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Air Plant Care

We hope you will love your air plants as much as we do! They are easy to care for but there are lots of misconceptions on how to care for your plants, here is what we recommend for the species we sell, straight from our growers. Our plants are California-grown, from seed, which ensures you are getting healthy plants with the best start possible. Our plant chandeliers are specially mounted so you can pop plants off safely for watering, and re-place them easily and securely after watering.


Light

Most tillandsias thrive in bright filtered light. Direct sun will burn your plants between 11-2pm, so a bright room with indirect or filtered light is best. In general the more white your plant is the more sun light it likes, greener varieties can tolerate more shade. In nature, Tillandsia grow under the forest canopy where direct sun is filtered through the trees, consider this when picking a spot for your plant. They can also be placed outdoors in temperate weather areas under filtered light like an awning, pergola, or beautiful tree.

Water

Air plants really thrive once they have acclimated to their surroundings. Maintain a consistent watering schedule. You can soak your plants in water once per week for a few minutes or spray them thoroughly with a spray bottle 2-3x per week.The whiter the plant the less water it needs, greener varieties need more water. If you run the heater a lot, the air in your home will be drier, so you may need to water more frequently. If you run the AC regularly, then you can water less frequently. In general it is better to under water than over water and to let your plant dry completely between waterings to avoid root rot. If your plant is in a terrarium, make sure it is in an area with good air circulation.

Life Cycle

Air plants will bloom once in their life as they begin their reproductive process. Depending on the species their blooms can last weeks or even months. Your plant's foliage may turn bright pink or red and you will begin to see little "pups" form around the base of your plant. Give your plant a little more water during this process, she is working really hard. Each mother plant can have 3-9 pups. If you leave them attached to their mother, they will form spectacular clumps that will continue the same life cycle year after year and you can end up with a plant worthy of passing on to your grand children.

Did you kill your air plant?

No you didn't! Unless your plant rotted (due to root rot) and fell apart, or if you severely starved it of any water, it is most likely still alive.

After it blooms and grows its pups, the mother plant appears to "die" or dry out because her nutrients are being absorbed by her babies. If you separate the babies from their mom, then she will die out completely, but if you keep them together they will form beautiful clumps overtime! You can always trim off spent blooms or some of the dried mother plant's leaves, but leaving them intact at least partially also helps the plant to grow strong enough to become a large clump specimen.


Forget to water your plant?

Set a "watering day" of the week so you can easily make it a ritual, it can be so therapeutic too. 

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