Best products from r/airplants

Don’t feel bad - I was entirely incapable of keeping them alive (cue the less-caring-than-a-desert jokes from my husband :P) during my first several attempts. Even tho I’m pretty decent with plants in general (I think lol), I’ve only recently been able to maintain heathy/happy/thriving air plants with any consistency. I’ve been proud of keeping them happy more regularly than ever before over this past specifically, but I’m no expert.

Idk if this is blasphemy in this sub or not, but I find most air plants to be fairly fickle little dudes that can get unhappy from barely noticeable things. I had one die because I think a barely perceptible draft was hitting it the wrong way. They die if you give them water, when they seem like they need it really bad, sometimes. I had one rot from what appeared to be overwatering... before I ever even had the chance to water it. I also still have one that, no matter what I do, it never dries after watering in a remotely reasonable amount of time- I literally blow dried it on cool for half an hour last week. Several died early on because it looked like they’d gotten too much direct sunshine- but they were inside a room with shades on the windows. I’ve kept them all outside before but they seemed to struggle and become frail out there. One was randomly blown off my patio by the wind and I never found it again. I mean it’s really been a journey for me, even before this little dude in the photo ever existed!

My biggest pain in the butt adversary seems to be the humidity here. I also like to keep my house kinda cooler, which they really respond to and seem to like at night, but god forbid I forget to turn the ac down before I leave for work during the day. So, my air plants all usually seem either really happy or really confused (kinda like ‘where the hell are we!?’) lol.

I think it’s a lot of trial and error, and finding what works with that specific little air plant in the environment you live in, so your mileage may vary.

BUT, for me, this is what seems to work:

1- Buy them from good places. Only the ones I’ve ordered from growers in CA who specialize in air plants seem to thrive imo- the ones I’ve bought locally from Home Depot or wherever all had a shelf life of a few weeks or so. (The one in the photo is from Amazon but I’ve got other healthy ones for a couple of bucks and free shipping on Etsy.)

2- I keep them in sunny windowsills. Even though the light bulb terrarium and air plant holders nowadays are SUPER cute, air plants (in my experience) only really ever seem to thrive with LOTS of [surprise surprise] unimpeded air access. I only really put them in their cute lil homes/holders when people visit or I’m cleaning up the house.

3- I regularly flip them over every day or so. This way they don’t get flat on one side.

4- I rarely water them and have no luck with misting (they seem to rot easier with misting for me, but, again, its very humid where I live).

5- I bathe them very rarely and very quickly (I don’t leave them fully submerged in water- they can’t breathe like that)- once a month, maybe. I also put them on wire cookie racks out on my patio in the heat to dry them completely afterwards. I think an important part of keeping them happy is drying them fully within a reasonable amount of time and drying them as well as you possibly can.

6- I do use a fertilizer spray derived from sea kelp and made specifically for air plants. But, some people say not to do this because it’s easy to overdo. Again, ymmv.

I only fertilize them in summer when it’s super sunny out. I always only do one spritz, if any, and monthly at the most, usually when I water them.

I will say that fertilizer seems to be the ONLY thing that encourages them to blush and bloom, at least where I live [not a desert or dry zone].

6- If an air plant does have a budding little blossom, I stop watering it entirely and let it do its thing unless it looks like it’s definitely dying. Buds usually die before blooming if I water or mist the plant while they’re developing. And, if it doesn’t kill the bloom, it seems to at least slow down the flower’s growth pretty significantly.

7- If they start looking unhappy, I put them under this inexpensive lamp. They fucking love that thing. And it has championed many a comeback. BUT, it does look kinda weird science-y hooked up in my kitchen with all the air plants sprawled out underneath it.

Other than the above, I’m still figuring it out and learning how to keep them happy too. They seem to need a decent bit of continual maintenance and a hell of a lot of attention to detail. Especially if you’re trying to correct (sometimes inexplicable) issues they’re struggling with! But, ironically, they can also struggle directly because of TOO much attention/water/sunlight/air, lol. So, it’s a weird balance.

But, I really respect a picky plant. And, air plants are super rewarding if only because they’re so weird. One really cool blossom is worth every second of the trial and error. You gotta stay stubborn and experiment a little, but the whole process is kinda cool once they start poppin off and living their best life!!!

