Air plant care
"Air plant" is a misleading name. Tillandsia has no soil, but it absorbs water through its leaves and it needs a real soak — misting alone is the most common way these die.
Light
Bright, indirect. Two or three feet from a south or west window, or right at an east window. Direct summer sun burns them; a dim interior corner slowly starves them. If your air plant is pale and stretching, it wants more light; if it has brown scorched patches facing the glass, it wants less.
Watering — soak, don't mist
Once a week, submerge the whole plant in room-temperature water for 20–30 minutes. Every two weeks add a quarter-strength balanced fertiliser to the water during the growing season. In dry winter air, soak weekly; in a humid summer room, every 10–14 days is enough.
Then the step people skip: dry it upside down. Shake the water out, set it on a towel with the base up, and leave it in moving air for several hours until completely dry. Water trapped in the base of the rosette is what rots an air plant, and it happens in days.
A small tub deep enough to submerge the whole plant is the only equipment worth having:
Air plant soak tub
Air plants fail from being watered by misting alone. A small tub for a 20-minute soak is the whole trick.
Check on AmazonMounting
Air plants do not need soil and should not be planted in it. Set them on a dish, wire them to a piece of driftwood, or use a purpose-made holder. Whatever you choose, air must move around the base.
What is actually wrong
- Brown, crisp leaf tips — underwatered, or the room is too dry. Longer soaks, more often.
- Base feels loose and mushy, leaves pull out easily — rot. Too much water with too little drying time. At this point the plant usually cannot be saved; if the rot has not reached the core, remove the affected leaves and dry it thoroughly.
- Curling, rolled leaves — often a thirst signal. Soak it and watch whether the leaves relax within a day.
- Colour fading to pale green — usually light, not water.
- Brown, dry flower spike — the bloom is finished. Cut the spent spike off; the plant will slowly produce offsets ("pups") at the base and eventually die after flowering, which is normal for the genus.