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Anyone keep air plants ?
So...when it comes to plants I certainly don't have a green thumb. Its more of a black thumb, actually :(
Couple of years ago I decided, how hard can air plants be ?
Not that hard, really. I only managed to kill 3 or so, LOL
Was giving them their bi-weekly bath and decided to take some pictures..
Bathtime: important to have chlorine free water, so I let it sit for a couple of days before adding the plants..
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p1.jpg
Dry time: important to shake them out gently and let them dry out thoroughly, upside down, to make sure there is no water trapped within the leaves. They die from rott pretty easily (ask me how I know..)
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p2.jpg
and some fun pic once they are back in their containers:
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p9.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p7.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p6.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p3.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p8.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p4.jpg
This container and Octopus was designed and made by one of our own forum members :)
http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...s/large/p5.jpg
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Several years ago I attempted to keep a couple of smaller airplants alive, without much success (although they did last for a couple of months). Your posts about them are making me want to try again, though! I love your displays, and your bathroom is gooorgeooous. :bow:
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pengil
Several years ago I attempted to keep a couple of smaller airplants alive, without much success (although they did last for a couple of months). Your posts about them are making me want to try again, though! I love your displays, and your bathroom is gooorgeooous. :bow:
Thank you !! :)
They are actually not that hard at all, just a few basic rules. I find they can take prolonged dryness far better then a single time not being dried off correctly. Once rott sets in, its all over. That is how I lost 3 of them.
Now I only bath them every other week or so, in winter even less. Make sure water is chlorine free. I soak them for about an hour...
Then shake the water out of each one gently but thoroughly and dry them upside down for at least a couple of hours. You want to do all that early in the day, so they are dry at night.
Best to buy them "un mounted" so all that soaking and drying is easy. Then you just stick them back into their containers however you feel like. The mounted ones (like at Lowes, etc) are to difficult to water correctly.
I bought all my plants online, too ;)
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by zina10
Thank you !! :)
They are actually not that hard at all, just a few basic rules. I find they can take prolonged dryness far better then a single time not being dried off correctly. Once rott sets in, its all over. That is how I lost 3 of them.
Now I only bath them every other week or so, in winter even less. Make sure water is chlorine free. I soak them for about an hour...
Then shake the water out of each one gently but thoroughly and dry them upside down for at least a couple of hours. You want to do all that early in the day, so they are dry at night.
Best to buy them "un mounted" so all that soaking and drying is easy. Then you just stick them back into their containers however you feel like. The mounted ones (like at Lowes, etc) are to difficult to water correctly.
I bought all my plants online, too ;)
I think rot is how I ended up losing mine as well, but they had originally come "mounted" in little glass spheres, so who knows how much damage unmounted them did as well- and like you said, it's impossible to water them properly when they're glued down to something too.
Thank you! This is by far the most thorough explanation of how to care for airplants I've ever seen- most of the labels just tell you to mist occasionally, but don't tell you anything about keeping the water chlorine free or drying them upside down. Now I can't look at a wall or bit of counter space without beginning to plan for how I could incorporate some airplants. :D
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pengil
I think rot is how I ended up losing mine as well, but they had originally come "mounted" in little glass spheres, so who knows how much damage unmounted them did as well- and like you said, it's impossible to water them properly when they're glued down to something too.
Thank you! This is by far the most thorough explanation of how to care for airplants I've ever seen- most of the labels just tell you to mist occasionally, but don't tell you anything about keeping the water chlorine free or drying them upside down. Now I can't look at a wall or bit of counter space without beginning to plan for how I could incorporate some airplants. :D
You can get really creative with them! Have fun with it :)
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Nothing nearly as spectacular as your group but I've had one sitting on my desk for a couple years now. I think it's alive - looks the same as the ones out in the trees. I've never soaked it or anything though so it might be dead, haha. I do blow the dust off it every few months.
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by John1982
Nothing nearly as spectacular as your group but I've had one sitting on my desk for a couple years now. I think it's alive - looks the same as the ones out in the trees. I've never soaked it or anything though so it might be dead, haha. I do blow the dust off it every few months.
Oh gosh, the poor baby, LOL
Maybe its in hibernation now ?
Maybe its a fake one. I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and was blown away how REAL those fake ones looked. You could always give it some water , let it dry well, and see if it "wakes up" ;)
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
I took my daughter to the New York Botanical Gardens this weekend for their Orchid Show (AP Biology project).