Hope this helps a little bit and best of luck! I’m sending good vibes to your air plant babies 🌱💜

EDITED for grammar/clarity and to say: I’ve only ever had really small air plants so larger/more mature ones may be a different ballgame, idk.

wattage is not really what you care about, it's PPFD aka micromols aka µmol m-2 s-1, which measures the amount of usable light that hits a surface at some distance. Based on my research, it seems like tillandsia will be happy with a number between 100 and 800. 400 would be a good target that should work well for most species.

If you only have a modest number of plants, something like this panel I randomly clicked on amazon would work, it says the PPFD is 300 at one foot away.

I think people really underestimate how bright even partial sunlight is, and overestimate how bright indoor lights are. Ordinary office lighting is around 1% of sunlight; tillandsia are fine at 50% sunlight.

Yeah a xerographica or a landbeckii could probably live in the shade if you hosed them daily. That's just a small detail though, they're pretty darn easy to care for indoors anyways. Btw You might want to look into getting one of these. In your area it's gonna be dry everywhere. It's basically a cool mist humidifier, and I just run it without any essential oils. I set it near where I keep my plants and just run it on the long cycle every now and then. It really helps keep the air humid in their area, and my plants seem to appreciate it.

I got this bluetooth thermometer+hygrometer, as it was relatively inexpensive (considering the benefits, $26 seems reasonable to me), and had better features than other wireless temp/humidity sensors on Amazon.

​

The graph shows the temp. and humidity for the past week. Some notable datapoints:

• The spike in humidity (to a whopping 87%!) on saturday was when I placed the sensor in my bathroom, after taking a shower
  
• The dip in humidity (to ~27%) was when I opened my screen door in the middle of a hot day. Since then, I have only opened by screen door at night, where temps and humidity tend to be lower and higher, respectively.
  
• Sometime on Monday, I placed containers of water near the air intake of my AC unit, and it seems to have had a good effect, raising the average humidity by around 10-15%. Not really discernable on the graph, but only running the AC unit's fan (with AC disabled) also noticeably improves humidity throughout the day, although mileage varies (sometimes it's just too hot and I can't resist AC 😅 )
  
  ​
  
  Anyway, hope someone finds this useful! May the tillandsia addiction continue to grow 👍

I have been using this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019IFWJO2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_41s7ybV2D6TK4
for about a month now and my air plants seem to love it. It's about 2 feet above them in my room. I try and keep my Bulbosa's and tropical species further off to the side, so it's not intense direct light they are receiving. While the more hardy desert-type species I can keep directly under the light, which has also had a great affect on the color. As well, I spray them all with a mister with water from my fish tank right before I turn on the lights each day. I soak once a week for 10-15 mins or dunk twice a week.

No affiliation, I found this book really helpful early on in the care process, strongly recommend it. Plus it's just a gorgeous book!

https://www.amazon.com/Air-Plants-Curious-World-Tillandsias/dp/1604694890

If that’s working for you so far, keep doing it! Here’s the light, they increased the price slightly: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NYDVF6V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_I.kADb6NNHM4P

Great customer service for that light as well. Not sponsored (haha), bought 8 of em and they work great.

They are!! Sure here you go!

Came with really complete instructions and they offer some really great discounts for anybody that adopts a pet from a local animal shelter so that’s pretty cool too!

Sure! It's an Exo Terra Monsoon Solo Misting System. I have it set to mist every 4 hours for 12 seconds. I just make sure I use distilled water so I don't clog it up. I got it on Amazon 😊

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LXQW8YQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549942289&sr=8-3&keywords=monsoon+misting+system&dpPl=1&dpID=41N43Jdsx2L&ref=plSrch

I have 2 of these and my orchids, succulents, pothos, sanseveria, bromeliads, coleus, Lily's, and 4 plants I forgot their names absolutely love it and keep growing like they're in the sun. The succulents are closer to the light and things like pothos can be around. It's a cheap light and has a timer for 4, 8, and 12 hours along with different brightness.


