What are Air Plants, and How to Take Care Them

Get to know Tillandsia, air plants without soil planting media

We are sure that many of you want to start gardening, or at least care for one type of ornamental plant at home. So, for those of you who don’t want to get dirty with soil growing media, Tillandsia air plants might be an option for cultivation.

What are air plants?

They are called air plants because they get most of their nutrients from the air, not the soil.

Tillandsia is considered unique in that it closes the stomata during the day to prevent water evaporation. Then open it at night to fix carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Launching from the Jamuin site, tillandsia is a genus of about 650 species of perennial and green flowering plants.

This plant belongs to the Bromeliaceae family which comes from the forests, mountains and deserts of Central and South America and the West Indies. One of the air plants is the spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides).

Growing Tillandsia does well in tropical temperatures, ranging from 32 to 10 degrees Celsius. However, this plant is very sensitive to frost, except the species Tillandsia usneoides which can survive temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius.

In fact, now many people have started growing the Tillandsia variety as an ornamental plant. The care and cultivation of Tillandsia, an air plant that is the target of ornamental plant collectors, is fairly easy.

Trends of Tillandsia ‘Jellyfish’

Recently, this aerial plant has been trending on Instagram. Because of this, someone came up with the idea to pair Tillandsia with sea urchin shells and hang them up like a jellyfish flying.

With specially created hashtags #urbanjungle and #plantgang, this houseplant is back in the limelight.

According to HouseBeautiful, the WaitroseGarden.com website, the annual sales of ornamental plants have increased by 33 percent.

In June, sales of aerial plants rose 14 percent per month at the site. Hanging jellyfish are so popular that everyone wants to have them at home.

Creating a haven of greenery has never been so on-trend.

How to grow air plants and how to take care them

The Tillandsia air plant is well known in several countries. As for how to grow air plants and how to take care for them, you can follow the following instructions:

• Take tillers or air plant seeds (Tillandsia), then place them in the planting medium. Planting media can be wood or stone. If you choose stone, you should take bricks that can absorb water. This is useful as a water reserve if at any time the temperature is hot, and forgets to water.
• Tillandsia air plants require water and minerals through foliage, not roots. Make sure to water it regularly and don’t let it dry. The reservoir should not be too wet, and the amount of water depends on the ambient air temperature.
• This plant needs sunlight. The higher the humidity, the higher the light required. The silvery-leaved varieties can usually grow in full sun.
• Importantly, plants in greenhouses exposed to full sun can cause Tillandsia air plants to dry out. Pay attention to the humidity and moisture content of this plant.
• In a very sunny place in the house, you can soak this plant once a week. Depending on which method is used, soak or spray the droplets daily.
• Watering Tillandsia is usually on the back or the tip of the leaf base. If you water too much, the water will stagnate and the plants will rot.
• If traveling for a month, do not soak these types of air plants. Place it outside in a cool, relatively shady place without watering. Tillandsia air plants can last for months without watering, provided this method is used.
• Do not water air plants with cold water that is below 10 degrees Celsius. This plant does not like moisture and water and cold temperatures for long periods of time.
• Tillandsia air plants have a very slow growth rate. Survival on minimal humidity and nutritional intake. The fertilizer used is in the form of liquid organic with the spray method.

Apart from being an ornamental plant, Tillandsia is also beneficial for the health of the body, you know. The traditional ingredients of this plant have been applied by several countries for hundreds of years.