Air Plant Terrarium: How to Take Care of an Air Plant

An Air Plant Terrarium is a unique way to provide a touch of green to any room, and by using a variety of various kinds of bases, you can truly make your terrarium stand out from the crowd! Frequently, we are asked how to exhibit air plants in terrariums, including what kind of bases to use and whether or not they need soil, among other things.

The elegant alternative of an air plant is a great choice if you’re searching for a simple method to bring life into your house. When it comes to air plants, one of the greatest things about them is their adaptability, which enables them to be utilized in a variety of ways to beautify your house. They look fantastic placed with rustic driftwood, but they also look excellent when combined with clean, basic lines if your personal taste is closer toward the contemporary.

Similarly, if you want to exhibit your air plant in a terrarium, you have a variety of options to choose from. The use of terrariums allows you to build a mini-ecosystem for your air plant and perhaps a complete tiny universe for it.

Air plant terrariums are available in a variety of forms and sizes, much like air plants themselves! Some are basic, containing just one or two air plants, while others are more sophisticated, including a tiny environment that has been carefully constructed within.

Choosing the Most Appropriate Air Plant Terrarium

For starters, choose the vessel for your terrarium: hanging or sitting glass globes, mason jars, broad glass bowls, glass pitchers, and metal framed geometric terrariums are all good options. When choosing a vessel for your terrarium, the following are the most important considerations to remember:

1. Air circulation: Make certain that your vessel provides for enough air circulation for the plants (we do not suggest using completely closed containers).

2. The quantity of light that your air plants get should not be restricted by the size of your terrarium. For this reason, transparent vessels such as glass are ideal. However, an opaque vessel may also be used so long as it has a wide enough aperture to ensure that the air plants are not placed in direct sunlight.

Thinking about where the best light is in your house will help you decide where to show your terrarium (hung on a wall or on a windowsill? ), your design style, and the plants you want to use in your terrarium will all help you choose the best choice for your terrarium. Remember that air plants, like all plants, will increase in size with time, and that the size of the aperture in the terrarium will help decide which plants will be able to fit inside it.

Another thing to consider when deciding where to put your terrarium is the particular requirements of your air plants. While the majority of air plants like indirect sunlight, there are some that need more direct sunlight. (Are you unsure which one you prefer? (Learn more about the differences between mesic and xeric air plants.)

Do you need some inspiration for your home’s interior design? If you like diversity, you may build a mixed terrarium with succulents and air plants with a range of textures to satisfy your need. Just make sure that your air plant is not planted in soil or allowed to sit in damp, since this may result in rot in the plant.

Some individuals like a more whimsical terrarium, and they may choose to include tiny people, vehicles, or dinosaurs among their plants to achieve this look. Construct an aquarium in the shape of the beach by filling it with sand, moss, shells from your family’s trip, and maybe a caput medusae air plant.

Change the fillers in your terrarium to correspond with the changing seasons. Natural materials may be used to create stunning seasonal arrangements that can be enjoyed all year round. Add some bright orange moss or pinecones to your terrarium for a festive look throughout the fall season.

The pinecones remain in the Air Plant Terrarium’s contents throughout the winter, but the moss is changed to a festive red color. In the spring or summer, you may decorate your terrarium with green moss and preserved flowers like craspedia (also known as billy balls). Alternatively, you may use delicate fairy lights to decorate your terrarium. In order to protect your air plants, be certain that the wiring for your fairy lights does not include copper.

Simple arrangements such as a single tiny xerographica or other air plant in a globe or bowl work well for a more minimalist approach to terrarium-making. Or put a few air plants inside of a metal framed geometric terrarium and hang it in your house. You may also put a terrarium on your coffee table or hang it in a group in your living room to make it more visually appealing.

Is Fertilizer Necessary for Air Plants?

Air plants, also known as Tillandsias, are low-maintenance members of the Bromeliad family that need little care. Air plants are epiphytes, which means that they attach themselves to the branches of trees or shrubs rather than to the earth under their feet. They get their nutrition from the wet, humid air that surrounds them in their natural environment.

While air plants need frequent misting or dousing with water when cultivated as houseplants, they do not necessitate the application of fertilizer. Which kind of air plant fertilizer is used while feeding air plants, if any, and how much is utilized?

