Sign in Start free
Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia argentea
Other Partly documented

Tillandsia argentea

A small, densely silver-scaled air plant from Cuba and Jamaica, with records also from Mexico and Guatemala, that grows on oaks, pines and trees of dry tropical forest. It is thick-scaled and drought-tolerant and likes bright light, strong air movement and quick drying, which makes it a popular houseplant.

Tillandsia argentea
Photo: Nimphel at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Epiphytic on the branches of oaks and pines in pine-oak forest, and on trees in tropical deciduous forest on steep slopes. These are bright, airy, seasonally dry habitats.

Specimen elevations run from about 80 m to 1870 m, with a median near 800 m.

CubaJamaicaMexico (Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacán)Guatemala

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Tillandsia argentea? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Start free Sign in

More Tillandsia

Tillandsia paucifolia Tillandsia recurvata Tillandsia fasciculata Tillandsia ionantha Tillandsia juncea Tillandsia polystachia Tillandsia tenuifolia Tillandsia variabilis Tillandsia baileyi Tillandsia bartramii Tillandsia bulbosa Tillandsia capillaris All 750 →

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.