| My husband just got me an orchid/bromeliad for valentines day. The soil is dry and I want to water it, but I don't know if I'm supposed to water the soil or put the water through the bromeliad like my mother-in-law suggested. I've never had an orchid before and she has (though she had the add ice version and I don't). Please help me. I don't want to kill it by watering it too much or too little. |
| If your plant has a cup in the center it's a bromeliad rather than an orchid and the care is slightly different for a bromeliad than for an orchid so we'll concentrate on the general care of a bromeliad. Bromeliads are popular houseplants because of their striking flower heads. The plants develop a rosette of leathery, strap-like foliage, forming a cup in the center of the plant. This cup is where you apply water. Bromeliads take several years to reach flowering stage, and once the flower head dies, the plant dies, too. Before it does, though, it produces little offsets which can be removed from the parent plant and planted on their own. General care of Bromeliads includes: average household temperatures (with 75F degrees or higher when the flower stalk begins to grow), bright light but not direct sunlight, precise watering, and frequent misting of the leaves (use diluted liquid fertilizer instead of plain water in the sprayer). Bromeliads grow in regular potting soil. Water by filling the cup once every 1-2 months. Apply water to the potting mix only when it dries out. There are some Bromeliads that do not form a cup at the center of the plant. The care is the same, except you apply water to the potting soil rather than to the center of the plant. Enjoy your new bromeliad! |
