Caring for Bromeliad Plants
Bromeliads make colorful tropical accent plants for the home interior. Among the approximately 2,877 different varieties of bromeliad is the familiar pineapple. Most of the plants are native to the New World and are tropical to semitropical. The flowers are unique in color and form and have a rosette-shaped series of stiff leaves that form a storage area for water. Bromeliads can be either epiphytic or terrestrial. Does this Spark an idea?
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Flowers
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The flowers are amazing in their diversity. Some look like columns of scales stacked upon each other. Others mimic the rosette shape of a classic bromeliad foliage arrangement. The colors are vibrant and attractive. The flower will last sometimes over a month. When it dies it needs to be cut off as close to the bottom of the stem as possible. The plant can be grown as a foliage plant but will never produce a flower again. Bromeliads produce offsets called pups which can be separated from the parent plant and grown to flowering stage. This will often take up to two years. The pups will produce flowers if they are given good light and fertilizer.
Epiphytic Bromeliads
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Epiphytic plants are grown out of soil. This mimics their natural growth habit of residing in the crotches of trees or in rocky crevasses. When you purchase one of these plants you may have to mount it. You can use a hot glue gun to affix it to a piece of nontreated wood. Care for this type of bromeliad is simple. They need to be in a diffused light area that is at least 65 degrees F. Some of them form a rosette and the plant receives water in the little basin this forms at the bottom of the foliage. Other types need to be soaked in water for 15 minutes to moisten them.
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Terrestrial Bromeliads
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Terrestrial bromeliads are the form you are probably most used to seeing. They can be found in mall planter boxes, the dentist's office and are a common gift. The plant is extremely easy to care for. Bromeliads need light but not direct sunlight, which may burn them. The water goes in the base of the plant. It will be absorbed into the roots over time. The moisture should be mostly gone before the plant is watered again. All bromeliads benefit from a diluted, half-strength fertilizer once or twice a year.
Types
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The many varieties of this plant are easily accessible. Some of the strangest epiphytic types are tillandsias. They are the air plant that is sold glued in attractive arrangements on a variety of forms. Some of them bloom, but most of these are a bizarre formation of unique hairy and fuzzy foliage. Billbergia and Guzmania have similar growth habits. Dyckia, Vriesea and Cryptanthus are all terrestrial-type plants that are easy to find at nurseries, florist shops and garden centers.
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References
- Photo Credit Red bromeliad image by paolanogueras from Fotolia.com
