How to Plant Bromeliads in Hanging Baskets
Bromeliads, or air plants, require very little care and can grow with just a little soil, so they are excellent choices for hanging baskets. These members of the pineapple family have brilliant colored flowers and shiny foliage that grows in a rosette fashion. Depending on the type of bromeliad you have, the leaves can range from having smooth edges to spines, or they can be succulents. In the center of their foliage are round, vase-shaped holes, where you pour water into the plants. Bromeliads prefer water with a pH level of 5.5 through 6.5, but they do not like alkaline water. They can be as small as 1 inch and as big as 3 feet. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hanging wire basket
- Sphagnum moss
- Pine bark, light organic soil or a piece of driftwood or cork
Instructions
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Find a hanging wire basket that is large enough for your bromeliad. Do not choose too big of a basket because bromeliads do not have much of a root system. The bromeliads usually look bigger than the pot.
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2
Line the wire basket with sphagnum moss. The mixture you fill the basket with depends on which bromeliads you are planting. For non-terrestrial or epiphytic varieties, fill the inside with pine bark. This allows aeration and circulation for the roots that form. If you have terrestrials, use some light organic soil. The small epiphytic tillandsias only require mounting on a piece of driftwood or cork.
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Plant your bromeliads inside the basket and fill the basket with whatever mixture of growing medium you are using. Large baskets can usually hold three bromeliads without overcrowding.
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4
Pour water into the top of the bromeliad's vase-shaped hole. You do not need to water the soil because the roots do not take up the water.
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Hang your basket. Different types of bromeliads require different light levels. Just watch your plants, and they will tell you if you have them in the right amount of light. If the leaves look burned or bleached, they need less light. If your plant does not have the color it should, put it in a window that has more light.
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6
Mist the bromeliads several times a day. They require a high humidity of 50 percent to 75 percent to survive.
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Tips & Warnings
Bromeliads need temperatures that range from 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 45 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night.
Bromeliads rarely need to be fertilized, unless you want more pups. Pups are baby plants formed after the mother plant flowers. The mother plant will die, and the pups will take her place.
If you do not have osmunda or tree bark in which to plant your bromeliad, use a soil mixture that is one-third to one-half perlite or coarse sand.
Do not use the vase shaped hole as a holder for another plant's cut flower. This may pierce or damage the heart of the bromeliad in which its own flower is forming.
