How to Care for Potted Bromeliad Plants: 7 Pro Tips
Stunning, tropical bromeliads make excellent houseplants. With their waxy foliage and bold, colorful bracts, they always make a statement. Florida gardener Melissa Strauss has some tips on caring for your potted bromeliad.
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Growing bromeliads as potted plants is a wonderful way to bring a bit of tropical color into the home. These fascinating and low-maintenance plants thrive in containers due to their shallow root systems. This, paired with their ability to thrive and bloom in moderate light conditions, makes them excellent houseplants.
Caring for bromeliads in containers is surprisingly simple as long as you know a bit about their natural habitat. They’re ideal for everyone from the beginner to the houseplant expert and everyone in between. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can care for a potted bromeliad with ease.
Bromeliads are native to the Americas from the southern United States to South America. They grow most abundantly in tropical and subtropical rainforests, cloud forests, and mountainous areas. Let’s go over some care tips for growing this diverse and adaptable group of plants in pots.
Choose the Right Pot
Let’s start at the beginning and discuss the best type of container for your potted bromeliad. This is one of the most basic elements of care, and it can make or break your plant’s health. To understand the right type of pot, we need to look at its growth habit.
In the wild, bromeliads are epiphytic and lithophytic. This means that they grow in trees or from rocks, with little to no soil around their roots. They don’t have large root systems and absorb most of the nutrients and water they need through their leaves.
Given this combination of factors, bromeliads don’t need large pots. A shallow container is fine, as long as it has excellent drainage. A pot that is four to six inches deep is plenty large enough for most, though some larger varieties may need something slightly larger.
Think of bromeliads like orchids, as they have a similar habitat and growth habit. They need plenty of air circulation around their roots. When their roots remain wet, they are prone to fungal rot.
Use the Right Potting Mix
Potted bromeliad care doesn’t stop with the right container. They also have specific needs for their potting mix. A standard potting soil is too dense and holds moisture against the sensitive roots.
This epiphyte’s roots are basically for the purpose of anchoring it to a tree. They don’t need soil that contains a lot of nutrients, because they don’t take much in through this minor root system.
Ideally, your potting medium should be loose, well-drained, and allow a lot of air to circulate. These are the conditions that best mimic its native environment.
If you want a premixed medium, orchid bark mix works well with your bromeliad. It’s even better if you mix in a bit of perlite to lighten it up. Cactus mix is a good base, but mix in some bark and perlite to keep the air flowing.
Provide Bright Indirect Light
There are different types of bromeliads with different light needs. Pineapple plants, for example, are bromeliads that prefer partial direct sun exposure in the morning. Most types, however, are tropical understory plants.
These plants grow in the understory or high up in the tree canopies. In both cases, they receive plenty of bright but indirect light. This is another similarity that they share with orchids. If you’ve had success with an orchid, bromeliads will be a cinch.
For the best care when it comes to light exposure, place your potted bromeliad in a spot with indirect or filtered light. It will thrive near an east- or south-facing window, placed just out of reach of direct sun.
If your plant isn’t getting enough light, the color in its leaves will fade. They may become floppy and are unlikely to flower. A bromeliad getting too much light may curl inward. The sun can bleach your leaves and cause dry, brown spots.
Water the ‘Tank’
Watering is a unique part of bromeliad care. It’s unlike just about any other houseplant I can think of. I mentioned that these plants don’t take in much water or nutrients through their roots. They actually have a special adaptation that enables them to take in water from their ‘tank.’
A bromeliad’s tank is the cavity in the center of its rosette of leaves. In the center, there is a cup that is specially adapted to collect water. To water your bromeliad, keep the tank full about halfway with clean, room-temperature water.
Every one to two weeks, empty the tank and refill it with clean water. Stagnant water can attract bacteria, algae, and pests. Avoid using tap water if possible, as bromeliads are sensitive to chemicals. Rainwater or distilled water is ideal.
Don’t let the soil become dry altogether, but this is not the main concern. Lightly water the soil around the same frequency that you water the tank. This extra care step will leave you with a healthy plant that has flexible roots.
Feed Lightly and Consistently
Fertilizer is an important and sometimes overlooked part of potted bromeliad care. These plants typically get their nutrients from leaf litter and debris that collect, along with water, in their tank. As a result, they do best with gentle, consistent fertilization that mimics this trickle of nutrients.
Use a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer for your potted bromeliad. A 10-10-10 formula diluted to about one-quarter strength is good. You can also use an orchid fertilizer, which is naturally gentler.
Feed your plant a small amount, along with water in the cup. You should fertilize about once a month, so it will be two weeks with fertilizer in the water, and two weeks without.
Always flush the tank in between waterings to prevent fertilizer buildup. Too much fertilizer can result in burned leaf tips, faded colors, and leggy growth from excess nitrogen.
Keep Out of the Cold
We know that bromeliads are tropical and sub-tropical plants. Part of potted bromeliad care is knowing which temperatures make it comfortable, and which do not. While it varies slightly by species, most, if not all, of these plants like to keep warm.
The ideal daytime temperature for your bromeliad is between 70 and 85°F (21-29°C). At night, they can handle cooler temperatures. 55 to 65°F (13-18°C) is acceptable at night. However, if the temperature drops into the 40s, it can cause damage.
This is mostly important if you live in a cold climate. Many plant parents don’t think about houseplants when it’s cold outside. You should, though, especially for plants that live near a window. If it’s cold outside, it will be cooler than usual near your windows.
Keep your bromeliad away from the window on cold nights and out of any potential drafts. Don’t set it near a doorway to the outside where cool air comes in when the door opens. It’s best to keep it clear of air vents as well.
Turn Up the Humidity
Finally, there is the question of humidity in potted bromeliad care. Most plants we keep potted in the house share this care need. They need higher than usual humidity. The reason for this is that most of the plants we keep in the house are tropical.
Bromeliads are adapted to warm, humid conditions, so it’s best to mimic this as closely as possible. Your plant will grow best in 50-70% humidity. The ideal spot for a bromeliad is in a bathroom, near a window, and a shower that is used often.
