Air plant blooming - Part 2

[birdographer]

Last month I posted a picture of one of my air plants in bloom. Another one, different variety, is at it now, so I thought I would share this one as well. This plant is about 6" tall by about 7" wide.

[Pisces]

1. That's gorgeous. I don't have good luck with air plants. What is your secret?

[birdographer]

3. Not sure...

Watering them leaves-down every week or 10 days for an hour or so, good light. They only bloom once in their lifetime, but that is a little misleading since they also put out "pups"--offshoots that will grow and bloom themselves. They can be separated from the parent plant. So it seems like mine bloom every spring, but it's not the same part of the plant blooming. I don't separate them unless the parent plant actually dies.

[Goonch]

2. Mine never blooms ;-{)

[NotASurfer]

4. What's the best way to not kill these?

My wife got a few of these, put them in a wicker basket lined with paper towel, threw it on a table in the back yard, and tormented them with a spritz of water every week. I think 4 might still be alive. My guess, they don't like hot, dry, windy outdoor conditions and dehydrate or bake in the sun. But the ones that aren't completely dead might pull through if I can get some directions.

[birdographer]

5. No direct sunlight

They don't like direct sunlight for hours at a time. If you have a sunny windowsill that will get sun for an hour in the morning, that's fine, but they tend to like indirect light. As for watering, the best way is to fill a bowl with water, put them in the bowl with the roots up, sticking out of the top (they absorb water through the leaves) and leave them there for at least an hour or as much as two. If you didn't get the root area wet, they can go right back in a container, otherwise let them dry off. The watering can be done about once every 10 days or so. Don't spritz *and* soak, that's too much, and not on a daily basis. If they need water, the ends of the leaves will turn brown, but yours may already be in that shape... They really are easy, once you find a suitable place for them. Good Luck!

[NotASurfer]

6. Thank you. Rescue Phase 1 completed

Got the basket back indoors, indirect light, 4 look ok, 4 more have some color and pliability. They got a light mist.

The rest, dry, a couple straw-like, but on most they're dry and the root ends are blackened. They got the leaf-down soak.

They're all in a big glass container that once held a failed terrarium, on paper towel, lid off so there's air circulation.

Phase 2, they get misted next Monday and the worst-affected plants checked for signs of life.

[birdographer]

7. Good!

It worries me about the blackened roots, but maybe they can overcome that. Be careful not to overwater, misting so soon after soaking could take them the other way. They soak up a lot of water, it typically lasts over a week if not longer. Sometimes too much care is as bad as not enough. Keep me posted!

[NotASurfer]

8. Phase II

Belated update from Tuesday morning.

After ten days - I'm doing this mostly hands-off, indirect light and very light, infrequent water application followed by time for the plants to dry thoroughly, not putting them away damp - down to 4 that look healthy.


2 got moved from the healthy group to the group that's hurting but still could pull through. Some plants that had signs of life are in the dead group now, so there are 5 left hurting that have a chance.

18 dead, but they got the same watering and I'm holding on to them another week in case one decides to show some signs of growth.

Don't know how many there were to begin with, probably 30 or 32 or 36, best case there is about 25% survival, could be as low as 10%. Looks to me like the bigger plants are the ones tending to pull through.

Removed some of the dead leaves this week, I think that pruning is reasonable. Next time I'll think about watering Thursday or Friday (and if I understand correctly they could go 14 days so next weekend is ok)

[birdographer]

9. Thanks for update!

I was thinking about you recently and wondering how it was coming. Bad news that so many are lost, but you did say that some bigger ones might make it.

The plant that started this thread not only put out a third bloom, but the one I showed a picture of added a purple element. I didn't want to post it as a new post since I've already posted two air plant blooms. But I just have to show somebody!



I am wondering if you would consider getting just maybe a couple of new air plants, just to see what happens if you start fresh with healthy ones. I get mine at [link:https://airplantshop.com/|. They are healthy, and occasionally actually blooming. This is good if they have pups to continue the plant, not that great if they don't since while it's impressive, it's the end of the plant. Speaking of which, I found two pups on the blooming plant pictured above, so that's good news.

Yes, they can easily go 14 days with no water, although some plants like water more than others. I hope you will keep this bookmarked and come back again to let me know if the bigger ones are still surviving.