (few strands) and I had managed to introduced it..

Eventually it grew long and I'm able to propagate it strand by strand and eventually saved it into this.

It's quite a constant grower for an air-plant..
The problem is, they are so unpredictable that it can get burned and the whole thing look so haggard.

Hoping that it grow longer like what I used to have before. 

I have this nice miniature cage and thought of using it to lacing the fallen pieces and it worked well somehow.

Air Plant Collection

I find airplants had suddenly became a companion plants
with the rest of the Epiphyte.
The earlier majestic looking Spanish Moss had reduced to few strands due the lack of care during the porch construction time. They didn't recover from that stress and most of them had got burned.

I had reset them into small cups - I hoping that they will regenerate faster as I dowse them in the fish pond time to time. Only time can tell whether they make it.
If not - I will have to just focus more on the hardier types.

Airplants aren't fussy plant - they won't really grow fast but if they are happy,
they do give out few pups to increase their population.
I do not have many to make a visual impact but somehow they just have the way of making an exotic feel of silver leaved plants to go together with my boring greens.

Airplant Collection - Landscape

The recent renovation had caused a big stress my plants especially my Begonias and Airplants.
Here the whole thing became dried and rotted to the core.
I need to reset it again.
Hope they pick up and grow back to its former glory.

Also here are the other airplants which I have in my collection.
Few of these had somehow became matured and died without giving out any pups.
Its a pity that it had to end that way - but in no way means I'm planning to increase my collection
unless they give out pups.

Epiphyte Corner - Part 2

This is the other pieces of plants which I have not able to show in my earlier post.
Somehow during these dry season together with the renovation time
had done considerable damage to my Spanish Moss.
Most of them had totally burned. They survived but the recovery is slow.

I had recently purchased a Variegated Hoya plant from Sg. Buloh Nursery.
(more of that in the next post)

Here in the collection:
a) Various types of Airplants.
b) Orchids
c) Hoya

Basic Care for Airplants:

1) When first purchase an airplant
make sure you submerge it for 30-40 minutes in cool water.
The water quality is important - do not use tap water if they contain Clorine.
The best would be rainwater or filtered water.

2) Once they are soaked, Dry them out on a newspaper
and let them dry out either under a fan or in an airy place (breezy outdoor)
Do not place them on direct hot sun after soaking.

3) You can now tie them up on a branch, put them in a cool airy bright shaded area.
Some people hang them as they are in a container.
Its ok to do so as long as there is no water retention
(water collected for a very long time)
under the container - too long water being stagnant on these airplant can cause rot.

4) When watering -
Water them heavy and only water them next when they are totally dry.
You can water them several times during the day
provided its a windy day where these plants are totally dried before the next watering.
I had tried watering them like that many times,
the plants rewards me with a shining gleaming healthy look on its leaves.

5) Fertilising
Its a big issue here - too much is very dangerous for these plants
as they will immediately start to burn and may not recover, ending up dead.

The best I find so far are the Orchid Based Liquid Fertilisers
diluted 1/2 strength sprayed once monthly.
They do well with fish washed water
but you may have to watchout for ants and a smelly garden.

6) Pups (Baby plants)
Sometimes you will find little plantlets appearing from the mother plant.
Leave them there until there are 1/2 the size before removing them.
Or you may just leave them there until they grow up to its adult size.
Removing them too early can stop their growth process.

These pups will appear after the airplant had bloomed.
So there is a second joy in waiting to see them
having many plant-lets appearing by their leaf section.
Eventually the mother plant will die but at least you get more of them from their pups.

KEEPING THEM TOGETHER

Somehow I find by experience
that these plants do so well when they are grouped together.
It creates like a environment zone where the plants
tend to get more hardier, healthier and richer.
The downside of doing this: You have to watch out for pest control.
If one of them gets it - the rest will also be infected and that is one of the important factor to watch out for them before introducing them into your garden collection.

Scale insect and Spider mites are the most difficult to eradicate but these attack the orchids first before spreading elsewhere.