How to care for air plants

We've had numerous conversations with customers who are under the impression that air plants simply "live off the air".

Wouldn't it be ideal if this were true?! There's good news and bad news. The good news is that the statement above isn't entirely false. The bad news is that you do need to care for your air plants in order to see them thrive.

Here's what you need to know.

Light. Air plants require a decent amount of light. This is notoriously tricky to communicate, but we won't just tell you "bright, indirect light" and let you figure it out! Air plants need to see the sky, ideally from an East or West facing window (we're in the UK). An East facing window gets sun in the morning and a West facing window gets sun in the afternoon. This little bit of direct sun on your air plant is great because it's not too strong and is unlikely to fry it to a crisp! A South facing window gets sun all day and can be too intense for an air plants. If this is the spot you want to keep your air plant then we'd suggest placing it around 1m back from the window. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it makes a huge difference to a plant.

Water. No soil - no roots - no water - right? Not quite. Air plants take their water and nutrients in through their leaves. Since they don't need soil and don't take water up through their roots like other houseplants, we need to ensure they get enough by spraying them. Rainwater if you've got it is best for loads of reasons; it's chemical free, it's actually free and it's sustainable. Tap water is also is fine if that's what you've got, you can leave it out over night and any chlorine will evaporate. How often to spray? In the warmer months, we'd suggest daily. Over the winter this can be reduced to a few times a week. Soaking your air plants is a good way to water too. Leave them to soak in water for around half an hour once a week and dry them upside down so that water doesn't pool in the centre of the plant. You can add a little fertiliser to the water too to give them a boost.

An air plant will flower at some point, but with so many varieties with varying time frames it's hard to know when. Once the flower has finished, the plant will produce offsets or pups which will grow into new plants.

Continue to care for them in the same way and they will continue to reward you!