Jellyfish air plant is a quite handy addition to your garden if you like to spice up your house plant collection. It is made from a real air plant called tillandsia.
Interestingly, sea urchin shells act as a pot to these air plants and you could spot them being hung upside down on a loop and a clear line. That is what creates the illusion of jellyfish.
They are a mix of both horticulture and art and would add so much grace no matter where you place them.
If you are interested in learning more on air plants, I would recommend you continue reading this article.
What is an air plant?
They are a variety of Epiphytes. That means they are not dependent on soil for their survival.
Tillandsias is another name for them and they belong to Bromeliaceae family.
You could spot air plants commonly in jungles, mountain tops and in deserts particularly in countries such as central America, South America, Mexico. Apart from that you could spot them grown in North America as well.
Air plants are not parasitic and rely on their host to support them for their stability. They gain the nutrition from the air moisture and dirt fibers available in the air.
Air plants’ roots mainly act as the link mode to the supporting subject. You could easily maintain them too.
You only need to make sure that you water them frequently and allow them to have a healthy air circulation around those plants.
In addition to them you need to expose the air plants for filtered air as well.
You could consider immersing your plants once every week for about 20 minutes. Alternatively, you could mist them two – three times per week.
Further I would recommend you water them in the morning. Refrain from exposing your plants for direct sunlight for prolonged periods.
Ideally, they would prefer to grow in filtered or indirect sunlight. You could spot these air plants producing flowers which could happen just once in their lifespan.
However, they could form pups and offspring during this period. Air plants pups would usually stay enclosed to the parent plant.
However, if you wish you could segregate them whilst simply twisting them or pulling them away from the plant base.
In case the pups stay enclosed, they will merely eliminate the mother plant leaves once they are about to perish. That will make the pups spread faster until they fill the bare area.
You may grow air plants above any surface. You could consider adding them to driftwood, picture frames, seashells or to any kind of pottery as well.
However, when you do this, refrain from placing them near copper objects or copper cables as chances are that it could harm your air plants.
Where does jellyfish Air plant come from?
Jellyfish air plants are native to South and Central America, and some air plants can even be found in the southern United States.
Apart from that they are known for their vast distribution range. They can be found in tropical rainforests, high elevation, rock dwelling, and swamps. Also, they can be found on rocks , roofs and even in telephone wires.
How to hang jellyfish air plant?
First get ready with the following materials.
- 3 Sea Urchin Shells, 3-4″ across
- 3 Live Air Plants
- Hanging Twine
- Air Plant Food
Step 01 – Gather all your materials in a working desk.
Step 02 – Tie a loop knot in the twine depending on the expected length you wish to have it. This is the time you need to decide where you are going to place them. Depending on the location you place them, you need to adjust the length of the twine.
Step 03 – insert the twine in the seashell and keep the air plant enclosed to the loop. They would perfectly fit in the loop as they are too small and light in weight.
Step 04 – After that, you may spray the plant with air plant food. You could spray water as well. Make sure that you keep your plants in moisture. Unless it will wither and perish.
Step 05– Next, you may continue doing the second and the third steps for the other two shells. Consider that you want them at two different lengths, then you need to adjust the twine lengths so that you will get both longer and shorter options to hang them.
Step 06 – As the next step, you may insert the air plants. You have the option of either hanging them or flipping them. Depending on your wish, you could either hang them like jelly fish or keep them as desk or countertop decorations.
Step 07 – Make sure that they are moist. Ideally you could spray air plant food or with water.
Step 08 – Locate them in your desired place and you are done.
Jellyfish air plant care
In terms of caring for the Jellyfish air plants, it is crucial to locate them in a place where they can gain bright and indirect sunlight.
In addition to that you need to provide them a humid environment also for them to thrive well. You could consider growing them in a bright bathroom or even in a steamy kitchen.
I would encourage you to mist them with water one or two times per week. That would be adequate for them to fulfil their water requirement.
