Tillandsias, a member of the Bromeliaceae or Bromeliad species, is the true name for air plants. They are also known as epiphytes since they can grow without soil. In Central and South America, Mexico, and the southern United States in North America, the air plant is frequently found in the jungles, on mountain tops, and in deserts.
Because they are an epiphyte species, air plants may grow without soil. They do in fact need a platform to start growing. These plants rely on their host for support and are not parasitic. The moisture and dust fibers that are drifting through the air provide the plant with its sustenance. The basic purpose of the roots is to affix itself to the supporting subject.
These sorts of plants require little maintenance. For their wellbeing, regular watering, healthy air circulation, and dazzling filtered light are crucial. You can spritz your plants entirely 2-3 times each week or immerse them in water for about 20 minutes once a week. Allow them if they reside in a container or plate. Prior to moving them back with their storage containers, allow them to dry for three to four hours. Instead of doing so during the day, air plants absorb carbon monoxide at night. The plant can’t breathe properly if it is moist. This information indicates that morning watering is always preferred. Make sure there is enough airflow in every container used. Your plants will prefer filtered or indirect light; never leave them in full sunshine for long periods of time.
Only once during their lifetimes do air plants flower, yet during this time they will produce pups or progeny. After the pup is one-third to one-half the length of the parent, it normally stays connected to the parent or can be separated with a delicate twisting/pulling motion at the base of the plant. Simply remove the parent leaves when they wither and die if the pups remain linked. As a result, the space will quickly fill with pups.
Almost anywhere can be used to grow air plants. Driftwood, old picture frames, seashells, and pottery can all have them added to them. To attach those to pressure-treated wood, copper objects, or copper cable is strictly forbidden and will result in the destruction of your plant. In general, if you decide to attach them all, you can use reasonably priced specialty glues.
What are the benefits of air plants?
Because they photosynthesize at night, air plants are also ideal houseplants for bedrooms. So they release new oxygen into the air while you sleep. Being around plants can increase focus at home or at work, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress.
How are air plants maintained?
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.
Is the air plant a houseplant?
Any of the nearly 500 distinct species of flowering perennial plants in the Tillandsia genus, a member of the Bromeliad family, are referred to as “air plants.” Their roots don’t need any soil. They take moisture out of the air instead. The term “epiphyte” refers to this kind of plant, which includes Spanish moss. Plants naturally grow on trees and are fastened to the bark in warm, arid environments, which are their native habitat. They are commonly planted as indoor houseplants, where they flourish under fluorescent illumination, despite the fact that they are perennial in appropriately warm climates.
Air plants are currently highly fashionable and employed in a number of hanging garden applications, despite earlier being uncommon in commercial use. Most species are mounted on pieces of bark or driftwood and suspended in the air, while a few can be grown in pots. Because it organizes a collection and promotes good air circulation, a hanging grid is another common display for air plants. Garden centers now sell air plants in large quantities. Some are quite little and must be observed closely to be appreciated.
Although there are several Tillandsia species, many of them lack popular names. They are simply grouped together under the terms “air plants” or “sky plants.” Or the species name alone might be used to sell them.
Whatever you choose to name them, here are 25 different varieties of air plants you should think about cultivating indoors.
Gardening Tips
Since the majority of air plants aren’t cultivated on soil, they require a special kind of watering. Your plant will stay hydrated with a light spraying two to three times each week; this is especially important in arid climes or areas with dry winter air. Submerge the air plant overnight in the kitchen sink when it starts to look dehydrated, and it will start to flourish once more. In order to preserve the flowers on your air plant while it is in bloom, softly rinse it under running water as opposed to completely drowning it.
How are air plants cared for?
Here are 5 easy guidelines to remember when taking care of tillandsia:
- 1) Give your air plant regular waterings. Your air plant will require routine watering.
- 2) Supply light to your air plant.
- 3) Allow your air plant to breathe.
- 4) Maintain a Pleasant Temperature for Your Air Plant.
- 5) Don’t harm your airplant by doing this.
How long are air plants alive for?
Perennial plants are tillandsias, also referred to as air plants. According to the source, they have a lifespan of between two and five years, which indicates that they normally survive longer than two years.
The type of air plant and the growing conditions have an impact on how long they live, though. They reside in deserts, on various surfaces, and on tree branches in their natural habitat (other surfaces they can grow on).
Air plants only experience one flowering during their existence, which marks the culmination of their development and maturity.
Depending on the species, the flowers might remain in bloom for a number of months. However, the air plant will begin to die when the blossoms start to wilt and fade. Air plants develop pups or offsets before they die to carry on the same growth cycle.
Despite the mother plant dying, you can take the pups out and raise them separately. Separating the pups from the mother is referred to as “division is a method of air plant propagation.
As an alternative, you might leave those puppies grouped together ” (also known as “tillandsia balls).
Where should air plants be placed?
All air plants are native to tropical regions where freezing temperatures never occur. It’s crucial to keep them at a reasonable temperature without a sweater, right? typically from the 1960s or earlier. Keep them away from windows that are cold in the winter and air conditioner vents.
At least a few hours of bright, indirect sun each day are necessary for air plants to thrive. The optimal placement is between one and three feet from an east or west-facing window, or around two feet from a source of artificial light. They can be exposed to hotter, more direct sun for longer periods of time if you maintain them well-hydrated. Avoid areas that are poorly lit.
How Much Light Does an Air Plant Need?
