Tillandsia Deadheading

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If you're fortunate enough to have had a Tillandsia bloom, you might have noticed that sometimes, keeping the spent flower spike (inflorescence) on the plant can be unattractive after some time. Sometimes, flowers can stall, or fail, or become wet and destroyed before they have achieved their purpose. While there is nothing wrong with keeping the spent spike intact, it may take away energy from producing strong, multiple pups. Depending on the situation, cutting the flower (deadheading) can clean-up the look of a plant/clump and reroute some of the plant's reproductive energy  (flowers and seeds) into vegetative energy  (leaves and pups).  Always keep the spike intact if you were pollinating your plant, or were hoping for seeds.

To remove the spent spike, follow the inflorescence from the flower down into the plant, where the last true leaves grow near the base.

Slice above that spot with a sterile blade or shears. Check out the gallery below for photo descriptions!