Don’t forget to get rid of excess water as these plants are not fond of over watering at any given point of time.
Do not let them strand in water for prolonged periods. I would suggest you use rainwater, particularly if you consider a hard water area. Refrain from using water softener.
Are air plants Hardy?
Air plants are hardy plants. As such you could easily maintain them. You may consider growing them even if you are fresher in gardening.
Having said that, you should be vigilant to not to expose these plants to any temperatures which are colder than 45 degrees.
Those conditions would be lethal on them. If you are someone who lives in zone 9, you may consider growing them outdoors.
How often should I mist my air plant?
To answer the question, misting them 1-2 times weekly would be enough. It could change depending on the humidity in the air and on the season as well.
For example, you need to water the air plants in summer more when compared to winter. Apart from misting you could rinse them or even soak them with water as well.
You could select one of these methods depending on the way you have installed the plant.
Having said that it is the easiest way of providing moisture to the plant as you could do that without disturbing their set up. If you are using any other method, you will have to remove them and do the needful.
If you are going through winter, you could try misting these plants as that would be adequate to fulfil their water requirement during winter.
On the other hand, you could consider rinsing them or soaking them. If you end up misting your plants in summer, it will badly affect the plant health as it will not be adequate to fulfil the watering requirement of them during summer.
Instead, you could rinse or soak your plants a couple of times monthly.
How long do air plants live?
It will vary on the air plant variety and on the growth environment as well. However, if you consider a single air plant, their life span could go up to many years.
Usually, the germination of many air plants would take several months. In addition to that, it would take another 3-5 years for the rest of other growth to take place.
In terms of flowering, they would bloom only once in their whole life span.
If you spot any blooming in an air plant, that indicates that your plant is at the peak of their life.
When their flowers slowly fade and wilted, that is a sign that they are not going to live any longer. However, air plants are special since they will be producing either offsets or pups before they perish.
Further those offsets and pups will be growing at the same growth pattern as their mother plant.
How Fast Do Air Plants Grow? / Do air plants grow bigger?
Generally, Air plants grow at a slow rate. You may probably get disheartened to spot them growing at a slower rate than you expect.
It would take several years for some air plants to mature and to start blooming. As such, have patience when you are growing them indoors.
In addition to that, air plants would grow at different growth rates depending on the way you grow them.
For example, if you have grown them through offset from propagation, it would grow at a different rate than the seed grown air plant. Generally, seedlings tend to show a slow growth rate.
Literally they would grow from just one inch in the first two years. However, they grow rapidly once they become larger in size.
On the other hand, even though they are slow growing, they would come up as a bigger and vigorous set of plants when compared to air plants grown from offsets.
If you grow air plants from offsets, they usually tend to show rapid growth. Apart from that their flowering will also take place within the first few years as well.
They will continue the usual growth cycle and will be producing offsets individually.
Do air plants need a container?
You could grow air plants in ordinary pots. Having said that they could fit in any other planters due to their minimum moisture requirement and due to their tiny size.
If you have a larger air plant, you may grow them in a common fish bowl which you could easily find at any home.
You may add some white gravel and some seashells which would make them look like living on a beach.
On the other hand, if you own a Tillandsia, best is to grow them in a free flowering planter as that will allow them to drape and cling to their setting.
Further if you wish you may even place them in a terrarium as well. In addition to that, you could grow them in glass containers too.
However, those glass containers need to have holes in the sides though. Alternatively, it could also have a large top opening too.
Conclusion
Before winding this up, I hope you are now aware how adorable jellyfish air plant could be. They would look like pets more than plants in fact.
They are eye-catching and an interesting set of plants. Jellyfish air plant is easy to grow and would add so much grace to wherever you place them.
However, keep in mind how you need to care for them properly as that would help them to flourish.
Finally, I am sure that this article was useful for you to select a proper container to grow jellyfish air plant. hurry up and get this interesting experience in growing the air plants.
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