Air plants require strong, indirect light to grow. Good possibilities are rooms with windows that face the south or east because the sun will shine brightly in these areas for the majority of the day. As long as the plant is put close to the window and the window is not covered by trees or an adjacent apartment building, rooms with North-facing windows also perform effectively. Western light typically arrives later in the day and has a tendency to be quite warm and powerful. Take care not to burn your air plant!
The air plant will generally withstand more light as the humidity level in your area increases. This means that you should plan to spritz your air plant more frequently, such as twice a week or even every day, if you’re placing it where it will get a lot of light. An air plant will thrive in a bright bathroom or bustling kitchen since the humidity from your shower or boiling water will take care of the majority of plant misting for you.
Air Plants and Artificial Light
A lot of customers ask us if they can put their air plant in a basement or office where there won’t be any windows for natural light. The answer is yes, but there are a few particular guidelines to follow to guarantee the success of your plant.
Fluorescent light must be full-spectrum. These plants can’t photosynthesize in the kind of light that regular incandescent bulbs produce. Place your Tillandsia no more than three feet from the source of light. Additionally, if you plan to use fluorescent lighting, the plants will require at least 12 hours every day.
We advise purchasing a dedicated bulb for your plant (such as a Gro-Lux, Repta-Sun, or Vita-Lite) and setting it on a 12-hour timer if you live in a basement or wish to keep an air plant in your office to ensure that it receives the proper amount of light to survive.
Sand, rocks, and dried wood arranged in a shallow dish make a wonderful air plant display.
How frequently do I need to water my air plant?
For the best care, your plants should be watered 2-3 times each week in addition to once every week. Every 2-3 weeks, a 2-hour bath should be taken. You will need to water or mist your plants more frequently if you live in a hotter, drier region. Your plant’s leaves will start to feel heavier and more wet after watering, and they will be softer and lighter in color when they require more water. Dehydration may be indicated by leaves that are wrinkled or rolled.
Do air plants have poisons?
Every time I bring a plant inside, I search for the cautionary label. Do you too have concerns about your pets’ safety when using air plants? Do air plants have poisons?
None of the Tillandsia varieties, also referred to as air plants, are harmful. Dogs, cats, and rabbits as well as humans and other animals are not hazardous to air plants.
Let’s examine the benefits of air plants and what you can do to avoid accidental nibbling.
Are air plants placed in soil?
- Don’t bury them in the ground. Ever. Because they are epiphytes, they grow atop other plants rather than in the ground.
- You can plant them in imaginative locations because they don’t require dirt. One can be set in a shallow bowl or vase with rocks or sand, one can be put in a small container with a magnet and placed on the refrigerator, or one can be tied to driftwood with a clear fishing line.
- Don’t confine them to a terrarium. Yes, they are adorable, and Instagram is full with pictures of air plant terrariums, but air plants need to breathe. They will become overly damp in a confined vessel, which will cause them to rot or contract a fungus.
Does the air plant flower?
Beginning as slow-growing plants, air plants require time, love, and care to blossom.
You might now be wondering, “How can I get them to bloom? ” or “Is there a proper technique to care for these air plants? Or perhaps you’re just impatiently waiting for your Tillandsia to flower and wondering whether there’s anything you can do to speed up the process.
Let’s start by reviewing some background information on the air plant blooming process. They bloom at the beginning of their reproductive cycle, just like all flowering plants do. An interesting truth about air plants is that they only ever bloom once in their lifetime. Depending on the species, they also produce a variety of flowers. The majority of these plants produce lovely flowers in a variety of hues, including pink, red, yellow, and purple.
You’ll undoubtedly encounter several blooming styles in the realm of air plants. For instance, the Capitata peach begins to blossom when it is a light pink color with blooms coming from the center. Small buds often start to appear from the core of the aeranthos and stricta, get larger, and release flowers when they open. Some species’ flowering only lasts a few days, while others may last for several weeks.
Larger air plants like the xerographica and caput-medusae have a longer flowering cycle. They frequently produce huge “inflorescences,” which for some species can surprisingly reach heights of one foot or more. The entire flower tracts are present in the inflorescence, which gradually opens up to allow the flowers to emerge. Some air plants can produce flower stalks that endure for more than a year.
After your air plants have finished blooming, you may notice “new growth” coming from the sides, the base, or leaves that are starting to fall off. [Be careful when cutting your plants.] These are young plants known as “pups,” which develop into adult air plants and reproduce the growth cycle.
You can carefully clip off the flower stalk that emerged from the air plant to speed the offset stage, which would then hasten the growth stage after blooming. Depending on the species, air plants would often produce one to three offsets or pups after blooming. You can choose to remove the offsets once they are about 1/3 the size of the adult plant (at which point they would clump together) or let them.
Even if they would bloom when they were healthy, Tillandsia still require attention and a certain amount of sunlight exposure in order to blossom. Additionally, you could use diluted fertilizers to expedite offset or pup development as well as the blooming phase.
Is there a proper technique to care for these air plants? Is that your million dollar question? Don’t ever stop watering your air plants, first and foremost! Since more energy is required for the flower and the development of offsets or pups, it makes sense that your blooming air plants would require a little more water than usual. However, when watering, you must be careful not to soak the blossom as well. Why? Considering that soaking the flower in water could cause it to decay or wilt
Therefore, you can sprinkle your air plant with a spray bottle or hold it under barely flowing water to damp only the necessary portions instead of completely submerging it while it is in bloom.
You should take good care of your air plants if you want them to stay vibrant and healthy.
Relax and take in the scenery; your air plants are still stunning to behold even if they haven’t yet begun to bloom.