Bromeliads are an incredibly diverse and easy-to-care-for plant group that can brighten any home. Not only are bromeliads beautiful, but they can also thrive in a wide range of conditions that require minimal attention to stay healthy. With a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors to choose from, these plants can make striking accents or focal points in any room of your home. In addition to their aesthetic benefits, bromeliads also have health benefits like improving air quality and providing natural humidity. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance way to add beauty and freshness to your living space, consider getting a bromeliad!
Bromeliads are a family of flowering plants native to Central and South America. They are among the most diverse and widespread of all plant families, with more than 3,000 species. Bromeliads grow in a variety of environments, including rainforests, deserts, and grasslands. The distinctive foliage can come in a wide array of colors and shapes, making them popular ornamental plants. These plants also play an important role in their ecosystems; by providing shelter for animals such as frogs, lizards, and insects. Additionally, they make excellent air purifiers because their leaves absorb pollutants from the air!
Bromeliads are a unique and exotic type of plant that has adapted to many different environments. They have some unique characteristics that make them stand out from other plants, such as their ability to store water in their leaves, their hardiness in difficult climates, and their bright and colorful flowers. Most bromeliads take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to flower. Once the plant flowers it will not do it again, but it will live on through offsets (pups) around the base of the mature plant.
Caring For Bromeliads
Soil: Unlike other plants, bromeliads get their nutrients and water through their leaves and/or a central tank instead of their root systems. Therefore, the soil needs to be well-draining, loose and aerated to provide adequate moisture, nutrients, and oxygen for the bromeliad.
Light: Lighting requirements will depend on the type of bromeliad you have. If it is a bromeliad with soft leaves, it can handle low lighting. Plants with stiffer leaves prefer bright but indirect sunlight. Direct sunlight can be too harsh and cause the plant to become stressed.
Temperature: Generally, bromeliads need temperatures between 60-80°F in order to survive and flourish. Anything lower or higher than this range can cause stress or even death for your plants.
Watering: As with many indoor plants overwatering is more of a problem. If they receive too much water and their roots are soggy, they will get root rot and die. Generally, it’s recommended to water a bromeliad plant once every 7-10 days. However, this can vary depending on the environment and the size of the container the bromeliad is in. So, it’s important to observe your plant regularly so you can adjust your watering schedule accordingly.
Fertilizing: Most bromeliads do not need to be fertilized. There are some varieties that can use light fertilizing in the summer, which is their growth time.
These are five of our favorite bromeliad plants:
Aechmea Bromeliad – Aechmea bromeliads are one of the most popular bromeliads. Aechmea fasciata, also known as the urn plant, is one of the most widely recognized varieties. It has silvery-green leaves and a distinct center from which a beautiful pink flower cluster that shows off individual blue-purple flowers will emerge. It will take 2-5 years for this plant to mature and at maturity, it will flower. Another popular variety is Aechmea chantinii, known as Amazonia zebra plant which has large dark green leaves with lighter yellow vertical stripes and silver to white horizontal stripes. It will produce a spike with red or orange bracts with tight red flowers.
Guzmania Bromeliad - Guzmania bromeliads are one of the most popular and beautiful plants for home decor. They are epiphytes, meaning they grow on other plants or objects without taking nutrients from them. Guzmania bromeliads have lush green leaves with colorful flowers (red, orange, yellow, purple, or white) that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The blooms can last several months.
Neoregelia Bromeliad – Neoregelia bromeliads are known more for their foliage than their flowers. The new growth on the plant comes in bold tones of pink, red, purple, or orange. Be careful not to fertilize this plant too much or all of the foliage will be green.
Tillandsia Bromeliad – Tillandsia plants are better known as air plants. These plants are native to the southern part of the United States, Central and South America, and the West Indies. They do not need to be planted in soil to grow, they live off of nutrients and moisture they get from the air. You can water these plants every other week by submerging them in water. Pink Quill is one of our favorite Tillandsia plants having hot pink bracts and small purple flowers.
Vriesea Bromeliad – This species has some small to medium-sized varieties and some of the longest flowering plants. There are over 200 varieties and they come in an array of colors. The flowers are sword-shaped and have soft, shiny leaves. One of the most popular Vriesea bromeliads is Flaming Sword. The foliage is a brown and green color and it has a “flaming” red spike that comes from the rosette topped with a bright yellow flower.
