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Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia paleacea
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Tillandsia paleacea

Tillandsia paleacea is a silvery, densely scaled, stem-forming tillandsia of arid Andean habitats from Colombia to Bolivia and Chile. It grows on rocks, on desert sand and on trees in dry areas from sea level to 3,000 m, often forming large mats. It needs full sun, fast drying and a lean watering regime.

Tillandsia paleacea
Photo: Daderot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

The Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads gives rocks, desert sands, and trees in dry areas. GBIF labels add arid, rocky calcareous slopes, dry and thorny dry forest in the Urubamba and Pachachaca valleys, rock faces and Inca ruins around Ollantaytambo, and large mats on open ground.

The Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads gives 0–3,000 m. Colombian records (Huila) cluster at about 750–1,450 m. Peruvian records span coastal Lima to 2,000–3,550 m in the Cusco and Apurímac valleys.

ColombiaPeruBoliviaChile North

🔒 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

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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 Public domain licence, unmodified.