If you ever are in the vicinity of NYC you should check it out. They have an beautiful assortment of air plants (and they are right next to the Bronx Zoo).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-L-KzVWW9.jpeg
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
so pretty! i wanna get into this and succulents. the pet shop next door sells them for reptile enclosure and vivarium/terrarium decor (i guess b/c it's in the reptile section).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/H8RyQwG.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by zina10
Was giving them their bi-weekly bath and decided to take some pictures..
so is bi-weekly like A) twice a week or B) every other week/every 2 weeks?
Quote:
Originally Posted by zina10
PiesLover79? i love her arts and craft!
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by zina10
Oh gosh, the poor baby, LOL
Maybe its in hibernation now ?
Maybe its a fake one. I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and was blown away how REAL those fake ones looked. You could always give it some water , let it dry well, and see if it "wakes up" ;)
They'll get blown down from the trees when we get high winds and rain. Picked this one up in my yard. Not fake but maybe it was already dead when I brought it inside - hence the no change with 0 care, haha.
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by larryd23
I took my daughter to the New York Botanical Gardens this weekend for their Orchid Show (AP Biology project).
If you ever are in the vicinity of NYC you should check it out. They have an beautiful assortment of air plants (and they are right next to the Bronx Zoo).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-L-KzVWW9.jpeg
That is amazing !!! I would love to see it. And go to the zoo. I need a vacation !!
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by John1982
They'll get blown down from the trees when we get high winds and rain. Picked this one up in my yard. Not fake but maybe it was already dead when I brought it inside - hence the no change with 0 care, haha.
It may hang on to a shred of life due to humidity, LOL.
You could always just throw it in some water for an hour and dry it upside down for another. Who knows, it may come back! LOL
I wish we had them hanging on trees, too.
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Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ax01
so pretty! i wanna get into this and succulents.
I’ve got a bunch of succulents in my office, with a couple that have colonized another cubicle. [emoji4] They’re pretty easy, mine get watered once a week, occasionally every other week. They’ve mostly come from the local big-box store.
This is my main colony, on a modified Ikea shelf with an LED aquarium light on a timer (the black thing along the edge of the upper shelf is the light hood, keeping glare out of my eyes).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...094d16867b.jpg
And my windowsill group (yes, there is one deceased in the right-hand window, but the farthest left pot is still hanging on).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45e02d72fe.jpg
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ax01
so pretty! i wanna get into this and succulents. the pet shop next door sells them for reptile enclosure and vivarium/terrarium decor (i guess b/c it's in the reptile section).
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/H8RyQwG.jpg
so is bi-weekly like A) twice a week or B) every other week/every 2 weeks?
PiesLover79? i love her arts and craft!
Oops, I missed your post ;)
I sort of go by the plants, you can tell if they start being dry, they curl more. But I learned the hard way that to much watering is far worse then to little. I used to soak them once the week, now I do it once every 2 weeks or so. In winter I even waited 3 weeks in between. They were fine. The drying is the most important part. Well, and it helps to have chlorine free water.
I just leave my water standing in the tub for a day or two before soaking the plants, our water plant uses chlorine so it dissipates after a few hours.
Make sure you soak in the early part of the day, so they can dry completely before night time. Always shake them out well but gently, and dry them upside down for at least 2 hours or so. Then shake one more time gently and put them back up.
They need good light, but not direct sunlight to where they heat up like crazy. Artificial light is just fine, too.
They are really fun because you can be so creative with them. :)
Yes, pied lover made this container for me, I love it !!!
edited to say, I would not buy any "mounted" ones, unless its a mounting that can be unhooked. The ones that are glued to something are harder to take care off. You can't really soak them well, all you can do is mist them, and then you cannot dry them upside down.
Sure, they grow attached to all kinds of things "in the wild" and don't get to dry upside down. But out there you have different conditions then in a home. They grow in a way that simply works for the location they are in. There are also factors such as wind etc to help dry them. In a house you always want to make sure they get a good soak and a better dry ;)
Other then that, its so easy. They have gorgeous blooms if you get them to bloom. Then they have many "pups" that grow along the adult plant. The adult plant finally dies, but its at a point where the pups are big enough to simply have taken the place of the parent plant.
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Re: Anyone keep air plants ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prognathodon
I’ve got a bunch of succulents in my office, with a couple that have colonized another cubicle. [emoji4] They’re pretty easy, mine get watered once a week, occasionally every other week. They’ve mostly come from the local big-box store.
This is my main colony, on a modified Ikea shelf with an LED aquarium light on a timer (the black thing along the edge of the upper shelf is the light hood, keeping glare out of my eyes).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...094d16867b.jpg
And my windowsill group (yes, there is one deceased in the right-hand window, but the farthest left pot is still hanging on).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45e02d72fe.jpg
Beautiful :)
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