Hi Treehaus Mike,
Yes, I think something is a bit strange about your Till. bulbosa. I don't know why it has flowered prematurely, without an obvious extended inflorescence. Here is a photo of one of mine flowering - please excuse the poor quality of photo! I find them shy to flower.

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Although there is an obvious inflorescence, the flowers have not started yet - but you can see the difference between yours and mine. Yours must have a hidden, compacted one for it to still flower like that.
I suggest you love it in its deformity!

Cheers,
Kerry

Thanks Kerry, while I do wish I had a bulbosa flowering normally, I still love the plant, deformity and all.

Out of curiosity, and I am not sure of the term for this, but those overlapping scale-like portions of the leaves, where they form the bulb - do those turn brown on your bulbosas, near the base of the plant? A few have on mine, and I am not sure why this is happening.

Mike

Mike, if you mean the very bottom 'leaves' at the base - yes, I think this is normal for them to go brown, just as it is for the lower leaves of all broms. I sometimes pull or cut them off if they are too unsightly, but I don't recall doing that on the photographed one. Hope this helps.
Gonzer will probably know the answer to that one best.

Cheers,
Kerry

Mike, don't fret about either the flower or the basal leaves turning brown. Oftentimes temperature changes or excess fertilizing will result in early flowering. My experience with brown basals is to leave them on. Bulbosa has very fibrous leaves that will only fall off when they're ready, not you. Cutting away the brown part's OK, just don't wretch the leaf off.

Ah, I probably have both temperature fluctuations happening, and a lot of fertilizer happening. I started using a new fertilizer recently, perhaps I am being a little heavy-handed? I'm not too concerned about the sight of the brown leaves, just wanted to make sure it's not a sign that I am doing something that is harming the tilly. Thank you both!
Mike

Well, this brings up a good question - can anyone tell me how often should I be fertilizing my Tillandsias? The fertilizer I have been using is an orchid fertilzer (1-0-1) which is intended for use with rain, distilled and RO water.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I don't follow any stringent schedule for feeding. At least once a month at 1/4 strength and during warm weather 2-3 times a month at 1/2 to full strength, depending on my mood that day. I use a 2 1/2 gallon Birchmier backpack sprayer with the nozzle setting on medium spray. Not too misty nor too showery. There's a Tillandsia food made by Growmore (17-8-22) that's good. This company makes an Orchid food that is used by a lot of folks.

hi do you know where i can get one of them T. bulbosa from online pleas

Hi jordanpettinger,

Welcome to our forum. The new members are coming pretty consistently now and its good to see a variety of different countries represented, this time another from the UK.

I can't help you with your question but we have quite a few other members from the UK who may be able to if you can make contact with them.

At last count they were:

alibaba
babsthebunny
bingojesus
cactuschris (Cheshire)
flora_uk
krwor2
marko7
martyp
Francis: fccjap@hotmail

Unfortunately there is only one email address so I guess this is where you could start.

I hope this is of some help.

All the best, Nev.