The Bromeliad Plant

A bromeliad leaves form a narrow tube and flower only once but the flower will remain on the plant for three to six months.
When flowering is over, the bromeliad will form new shoots that, in ideal conditions, can flower once more. Once the shoots are big enough, the original mother plant will die back.
The bromeliad needs to be provided with warm temperatures, bright light and average to above average humidity levels. If you can supply these conditions your plant will be  easy to care for and maintain.

Temperature:

Temperatures of 18-27ºC are best suited. Avoid lower than 13ºC.

 

 Light:

A lover of bright light. A combination of some sun and shade provided throughout the day is advised or filtered sun.

Watering:

Fill the center vase with water - using distilled or rain-sourced water and change it every four to six weeks. The soil needs to be kept slightly moist but not soaked.

 

Soil:
A well draining and loose soil mixture is suitable. 1 part peat, 1 part bark and 1 part coarse sand or perlite is one mix which can be used.

Re-potting:
You will only need to re-pot if the container used is no longer large enough. It's worth renewing the soil once a year, but if the soil mix has nutrients added to it - do not feed for the next month or two.

Fertilizer:

This bromeliad does not need a lot of feeding. Once a month you can add a diluted liquid fertilizer (half the recommended strength on the instructions) to your misting bottle. Over feeding can cause leaf color loss.

Humidity:

Providing average to above average humidity is advisable. To improve levels during summer or when artificial heating is used, you can mist the leaves, or provide a humidity tray for the plant and it's container to sit on. If you notice the leaves turning brown and dry this could be caused by dry air (lack of humidity).

Propagation:

Once the plant has flowered the mother plant will begin to die and produce pups - rather than grow it's leaves any further. These offsets are removed and used to create new plants by cutting them off as close to the main plant as possible, usually when they begin to grow roots or they're about a third of the size of the mother plant.