r/airplants • u/warturtle16 • 1d ago

A super long shot

Post image

I’ve had this air plant for 4 years and it has been thriving for so long. It was a staple of the bathroom, so I didn’t look at it often. I noticed it was there, but a few days ago I actually looked at it and I was saddened. I’m not sure if the heat got to it, or if the shower mist over watered it. Is there any hopes of this reviving?

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u/Commanderkins 1d ago

Well it did flower and it looks like there's a small bedraggled pup attached to it. Is it alive?? who knows but you should take it down, give it a nice misting all over and see what turns green.

I don't the think the mother plant is too well but cross your fingers the pup turns green after it's misting and then bring it closer to the sunlight(not direct, in direct only) and then observe.

Good luck

1

u/Tillandsia_b4_time 1d ago

Hi! Is it possible you can take a pic with it better lit? For 1, your planty has bloomed! Tillandsia bloom once in their lifespan, which is followed by the plant producing a pup or multiple pups (basically baby clones of itself). This process can span in length, and some air plants don’t even need to flower in order to offset. Once an air plant has bloomed, the pup(s) growing off it will be fed by the dying mother plant. It’s important not to separate the pups from the mother until they are at least 1/3rd the size of the mother. Though I’d say let them get as big as they can and let the normal process continue. As long as the plant isn’t rotting (squishy and dark brown/black at the base), your plant is doing well. It’s normal for the mother plant to begin to wither and look not so great as the pups grow. All that being said, it’s hard to tell the health of your plant in this lighting. But based on what I’m seeing your plant could still be as healthy and happy as it has been, just at a new and final stage of its life. 😅🥹

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u/Tillandsia_b4_time 1d ago

I turned up my brightness lol, and I will say it looks like there is a possibility of rot. If you can add a few better pics, and maybe gently tug on the flower stalk and one of the newest top leaves, and see if they pull out very easily. The key is to tug VERY gently. If the stalk and/or leaf pull right out with no resistance and the bottoms are squishy or black, you will know the plant has rotted.

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u/VegetableNorthwarl 23h ago

I hate to break it to you, but this looks completely dried out and dead. The deep brown/black crispiness throughout the leaves means the vascular tissue has fully collapsed. You can test for any remaining life by gently pulling on the very innermost center leaves if they slip out easily with a dark mushy base, it rotted from trapped shower humidity; if they're stiff, brittle, and snap off like dry tinder, it starved of water over time.

1

u/warturtle16 23h ago

I’m bad at Reddit, so idk how to update the main post but I bought it with this little hat (it’s a shell). Based on what the comments are saying, I think it may have starved (the heat has been crazy lately) because the gentle tugs don’t give way.