Keep Your Air Plant Happy & Hydrated This Winter With These Simple Tips

We houseplant growers like testing our skills on different types of plants. Sooner or later, most of us will bring home an air plant (Tillandsia spp.). These epiphytic bromeliads hail from subtropical and tropical North and South America. They're appealing because of their unusual foliage, low-maintenance, and safety for pets. Winter can be a tough time for these heat-loving houseplants, even indoors. Knowing all the easy ways to care for your air plants through the coldest months of the year is vital. Taking care of their light, water, and air movement requirements can be a learning curve for some plant parents. Strategies range from choosing the right species for your specific residence to giving them regular soakings and monitoring humidity levels in your home.

Tillandsia aren't potted like other houseplants. Instead of digging their roots into soil, they take up water and nutrients through structures on their leaves. There are many air plant holder ideas to create beautiful displays of healthy greenery, such as affixing them to shells, popping them in a glass globe dangling from a ribbon, or mounting them on bark. It's important to identify what kind of air plant you have — otherwise you won't know how to keep it happy. Xeric air plants come from dry climates, and mesic air plants prefer humid environments. If your indoor air is dry during the winter, choose a gray-leaved or fuzzy-surfaced xeric air plant. Dark green mesic air plants do best in humid rooms.

Watering air plants is different from watering houseplants grown in potting mix. Tillandsias have minimal root systems — you need to soak an entire plant in lukewarm water regularly to hydrate it. Immerse your plant for up to 20 minutes, then allow it to air dry. Doing this in the morning gives the air plant time to dry before nightfall, reducing the chance of rot. How often you'll need to dunk your tillandsia depends on the temperature and relative humidity in your home. For most plants, once or twice a week will suffice. If the room they live in is particularly hot or you grow mesic air plants, mist the plants daily to keep them hydrated. If you need to leave a tillandsia unattended for an extended period, place it in a spot with bright indirect light and it should do just fine.

Typically, though, you want to grow your air plants in south-facing windows during winter so they get direct sunlight. (Conversely, you should move them to a location with indirect light from spring to fall.) These plants like reasonable cold season household temperatures of 65 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Xeric air plants, which are more adapted to dry climates, prefer a drop in temperature at night, so long as the room stays above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't fertilize your tillandsias at all during winter — they only need feeding during their active growing season. Also, keep the air circulating with a fan or by opening the windows briefly a few times a day. These houseplants hate a stuffy space.