Sign in Start free
Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia tenuifolia
Other Well documented

Tillandsia tenuifolia

The narrowleaf airplant, a widespread, variable epiphyte from the Caribbean and eastern South America, and very common in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. It is an easy, fast-clumping species that likes bright filtered light, regular water and a cooler winter.

Tillandsia tenuifolia
Photo: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte on trees and shrubs from humid lowland to montane forest. Most records are from the Atlantic Forest of southern and southeastern Brazil, where it grows on branches in bright, partly shaded positions.

Found from sea level to about 2370 m (median 700 m, 423 records).

Brazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil NortheastBrazil NorthBrazil West-CentralArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestParaguayBoliviaPeruColombiaVenezuelaGuyanaSurinameFrench GuianaTrinidad-Tobago

🔒 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 tenuifolia? 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 variabilis Tillandsia baileyi Tillandsia bartramii Tillandsia bulbosa Tillandsia capillaris Tillandsia caput-medusae 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 2.0 licence, unmodified.