The fact that air plants can be used in a variety of ways when it comes to decorating is one of the things we love about them. They are simple to attach to driftwood, wreaths, shells, and pretty much anything else you can think of! It’s good to have some greenery within your home, and since air plants don’t require soil, they make it a little bit simpler.
You’ve arrived to the right site if you’ve ever wondered how to install or attach air plants. We’ve prepared a list of some of the simplest mounting options for your favorite air plants below.
Wire:
When practical, we often advise using wire to secure. Just be careful not to use copper wire, which is harmful to air plants and can even cause their death.
If you are using wire, carefully “loop the wire through the bottommost leaves of your plant and wrap it around the base, then attach to your wreath or whatever item that you are attaching to.
We prefer this approach since it makes it simpler to move or water the plants if necessary than if you used adhesive.
Bok Tower Gardens has a stunning hanging display that you should see. Fishing line can be used to make lovely things both inside and outside.
angling line
This is a simple technique to fasten air plants to a wreath or piece of driftwood, and since it’s clear, no one will be able to see it. Simply follow the same procedure as with the wire; pass the fishing line through the plant’s leaves before tying a knot to attach it. If you hang air plants at the end of a long piece of line and fasten it to the ceiling or a shelf, you can also create some stylish floating arrangements using fishing wire.
Roots:
The primary function of air plants in the natural is to attach plants to trees; they do not use their roots to draw in nutrients or water. Our article, All About Air Plant Roots, has further information on air plant roots. If you have some free time, you can accomplish the same thing. Your plant may naturally cling to a piece of driftwood, a wreath, a tree, etc. (Be patient; this may take some time.)
If you’re feeling a little more impatient and don’t want to wait for the plant to anchor itself organically, you can use use wire to affix plants to an object by wrapping the wire around the plant’s roots rather than looping it through its leaves.
Glue:
Because it makes it more difficult to water and care for your plants, we typically don’t advise using adhesive to attach air plants to something. But it is possible! When using adhesive, you can use a plant safe glue that is also waterproof, such E6000. When gluing, be particularly careful to avoid getting glue on any of the leaves; instead, dab the glue on the plant’s base and wait for it to dry before attaching.
Although it’s not our preferred or advised method, you can use hot glue if you need to attach anything quickly. Hot glue won’t hold up as long as other anchoring methods and isn’t watertight.
Final suggestions:
- T. bulbosa belize, T. caput medusae, or T. pseudobaileyi are examples of plants with bulbous bases that should be mounted horizontally or upside down to assist prevent water from accumulating in their bases, which could cause them to rot.
- If you decide to mount your air plants with glue, remember to submerge or spray them rather than soak them. Since you can’t take the plant out to water it, soaking could cause it to decay against the place where it is anchored. Always try to shake away any extra water from your plant to reduce the likelihood of it rotting.
- Be sure to keep an eye on how much sunlight and moisture your wreath is receiving throughout the day if you are mounting and exhibiting air plants on a wreath that will hang outside on your front door. We advise bringing your wreath inside during the warmest part of the day if you see there is a lot of direct sun. For individuals who reside in colder climates, the same holds true. Since they are tropical plants, they do not like extremely low temperatures. Therefore, to prevent them from dying, if you’re using a wreath in the fall or winter, consider hanging it inside your door.
What can I use as a hook for my air plant?
Utilizing silicone sealant, airplants can be installed on a variety of logs, rocks, and wood. Apply a little amount of silicone to the branch on which you want to install the plant. Then, firmly press the plant into the silicone.
Some air plants have a mechanism for anchoring.
Tillandsia, often known as air plants, are soilless and grow by floating in the air.
- Air plants, which are epiphytes and a member of the Bromeliad family, cling to other plants for support yet are independent of their hosts.
- They use their leaves to collect moisture and nutrients rather than their roots, which are only used to affix themselves to other plants or objects.
