Novice gardener reckon for a tropical foliose , hardy , low - maintenance plant to grow in a hang basket should try bromeliads . Bromeliads go to the family of Bromeliaceae , with approximately 2400 species that are native to the tropical region of the Americas . In fact , the Ananas comosus is a species of bromeliad . Bromeliads come in all shapes , sizes , colors , with thorny spines and without . Because their root system are small-scale , they make ideal plants for a hanging basket . Bromeliads flower are just as varied , with some grandiloquent and spectacular and other scantily noticeable .
Step 1
Select a hanging basket that is great enough to domiciliate the picky sized bromeliad you are plant . An average sized bromeliad with six- to eight - inch - long leave will grow best in a hanging basketball hoop that is about 30 in in diameter . Be sure to select a hang basketball hoop that has drain holes in the bottom luck .
Step 2
dispatch the hangers from the hanging basket , if potential . It will make situating the bromeliad in the handbasket easier and you will not tear their leaves .
Step 3
Fill the hanging handbasket 2/3 full of a low-cal pot medium such as an orchid mixing . Orchid mixture drains chop-chop and allows the bromeliads ' root system to receive required air circulation .
Step 4
fix the bromeliad into the center of the hanging basket . Fill the remainder of the hanging basketful with orchid mixture , holding the plant upright with one hand if it tries to come down over . Pack the orchidaceous plant conflate down around the base of the works ’s solution until the bromeliad can stand upright on its own . Replace the hoop ’s hangers .
Step 5
irrigate the bromeliad well , being indisputable to permit the urine to run over the leaves and inside its cardinal cup . The central cup , or little potato of the bromeliad , is where it take in water and nutrients , not through its etymon . Water the bromeliad once every workweek to two weeks .
Tip
study the colour of the bromeliad ’s leaves when determine where to advert it . topographic point bromeliads with duncish , gray to grayish green leaves in a eminent light area . They will tolerate fond Sunday put outdoors , or the light from a sunny door or window if post inwardly . Varieties with thin , almost flexible unripe leaves should grow in scummy light conditions . Fertilize bromeliads with a 10 - 10 - 10 water - soluble fertilizer once every calendar month or two . Pour the plant food over the root word system of rules and not onto the plant , so it does not stack into the cupful or rosette . It can combust newly develop leave . Spray the bromeliad several time a calendar week with water to increase humidity , if grown indoors . Bromeliads are tropical plants that require humidity to perform best . habituate bromeliad bloom as thinned flowers , as they will last up to three weeks . Bromeliads are drouth - tolerant and will waste and die if watered too much .
