Bromeliads need minimal care to grow well indoors

Bromeliads need minimal care to grow well indoors

Question: How can I grow bromeliads in an air-conditioned apartment? I have a large pot of them, but little by little, they are dying.

Answer: Move the container of bromeliads away from the air-conditioned breezes and to a bright location but out of direct sun. If the plants have central cups of foliage, keep them full of water. Also, try to raise the humidity a little near the plants by setting the containers on a tray of moist pebbles. Otherwise, bromeliads need minimal care.

Touch the soil in the container, and when it feels dry, it's time to water. Moisten the soil until water begins to run from the bottom. You can just about skip feedings in the home. Once or twice a year, mix a 20-20-20 or similar product at a quarter of the normal strength. Use it at a watering and allow just a little to enter the central cups as you also wet the soil with the solution.

~ Terrarium gardening ~

Terraniums are an easy, no maintenance container garden that you can plant and enjoy for many years.

Today, plants can be grown in the same manner using any suitable glass container such as a fish tank or small-faceted glass case to create a terrarium garden. Terraniums are an easy, no-maintenance container garden that you can plant and enjoy for many years.

Plastic containers generally do not work as well as glass containers. If your container has a top, water droplets need to condense on the roof of the container and run down the sides to water the plants. If you do choose a fish tank you can tilt the cover of the tank so that the water will run down the sides and not drip directly on the plantings.

You can use the top of glass lamps, wide interesting liquor bottles make interesting containers as well. Containers can be placed upright or even on their sides if the bottle is stable and will not roll. The shape of the container is up to you and there is a wide variety of plants that are suitable to bottle gardens.


CHOOSING SUITABLE PLANTS

Look for plants that are slow growing with rather small leaves when choosing plantings for your bottle garden. The crassulas, ficus pumila and fittonias all look beautiful in container gardens. Many small foliage plants thrive in the warm stable atmosphere that terrariums offer. Look for varieties of ferns, ivies, bromeliads and plants in the dracaenas family. Although most flowering plants tend to be too large for most terrarium gardens, African violets tend to stay compact. Flowering begonias also make a beautiful terrarium planting. Moss is another nice addition.


Consider using a ventilated container for arranging a collection of cacti. Cacti can thrive in draught conditions as long as the glass is clear and not a dark tint.


PLANTING A TERRARIUM

The only tools you need in creating a terrarium are plants, a glass container, small rocks, soil and crumbled charcoal. Adding a layer of crumbled charcoal will help keep your garden fresh over a long period of time.


First add a layer of small river pebbles sized in proportion to the size of your container. Then add the soil and charcoal mixture. If your container has a very small opening you may need to tape chop sticks to a spoon or fork to use the longer handled utinsels for gardening tools. After you have planted the garden you can add moss, pieces of bark, pottery or other objects of interest to create a miniature landscape. Remember your plants will grow larger and you do not want your garden to look over planted. You may need to clip back the plantings once in a while if they are growing too fast or replant them as necessary.


Bottle gardens look great on a shelf or table and should not be placed in direct sunlight for long periods of time. The sunlight can evaporate the moisture the plants need and the glass will mist over.