- In the wild, they could live alongside a tree or establish an abode atop a rock. As long as they have enough light and air, air plants don’t have many preferences on where they live at home. They are content living on anything as tiny as a wine bottle cork, within a glass globe that is suspended, or even growing from a piece of driftwood.
- These hardy plants offer adaptable home decor additions because there are more than 600 species with different sizes, shapes, colors, and forms.
How is an air plant fastened to a wreath?
The existing air plant needs to be revived as a first stage, which is demonstrated here.
Consider where you will attach your other air plants next. I based the layout of my design on the various types, silhouettes, and dimensions of air plants.
To cut a 6-inch length of wire, use wire cutters. With the wires still straight on the other end, twist one end of them with the needle-nose pliers into a curlicue. By inserting the wire’s straight end into the grapevine wreath’s branches and then bending and twisting it with a pair of needle-nose pliers to secure the loop, you may attach the wire. To handle various shapes and sizes of air plants, make loops of various sizes and shapes.
Now, embellish your wreath. Gather dried seed pods, mushrooms, flower heads, and other items to give your wreath a more natural appearance. It’s not all that different from how the air plants were attached to my initial wreath to lay out the pattern and fasten the components with zip ties and a hot glue gun! The obvious distinction is that these components aren’t alive and won’t develop, evolve, or struggle in spite of the glue and zip ties.
After you’ve attached the decorative parts, cover the glue, stems, or other items you want to conceal with reindeer moss.
Add the plants now! Gently secure the air plants to the wire loops. The plants shouldn’t be penetrated or squeezed by the wire, but they should be securely held in place. Once your plants are in position, it’s simple to remove them so you can give them a bath, then add them back when you’re done.
My new air plant wreath now looks lovely and will last for a very long time. Oh, and it only cost a fraction of that, at $40!
Should air plants be held?
Because they don’t get very big, air plants can stay in the holder you construct for them for a long time. Glass doesn’t have to be used to contain them, but doing so will assist keep them from drying up too rapidly. By delivering moisture over time, adding some moss to your display will also keep your plant content.
You may exhibit air plants in a variety of ways, and you can be really inventive by building one yourself. You’ll find plenty of ideas on this list, whether you want to put them in a terrarium or display them on your wall.
Can air plants be glued with Gorilla glue?
Although it is not advised, mounting air plants with glue is nevertheless possible. You will find it challenging to remove your plants from their mount if they are attached with glue, and you might not be able to soak them in water at all. If you use adhesive and take your plant out, it can hurt the leaves or the base.
If you’d rather glue them to your mount, there are plant-safe and waterproof glues you may use. Oasis Floral Adhesive is a prime illustration. Just take additional caution when attaching your air plant to a wreath, piece of driftwood (use freshwater, not salty), or other mounting surface. Just dab some glue on the plant’s base; avoid getting any on the foliage. Before repositioning the mount, wait for the adhesive to dry to ensure that the plant is firmly fastened.
Hot glue is also sometimes used for this purpose. Although hot glue can be used to secure your plant, keep in mind that it is not waterproof and won’t hold up as well as you might have hoped.
Watering Your Air Plant When Glued
You might wish to skip soaking if you used glue to secure your tillandsias to your driftwood, wreath, or mounting surface. Instead, immerse them headfirst or spritz them with water without submerging the base. Your plants could decay against the mounting surface if you soak them. Additionally, be sure to shake off any excess water and wait until the plants are completely dry before setting your plant’s right side up.
However, you can moisten the base and gently jiggle it occasionally if you are not using waterproof adhesive and would want to remove your plants from the mount. The glue will eventually disappear, and your plant will quickly detach from it. To gently scrape the glue off, you can either use tweezers or a knife.
The greatest way for air plants that are fastened inside terrariums is spraying. Place the nozzle of your spray bottle within the terrarium’s aperture, then mist the plant’s leaves. Attempting to remove the plant from the terrarium is an additional choice. To soften the glue, you can try heating the terrarium.
To free the air plant from the glue, you can also try removing the other plants or decorations and soaking the complete terrarium in a bowl of water for 20 to 30 minutes.