For the past several weeks, the leaves on my Tillandsia Antonio have started to turn brown, and die. Yesterday, I called Logee’s Plants, the company that I bought the plant from for assistance. I explained the problem to the customer service representative. She told me that I should have repotted the plant ten days after I received it. She said that the soil was holding too much water, and the plastic pot that it was sent in was making the problem worse. I should have repotted it with a different type of soil. First of all, why was it planted in that soil to begin with? Recently, I read online that air plants should not be in soil, but she told me that that type of plant should be in soil, but not the type of soil that it was planted in. Since it was now past the sixty day period, she would not refund my money, or give me credit on another purchase. She said, that if I repotted it in the clay pot with either Dr. Earth, or Happy Frog potting soil, there was a chance that it might survive.
I do not remember any information about it needing to be repotted after ten days, and even if it said that, I think that is ridiculous that it was sent potted in the wrong type of soil to begin with! I also think that it’s ridiculous that she refused to give me any type of credit for my next purchase! However, at least I found out that I need to call within the first sixty days if a problem develops. The problem that I have with this is that it usually takes longer than sixty days for a problem to develop, so I really don’t think that sixty days is long enough for a return window. After hanging up, I remembered that a few months ago, I called the same company after two of my plants that I had purchased died, and that time, the customer service representative gave me store credit for both plants for my next purchase even though the sixty day period had already expired. I’m really not sure what the difference was except that some of their customer servant of representatives are friendly, and cooperative, and some are not!
As far as this company is concerned, when you buy a new plant from them, you should call them up immediately, and get as much information as you can about your plant. If there’s anything that you’re not sure about, be sure to ask them. They really do not provide adequate care instructions for their plants.They expect the customers to find out the necessary information by calling up and asking about it. Be sure to read any information that comes with your plant, and if you have any questions, call them within the sixty day period!
As far as my Tillandsia Antonio is concerned, after consulting with a local plant store owner, I decided to repot the plant in a clay pot using orchid bark. It is an air plant, so I think that orchid bark will provide better drainage then soil would. This is different advice than what I received from the customer service representative, but I do not think she was correct. We will see how the plant does in the orchid bark in the new clay pot.