Although it is not essential to fertilize air plants, there are certain advantages to providing them with nutrients. An air plant will only bloom once in its lifespan; after the blooming, it will produce “pups,” which are tiny offsets from the mother plant.

Feeding air plants promotes flowering and, as a result, reproduction of new offsets, which results in the creation of new plants. Air plant fertilizer may be either specialized for air plants or generalized for bromeliads, or it can be diluted household fertilizer.

To fertilize air plants using normal home plant fertilizer, use a water-soluble food at a concentration of one-fourth the recommended concentration. Use the same irrigation water to fertilize them at the same time as you water them, either by misting or soaking in water to dilute the fertilizer before applying it.

Water air plants once a month as part of their normal watering schedule to encourage healthy plants that will blossom, resulting in the production of more new plants.

What is the Best Way to Water an Air Plant?

There are three primary methods for maintaining the moisture level of your air plant. As soon as you are aware of all three options, you may choose which one is the most appropriate for your plant. This article will explain the procedures, and then you will be well on your way to growing healthy, happy Tillandsias of all varieties.

Upon purchasing Tillandsia, several people ask, “Can you overwater an air plant?”. The frequency with which you spray air plants is determined by the kind of plant, the circumstances, and the size of the plant, as well as the surrounding environment.

There are three primary methods for maintaining the moisture level of your air plant. As soon as you are aware of all three options, you may choose which one is the most appropriate for your plant. This post will explain how to spray air plants, as well as how frequently you should do it. Then you’ll be well on your way to having a healthy, happy Tillandsia of any kind on your hands.

What Happens if You Overwater an Air Plant?

Tillandsia, often known as air plants, are one of the most unusual types of vegetation that can be found on our planet. Because they extract water from the atmosphere and from passing storms, it is often believed that air plants do not need any water. This is nearly true in their original areas, but in their home environment, the ambient air is too dry, and there will be no unexpected storms passing by. Tillandsias need consistent hydration, but should not be overwatered, according to the USDA. We’ll go through a few ways of keeping your mounted air plants wet in this section.

Air plants are bromeliads that grow on other plants. They prefer to grow on logs, in cracks and crevasses, and even off living plants, but they are not parasitic. They are most often found in tropical forest environments, but a few may be found in more dry regions as well. Air plants need the same care as any other plant, including frequent watering, light, and food.

Due to the fact that they are in a soilless habitat, they are more difficult to care for than other houseplants. They are often mounted on something or placed inside a terrarium or glass bowl. The absence of a medium that can retain moisture and nutrients creates a quandary about how to keep them healthy.

Even though air plant misting is the most popular way of watering, it does not provide enough moisture to the plant’s roots and may create fungal problems on its leaves if the plant is not in a well-ventilated environment where the leaves dry fast. In very dry houses and regions, spraying air plants is the most effective method of increasing humidity.

The technique of watering your air plant will be determined by the type of installation you choose. There are three primary methods to water Tillandsia. The first step is misting, the second is rinsing, and the third is soaking. Now, clearly, the latter two methods will not work on a mounted specimen unless the mount is safe to be wet in the first place.

How frequently to spray air plants? Mist the plants 3 to 7 times a week in this case, depending on how dry the air in your house is and what time of year it is. Plants need more water in the summer, while they can survive on less water in the winter.

The plants must be removed from their mount and placed in a sieve to be properly washed before they can be returned to their mount. All components, including the leaves and roots, must be thoroughly wet.

Because it is more thorough, soaking the plant needs the plant to be removed from its display once again. Soak the plant for 5 hours once or twice a week, depending on how busy you are.

When Spraying Air Plants is the Most Beneficial

Although air plant misting is not the most efficient way of watering the plants, it is the most convenient since it enables you to deliver moisture in the environment where the plants are growing and thrive. Else, you will need to remove the wire that is holding the plant in place on the display and rinse or soak the plant to ensure that the roots get enough moisture.

In the winter, when water requirements are reduced, misting is an effective method of providing the plant with the bare minimum of water. Additionally, in summer when temperatures rise, a good water bath in the form of spraying can rejuvenate heat-stressed plants.

But if you want to keep your air plant in peak condition, misting will simply not be sufficient to provide adequate moisture. If you are mainly spraying your plant to provide it with moisture, you should soak or dunk it at least twice each month. This has the potential to offer the deep water input that the plant needs to survive in its aerial position.