Air plants seem to be one of those ever so fickle plants we all love. They make great home decorations, they look great hanging, in terrariums, in bowls, in displays, and lets be honest, they're cute. Those working with small spaces are easily attracted to these little bundles of joy because they're easy to fit on a desk or in a corner.
But, the air plants that we sell online isn't a very traditional representative of these plants in nature. Much like orchids and bromeliads taking these epiphytic plants out of their usual environment, shoving them into a house with drastically different heating, cooling and humidity can be devastating, not just for the plants, but also for the plant owners who followed every word of advice they read about these little poofs of joy and we're still met by their plants demise.
In the wild these plants grow like weeds in the right environment, and what we have indoors really is at total odds with them. Despite this it is possible to grow them indoors if you keep a few things in mind - air plants need more than air to survive, they also need more than a brief mist here and there.
Our tips for success with air plants:
Humidity - indoor humidity for most homes is 30% or less, air plants come from very humid environments, keeping your air plant displayed in a way that allows you to provide humidity without wrecking your home is important. We recommend
- A bowl or terrarium display with decorative pebbles and water to increase the humidity constantly between watering.
- A mini greenhouse or display case where you can up the humidity to the right level.
- A humidifier placed underneath a wall display of air plants.
- Keeping them in humid areas of your home (caution here, even the bathroom and kitchen dry out more than air plants prefer)
- Keeping them on displays that allow moisture and humidity to be high without being damaged.
Water - don't run the tap and expect them to be ok, tap water contains a bunch of minerals and chemicals that can damage air plants, just like bromeliads and orchids can be sensitive to tap water.
- Use rain water, destilled or purified water without any additives.
- If you have to use tap water let it mellow - set a cup or container out for a few days so the chemicals won't be so harsh on the plants.
- Drown it in water, it's better to wet the entire plant and let it drip dry than do under water by misting infrequently. Give it a good drink.
Fertilizer - weakly weekly is our motto for fertilizer around here, unless it's a heavy feeder most plants prefer a little here and there over a strong dose on rare occasions. Don't use urea based nitrogens - look for an orchid fertilizer so your plant doesn't burn.
- Fertilize your plant with a very weak solution regularly (think a drop in a pond here) wait a few minutes than drown it in water per usual, set your plant to drip dry with the points of its leaves facing down - stagnant water in the plants crevices can cause rot.
Light - bright indirect to medium light, most of these plants colonize power lines and tree canopies where they can still get plenty of light.
Airflow - don't confuse humidity and being wet for the same thing, air flow is important to dry excess moisture and reduce rot and move stagnant air around - remember they're air plants, they feel the breeze regularly in their natural environment.
Check out our air plants:
https://plantywoo.com/search?q=%22Air+plant%22&options%5Bprefix%5D=last