Tillandsia, also known as air plants, are an increasingly popular trend among black thumbs who want to add a touch of green to their homes without a lot of work. Usually mounted in minimalist prism ornaments that hang like mobiles, they are virtually indestructible. They get their nutrients from the air and don't need soil to grow. 
Yet amid growing demand, imports are being severely restricted in Australia due to a bacterium called xylella.
The Australian government has clamped down on exports from Europe and America - where most varieties of tillandsia come from - fearing that xylella, an airborne pathogen, will affect grape, citrus, almond, stone fruit and other crops.
Xylella is almost impossible to eradicate once established, necessitating this sudden prevention of entry into the country.
There are no air plants native to Australia. And without fresh mother stock of the popular house plant, many nurseries have suffered.
"Our business has already finished," says a representative from online store Airplants Australia, who recently wrapped up their wholesale arm. "We went from a hobby business for nearly 20 years, to a full-on business a couple of years ago, and now back to a hobby business ... There will be quite a flow-on effect from this sudden import ban once resellers find out they can no longer purchase tillandsias."
Gold Coast-based Air Plant Designs have had to temporarily shut down their website. Established in 2012, the business would process about 20 to 30 orders a week of various sizes. They'd supply plants to market operators and sell tillandsia as individual plants, as well as in terrariums and hanging and vertical gardens, both online and in brick-and-mortar homeware stores.
Of course, nurseries could always grow stock from seed, but this is an "extremely slow process" that can see a plant reach saleable size after five years, Brigitte Troedson, owner of Air Plant Designs, says. As air plants become increasingly hard to obtain, the prices have gone up, too.
Troedson is due to attend a tillandsia conference on Sunday, among other industry experts, to discuss what the next plan of action is for growers and distributors. "We sincerely hope the ban will be lifted in the not-too-distant future," she says.