air plant and jewel orchid - Page 2 - Orchid Board

Vanda lover · #11 04-10-2011, 05:03 PM

That jewel orchid really does look happy, and so does the air plant!

scy · #12 04-13-2011, 06:49 PM

My aunt just gave me an air plant but I have no idea what to do with it. What tips can you give on how to properly care for it and have it bloom one day? Mine feels kind of stiff and definitely not as vibrant as yours! Beautiful pictures of your air plant & jewel orchid! My aunt said that I should mist them twice a week.

fishmommy · #13 04-13-2011, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scy

My aunt just gave me an air plant but I have no idea what to do with it. What tips can you give on how to properly care for it and have it bloom one day? Mine feels kind of stiff and definitely not as vibrant as yours! Beautiful pictures of your air plant & jewel orchid! My aunt said that I should mist them twice a week.

They like bright cool light (I have mine about 8 inches away from a 4x 55w CF fixture) not enough light and it won't bloom. Too much light (like HPS or direct sunlight) and it will burn at the tips. So once you have the light requirement met, you need to keep up with its humidity needs. I keep mine in a terrarium with constant 70% humidity. At that humidity, I just mist every other day and it's fine. If you kept it in a lower humidity environment you would probably need to soak it every other day. It should look filled out and quickly turn green when wetted. It's also sensitive to mineral contamination and chlorine or other chemicals. I use DI water or distilled, mixed with Dyna-Gro fertilizer at 1/4 tsp per gallon.

There are many many kinds of air plants, all kinds of crazy shapes and blooming colors. I just took pictures of mine and shall upload them tonite.

scy · #14 04-13-2011, 07:11 PM

Hmm... Bright cool light as in the same amount of light as a cymbidium, dendrobium or phal? I have low humidity, so how can I tell if it's getting too much water? I do plan on dunking it in water in the morning so it can dry out by evening. Thanks for the advice!

fishmommy · #15 04-13-2011, 09:13 PM

I'd say more light than a phal.
You really can't over water them if they are mounted without any moss.
When I mist, I totally soak every surface.
Here is a pic of the same plant today - it's blooming on the left hand side.

here's a pic of another one I have - it's about 18" across and I'm trying to force it to bloom right now for the first time.