Every plant I have, was from the "about to be trashed because it's dying" pile. :(


Grow Light, HALUM Plant Grow Light 36W Cycle Timing with Red/Blue Spectrum, 8 Dimmable Levels Growing Lamp, Auto ON and Off with 4/8/12H Timer for Indoor Plants https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KYHRCNP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FpT3DbBZ09QJG

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-2-ft-2-Light-19-Watt-White-Full-Spectrum-LED-Non-Dimmable-Indoor-Linkable-Plant-Grow-Light-Fixture-Daylight-GLP24FS-19W-LED/302049784?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD27L%7C27-15_COMMERCIAL_%26_INDUSTRIAL%7CNA%7CLIA%7CCommercialLighting|71700000052687888|58700005047732060|92700044103983233&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqf7W9Krl5AIVDNVkCh0ohQEmEAUYAiABEgIyYfD_BwE


https://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-Grow-Light-Fixture-6400K/dp/B0751FBHGW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=sunblaster+2ft+led&qid=1574835155&sr=8-1

These are what I use two of each about 15hrs a day. I wouldn't order the second from amazon, the lights ate great but amazon messed it up twice when I tried ordering another. These have put my plants through flower and they all seem to love them.

Anything more you want to know?

I got this on amazon. It fits perfectly even on small windowsills. All I did was get some sand to fill it in and topped it off with some river rocks and used some sea shells for them to sit on top of. :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZNVSF3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0GD-zbJFDW09F

I've got bakers racks that are 4 feet wide and 18 inches deep. I've got two of these super cheap lights on the ceiling and three of them on the under side of every shelf. Some shelves have nursery flats on the whole shelf, so some have more light from the shelves above than others. Put them on with zip ties. They are super cheap and weigh nothing. They are on a timer I adjust every week to go off at sunset and come on at sunrise. This sits on a shelf, right on the rack in front. A couple inchs back, the wires are closer together, so it sits up higher. I moved it forward for the picture.

https://www.amazon.com/Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Ceiling-Electric/dp/B07FF3R16Z/ref=pd_bap_m_rp_3/141-8117329-1793101?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07FF3R16Z&pd_rd_r=3fb27e0e-6857-41c6-8b2e-bc851f822ea8&pd_rd_w=XgrQa&pd_rd_wg=QAlpF&pf_rd_p=4ca39f44-7150-4974-9724-ac932adec928&pf_rd_r=MECA13K52GMC1CTBMH77&psc=1&refRID=MECA13K52GMC1CTBMH77

Of course, right here for Canadian amazon and here for other 😊

I've been using this for a couple of months now. I give each plant two sprays once a week. I can't say that I've noticed any real benefit from it.

Air Plant Hub is also a very popular company around here (link the sidebar) that sells their own fertilizer. There might be a delay in shipping right now because they're moving nurseries or something but I'm betting it's worth the wait. As soon as the weather warms up in Chicago I plan on getting a big order from them and trying out their fertilizer.

I buy cute little animal planters from Amazon for my succulents, and if they don't have drainage holes then I use them for my air plants instead. I just got this bunny and it works really well for tall air plants!

Owner of two fluffy plant murderers myself. I got floating shelves on Amazon that I was able to put up near a window, but high and far enough away from potential launch points that they won't try to jump up. Of course this will depend on whether you want holes in the wall and the determination of your little one, but it's worked well for me so far!

The shelf is actually large enough to hold quite a few

https://imgur.com/gallery/tQOxs
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCZIWG6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KaeHzbDHS24BZ

What I'd say. Your air plants won't need more than 6-8 hours of "sun" so long as it's intense enough. The fluorescent lights won't throw enough photons at your plants; they're very bright but they're also so far away that your plants aren't truly absorbing any of the radiation they're throwing out. ("Radiation". All light is technically radiation, that's not an inherent negative.)

Buy this lamp. This isn't a good grow lamp, don't get me wrong, it'll have to be kept about 3-6" over your air plants. If you were to get something higher-wattage then you could put them higher up but you'd also have to deal with more light leaking out of your office or cubicle. This one will probably be easier on your eyes than the blurples that are very common too. This is just a very inexpensive entry point, it's not a lamp that you'd use for anything more than small air plants or succulents.

You can get them on Amazon Umbra Prisma Wall Decor (Set of 6) – Metal Wall Art/Modern Wall Decor - Converts from Table Top to Hanging Decor, Copper https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B010XGBLEE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_D-FYCb6ZSQHDG