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Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia tricolor
Other Well documented

Tillandsia tricolor

An epiphytic tank-type Tillandsia from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. It forms a rosette of green leaves with a sword-shaped red inflorescence and violet flowers. It grows on trees in a wide range of forests, from dry and oak-pine woodland to cloud forest, so it is fairly adaptable. It needs bright light, good airflow and a mount or very open medium.

Tillandsia tricolor
Photo: User:BotBln, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte on trees in dry forest, disturbed oak-pine forest, secondary forest and montane cloud forest (for example Monteverde, Costa Rica, and the Río Blanco canyon near Orizaba, Veracruz).

Records run from near sea level to at least 1300 m, with many from mid-elevation forests of about 800–1500 m.

MexicoGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaCosta RicaPanama

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

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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 CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.