The Bromeliad Plant And It’s Pups!

What’s a bromeliad you’re wondering?

Containing over 3,000 species, the Bromeliad family a.k.a the Bromeliaceae is highly popular amongst gardeners and flower enthusiasts due to the tropical vibe it exudes explaining why it’s also commonly referred to as the “tropical bromeliad plant”. Though they can be found in numerous countries and locations, Bromeliads are primarily native to the Neotropics within the Americas.

Visually, they are especially known for their long and overlapping colorful sword-like leaves that grow from a base formed as a cup. Though more often being used as exotic ornamental tropical house plants(explaining why they’re also known as the “bromeliad house plant”), many also prefer to have them grown outdoors for an addition with their garden border plants. Either way, the vast array bright colors, long thick foliage, and forms that this plant comes in are sure to provide a pleasant touch to any location.

Not only is there a strong visual appeal, the maintenance required when it comes to bromeliad plant care is surprisingly not that demanding since it is able to grow in many conditions and can flower beautifully with little sunlight also explaining why it is so popular amongst indoor ornamentals.

Quick Note: Bromeliad plant pictures are provided for your visual use. Feel free to click on them for further review!

Important and Interesting Bromeliad Plant Facts!

Bromeliad plant types are typically classified in three ways with correlation to their growing habits. These three classifications are labeled as saxicolous, epiphytic, and terrestrial:

Saxicolous bromeliads are called so due to being found to grow on rocks and have a remarkable ability to gather their necessary nutrients and moisture from the air using small specialized cells called trichomes thus explaining why the nickname “bromeliad air plant” is often used to describe this plant.

Epiphytic bromeliads are found to be grown on wild hosts such as trees without being parasitic or harmful to the host and draw moisture and nutrients from the atmosphere the same way saxicolous bromeliads do(fern plants are also epiphytic!). Being air plants that can self-feed, epiphytic and saxicolous bromeliads can be a convenient option for the person who is unable to tend their plants often.

Terrestrial bromeliads are grown from “land” as the name suggests and unlike saxicolous and epiphytic bromeliads, the terrestrial variety draws their vital nutrients from the soil using their roots rather than trichomes.

Before Deciding to Plant Bromeliad

First things first! Before planting, it’s important to select the right variety for your own environmental conditions. We always recommend getting in contact with your local agriculture office or nursery, especially to determine what varieties of bromeliads you should consider and the proper soil mixes for those varieties that promote good drainage and circulation which are essential for healthy bromeliad growth.

Though different varieties of bromeliads will require different environmental needs, here are three commonalities we found that can be beneficial to you to consider before you grow your plant(s):

1. The most commonly home grown bromeliads are native from tropical climates which are typically humid and shady so consider placing your indoor bromeliad in medium to bright light conditions. Perhaps next to a window.
2. Although bromeliads do prefer shade, a good rule of thumb for the location of your bromeliad is that if you know the leaves of your bromeliad variety are going to grow tough and leathery, then they can tolerate full sun. On the other end if they’re more flexible and delicate, full shade is recommended.
3. Mounting or potting the plant in dry bark or potting soil is highly recommended for stable root growth and preventing root rot.

Bromeliad House Plant Care

After you’re satisfied with your own planting strategy, it’s time to let the bromeliads settle in and flourish. Though knowing how to care for a bromeliad plant is not that demanding, there are some procedures you will want to be sure to do to maintain a healthy plant. Flowering seasons vary widely amongst different species however maintenance guidelines are usually similar such as:

• Make sure that the cup of the plant is well watered every other week and allow for them to completely dry out before watering them again. Don’t worry too much about the soil drying out because your bromeliad is drawing most of it’s nutrients from the plant’s cup and leaves. However, well-watered soil is recommended for more stable root growth.
• NEVER water with a metal container as bromeliads are highly sensitive to the compounds of metal.
• Continually make sure the plant is well drained to avoid root rot as well as making sure the plant has exposure to humid air flow.
• Fertilizing bromeliads is almost a non-necessity since bromeliads are not fast growing plants and fertilizer may do more harm than good. Rather a slow releasing plant food will be more than enough to keep the plant healthy. However, if you would prefer to use fertilizer, a half strength fertilizer on a once-a-month basis will be fine as well.

Bromeliad Pups!

Pups draw great attention when it comes to the bromeliad because of the plant’s relatively shorter life cycle. Some would even say that growing the pups to maturity is even more rewarding than growing the mother plant!

You will notice pups on your own bromeliad as the mother plant is in the last stages of flowering and turning brown. The pups will be found growing from the base and sides of the mother bromeliad. Typically, around five pups can be expected depending on the variety.

We recommend removing the pups to be grown on their own when they reach about one-third to one-half the size of their mother. However, you may decide to remove your own pups whenever you’d like depending on your own visual preferences. Just keep in mind that if you allow your pups to grow with the mother, they will grow to flower much quicker and if you choose to remove the pups, they will grow slower but produce a higher quantity of pups. Now here’s the simple procedure to follow if you decide to have the pups be grown on their own.

Separate the pup according to it’s location within the mother plant. If the pup is growing from the mother’s base, you can grab the pup by it’s own base and pull it away carefully. However, pups that grow within the leaves of the mother will require a sharp sterilized knife to be cut off with.

After having removed the pups, you may plant them with the same well-draining and loose organic material as you did with the mother plant and water well.

As you can tell, bromeliad pups require very similar growing conditions and maintenance as their mother such as keeping the cup and plant well moisturized with adequate drainage to prevent root rot. However, the only significant difference is that they are more sensitive to light so we recommend placing your plant in an indirectly lighted area.

Quick After Note: This wonderful cycle of bromeliad maturity and producing pups can repeat for several years if properly handled and can continually bring an exotic tropical theme to your home or garden.

We hope you’ve found good use in this article and enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it. If you’d like to give us feedback on your own experiences with bromeliads, have any questions you’d like to ask, or any other concerns, feel free to contact us using contact page.