“Air plants (Tillandsia spp.) are those quirky little gems that fit into just about any space in your home. They're wonderfully low maintenance for the most part, but there are a few tricks to their…”
Anthurium
Anthurium andraeanum
Air plants (Tillandsia spp.) are those quirky little gems that fit into just about any space in your home. They're wonderfully low maintenance for the most part, but there are a few tricks to their care—and one key step that, in my experience, pretty much guarantees they'll thrive.
In the wild, air plants typically grow way up in the forest canopy. They're epiphytes, which means they perch on other plants for support and pull their moisture and nutrients right out of the air and rainfall—no soil needed! They're also often xerophytes, so they can handle dry stretches. What they really love is bright but indirect light.
The trickiest part of air plant care for most people is figuring out when to water. How often you need to water really depends on the light intensity, air temperature, humidity, and whether your plant lives in a terrarium or out in the open. My advice? To prevent rot, err on the side of under-watering at first. If you notice brown leaf tips or the leaves curling more than usual, that's your plant telling you it needs more frequent drinks.
To water, just submerge your air plant for 10 to 20 minutes, then set it upside down on a towel or dish-drying rack for several hours so all that excess water can drain away instead of collecting between the leaves and causing rot. This drainage period is truly the key to air plant care—skip this step and your air plant will probably stay too soggy at its center and start falling apart on you.
Image ofTillandsia xerographicavia Flickrby salchuiwtLicense:Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
