Discover Care Tips for These Unique, Soil-Free Plants
The Almanac Garden Planner - Use It Free for 7 Days!
Plan your 2025 garden with our award-winning Garden Planner.
Air plants are popular as houseplants because they are adorable, tiny, easy to grow, do not need soil, and also need little light to thrive. Fuzzy, furry, spiky, or trailing, they are each unique and almost like house pets.
Also known as Tillandsia, they bring a touch of elegance to any environment with their unique characteristics, whether they’re displayed on shelves, mounted on driftwood, or suspended in creative hanging arrangements.
Let’s “air” out all the details and dive into the breezy world of air plants!
What Are Air Plants?
In nature, these plants grow above the ground, their roots anchoring them to rocky cliffs and tree branches. They may cling to a tree for support, but they take no nutrients from the host plant, making them epiphytes and not parasites.
In the Bromeliad family, there are more than 600 species and varieties of Tillandsia for you to choose from.
As houseplants, most species grow from 2 to 12 inches tall, but in their native locations, they can grow up to 7 feet!
All About These Plants
Air plants are members of the bromeliad family. They are “epiphytic,” meaning that they grow on other plants or supports such as rocks. They rely on the moisture and nutrients in the atmosphere to grow and thrive.
Forming a rosette of spiraling leaves that can be fuzzy, curly, or spiky in colors ranging from green and silver to peach or red, they have an almost other-worldly quality, like they have crawled out from under the sea or been dropped from a UFO.
Since they don’t need to be anchored in soil, they can displayed in a wide variety of creative ways. You can use floral wire to secure them to a piece of tree branch, driftwood, or slab of bark.
If you choose to display them in glass containers, remember that they need air circulation, so no closed terrariums, please. They’re called “air” plants for a reason!
You can even use hot glue, velcro, or other adhesives, such as liquid nails, to attach them to a wall or other surface.
They are easy to hang in a window by wrapping wire or string around the base a few times, or sit them in any type of container that has an appropriate size opening, such as a candlestick, sea shell, or egg cup. The possibilities are endless.
Growing
How to Care for Air Plants
These plants are pretty simple to care for. They don’t need repotting like most other houseplants, and you don’t need to prepare the soil, but there are a few things you can do to help these plants thrive.
Light: Keep them out of direct sunlight. In their natural habitat, they typically grow in sheltered, shady areas. Indoors, they need bright but indirect sunlight.
Temperature: 60° to 80°F degrees is the optimal temperature range. If they’re outdoors, you can grow them all year round if you’re in Zone 9 or warmer.
Fertilizer: When fertilizing, use a water-soluble fertilizer meant for bromeliads or orchids diluted to half strength. Add it to the water before soaking the plants. Fertilize once a month, during spring and summer, but don’t overdo it. They really don’t need a lot of fertilizer to thrive.
Pruning: Cut off any dead leaves. If the plant develops brown tips, they can be trimmed off. This is often a sign that the plant isn’t getting enough water or is being kept in an area that is too dry.
Water: This is an important one for air plants so we’ll cover it in detail below.
Watering
Proper watering is the key to success with air plants.
Tillandsia might not need soil to grow, but they do need water—and the right amount of water.
Their leaves have scales called trichomes that can absorb water and nutrients. Since they can’t absorb enough moisture from the air inside your home, they need to be misted regularly and, if possible, soaked in a bucket of room-temperature water for 20 minutes to an hour once or twice a week.
Not all types are the same, and the amount of water your air plant needs is based on where it is from. Those from arid regions of the Americas will be content with a couple of heavy mistings a week, while those from the rainforest will need a good long dunk twice a week.
Your plant will let you know when it needs water. When leaves start to roll or curl more than usual or develop brown tips, give them more water.
After watering, shake the plant to remove excess water. Water left sitting in the plant’s crown can cause it to rot.
Propagating
Tillandsia blooms only once in their lifetime. These stunning blossoms can last from several days to several months, depending on the variety.
After flowering, the plant will start to produce baby plants called pups from the base of the mother plant.
When the pups are a third of the size of the mother, they can be separated from the mother plant and grow on their own. To detach, pinch it off at the point it is attached and grow it in bright, indirect light.
You can also grow these plants from seed, but it is very challenging!
Air plants are divided into two categories: mesic and xeric.
Mesic air plants come from moderately humid regions such as South American rainforests. They thrive in a canopy of trees and prefer more filtered light than xeric air plants. The leaves are a deep green, smooth, and slightly cupped.
Xeric air plants are from desert-like climates and often grow on rocks. Their wide leaves are gray and fuzzy which allow a larger surface area to absorb water and light.
Air plant flowers come in many shapes and colors, from coral to pinks and purples.
Types of Air Plants
- T. Ionantha ‘Conehead’ is compact and colorful, this variety features spiky leaves that blush red or pink during blooming, often with vibrant purple flowers.
- T. Xerographica is known as the “King of Air Plants,” and its large, curly leaves form a stunning rosette, perfect as a statement piece.
- T. Aeranthos (Flower of the Air) is a fast-growing, hardy air plant with narrow green leaves and delicate pink and purple blooms.
- T. Ionantha ‘Rubra’ is a stunning variety featuring thin, upright leaves that develop striking reddish hues under the right light conditions.
Wit and Wisdom
- The only purpose of air plant roots is to anchor them to whatever they are growing on.
- The fuzzier the leaves are, the drier the air the plant can tolerate.
- Air plants are related to pineapples; both are members of the bromeliad family.
- Though it may look like dead moss hanging from a tree, Spanish moss is a type of air plant!
Catherine Boeckmann
ADVERTISEMENT
I bought my first airplant on etsy from a shop called Succapunch. I live in a high mountain desert so plants that like warmth have been difficult to care for. After I figured out what indirect light means, and started using the soaking method, my air plants have been absolutely thriving. I'm sure it will vary for everyone but it works for me.
