Try to use rain, pond, or filtered water if possible. Don’t use distilled water because it’s devoid of nutrients. Municipal water can contain chemicals and metals that aren’t good for your this species.
A reverse osmosis filter is best, but you can also boil the water for a few minutes and then leave it out to cool for a while.
After watering, gently shake off the excess water and set the T. xerographica upside down on a towel or hang it upside down for 10 minutes or so.
This prevents water from becoming trapped in the bulbous base, which leads to crown rot.
If you want to be extra safe with a mounted specimen, you can use a fan on a low setting for about half an hour to dry it.
Fertilizing
Once a month, put some liquid fertilizer in the water. You can use any mild, balanced fertilizer.
A product with an NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) ratio of 1-1-1 or 2-2-2 is fine. You can use a stronger fertilizer, but be sure to dilute it so that it’s right around these numbers.
I prefer to use a fertilizer made specifically for air plants because these products are formulated to be gentle and they have the right balance for their unique needs.
Air Plant Fertilizer
You can find Air Plant Fertilizer in eight-ounce, 32-ounce, and gallon sizes from the TPS Nutrient Store via Amazon.
Don’t feed your T. xerographica at all during the winter.
Where to Buy
With the increased ability for growers to breed and export this species, it has become much more common on the market than it used to be.
Many online retailers carry young, small options.
For example, you can find three- to five-inch specimens available from Amazon.
Tillandsia Xerographica
Or, if you’d like something a bit older and bigger, grab six- to nine-inch plants, also available via Amazon.
Mounted Xerographica Air Plant
If you want a pre-mounted one on a wreath with moss, that’s available from the Bubbleblooms store via Amazon.
By the way, if you see a specimen with a funky color or colors, it’s dyed. That color will fade or grow out as the air plant sheds its leaves.
Propagation
Propagating via offsets is, by far, the easiest way to go about reproducing an air plant.
But sometimes, it pays off to take the road less traveled. If you want to propagate from seed, it’s a perfectly viable way to breed new specimens, but it takes a long time for T. xerographica to reach its mature size.
I would also advise against purchasing seeds online as they are often mislabeled.
It’s best to harvest your own from existing plants, but this is hit or miss, as it can take decades for your T. xerographica to flower.
If you want to encourage flowering, there are a couple of tricks you can use. The first is to double the amount of fertilizer to the water when you soak the plant.
You can also increase the sunlight exposure just a bit. If your T. xerographica isn’t already receiving four hours or so of direct light, make it happen.
From Seed
Once your xerographica is flowering, let the blossoms fade and the seeds will develop.
The seeds themselves are small and slender, and are topped with a coma, which is a fluffy top that helps them fly on the breeze.
They look a lot like dandelion seeds, held in a cluster on the long bracts.
When the seeds are dry and fluffy, gently remove them from the plant.
Examine the seeds carefully, and if you see a tiny bit of green at the base of any, these are already germinating, so set them aside.
Any that don’t have green nubs should be soaked in water for 24 hours to encourage germination.
