I’ve had this crazy idea recently… I need a bromeliad pillar in my greenhouse! It’s warm and humid in there, and it gets plenty of sun in some areas. I need more neat tropical elements. I’ll probably end up with a few vines climbing up the pillar, but really, bromeliads are just what I need. I already have several broms, and now there is room for more.
I remember back at Butterfly Gardens in Auckland, there were some really neat pillars in the greenhouse. They were huge, and were basically heavy gauge wire fencing that were bent into columns and filled with rocks. I bet in the long run the rocks and heavy wire they used will be great, and low maintenance. Unfortunately my greenhouse is a little small for that.
My pillar is made of hardware cloth (wire mesh) and is filled with long fiber sphagnum moss. Nothing really fancy, but it is pretty small and doesn’t need to be. I hope.
A new dripline and a few dripper attachments are on the way, and will make sure the bromeliads stay full of water. I learned long ago that automatic watering systems save me time, money and plants. It frees me up to do other things, like relaxing.
As you can see, I have a few bromeliads and tillandsias attached to the pillar already. The Neoregelia ‘Fireball’ pot is just hanging on a hook, since I already potted it up so nicely. Other bromeliads that have migrated to their new home include N ‘Wild Tiger’, Tillandsia brachycaulos, T gardneri, T usneoides, and a few other unidentified terrarium bromeliads.
Big Leaves 