Did you come across a pineapple - alike tropic houseplant with a big , colorful flower in the center at your local supermarket or baby’s room ? Or maybe you were give one ? chance are it ’s a Guzmania bromeliad , a plant that yield off all the island vibe and is highly sought after for its awe-inspiring blooms . But … now what ? How do you verify your brand new plant thrives ?
Although bromeliads like Guzmania occur with some special care guidelines , they ’re not difficult to keep alive at all once you ’ve got the hang of them . Here ’s how you could easily care for your bromeliad !
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About Guzmania
Description
I love talking about oddball houseplants , and bromeliads definitely fit the beak . They ’re delightfully eldritch ! The genus Guzmania is no exclusion . It belongs to the subfamily Tillandsioideae , a name you may recognize — these bromeliads are closely related toair flora . In fact , they ’re sometimes referred to as the “ tufted air plant ” !
you’re able to discern a Guzmania by its material body . These plant do n’t have stems or normal leaf . Instead , they consist of a type of stretch modify foliage called bract , which sprout like a fountain from a cardinal point . In the midsection is a reservoir that holds water , which may look like a formula for a rotting plant but is in reality essential to the bromeliad ’s growth . It ’s unremarkably call a cupful or vase .
The Guzmanias you ’ll find for cut-rate sale will usually be in bloom , having spud a colourful ( cherry-red , pink , yellow , orangish ) inflorescence . The appearance of this extremely long - live on flush varies by specie . In some , it looks just like a colorful , modest copy of the original industrial plant , while in others , it may resemble a pinecone .
In the wild , like many other bromeliad metal money , Guzmanias are epiphytes . This means they do n’t course farm in soil , but instead apply other plants — mostly trees — as support . They ’re non - parasitical , using their hosts only for support rather than stealing nutrients from them .
Natural habitat
Guzmania bromeliads are by nature found from as far north as Florida to as far to the south as Brazil . In their natural kitchen range , these plants inhabit moist and shaded rain forest habitat , which range from tropical to comparatively cool in terms of temperature .
The genus is n’t crabbed about ALT ; it pops up anywhere between ocean storey to seriously high-pitched heap ranges ( 11,000 + feet acme ) .
Did you know?
Of the 200 + recognized appendage of the genus Guzmania , many are regrettably list as Vulnerable , Endangered , or even Critically Endangered by theIUCN Red List .
Guzmania varieties
By far the most popular Guzmania bromeliad to sold as a houseplant is call Guzmania lingulata . Commonly known as the scarlet virtuoso , this species looks like a typical Guzmania : a stem canker of up to 18 - in long strappy leaves and a water artificial lake in the eye . The flower is indeed red to orange , glossy , and kind of resembles a great mullein .
The other metal money you ’re most likely to come across for sale are :
But wait ! The compass of Guzmania varieties you may find for sale at your local plant shop or garden essence does n’t end here . This has been a pop houseplant for a long time , mean baby’s room have had plenty of time to modernize different cultivars ( diverseness of plants , often hybrids , engender selectively to emphasize a certain trait ) .
The most rough-cut cultivar in most plants is a variegated one , and this is no elision . Guzmania ‘ Variegata ’ can be recognized by the cream stripes on its green leaf .
Here are a few of the other popular Guzmania cultivars and what sets them aside :
where to buy
Caring for Guzmania
Light and temperature
When trying to figure out the ideal placement for a plant in your abode , it ’s always helpful to keep its natural means of uprise in mind . In this fount , consider that Guzmania bromeliads produce on other tree in the rain forest . They ’re used to receiving plenty of lighter , but lineal sun is filtered out by the canopies of taller trees .
So , your good bet is to place your bromeliad on a overnice and bright windowsill , but not one that invite harsh afternoon light . This species is reasonably tolerant to low promiscuous conditions , but there ’s a higher hazard of molder and your plant may not bring off to bloom if it ’s preserve in the dark .
As for temperature , these bromeliads are in reality quite adaptable . After all , some are found in live and humid jungle environment , while others develop in cool cloud forests . In fact , even Guzmanias of the same species may expand in a wide cooking stove of temperature !
As a convention of ovolo , it ’s best to avoid peril your plant to temporary below 60 ° degree Fahrenheit . Place it away from A / C unit or drafty window . If you sense comfortable in your home , then the same lend oneself to your plant .
Soil and planting
Pay attention here ! As I mentioned earlier , Guzmanias are epiphytic plant . They ’ve evolve to turn on trees rather than in the soil . Their root are n’t accommodate to being in regular potting soil and are prone to rot ; they function as anchors , not to absorb water and nutrient .
Like other epiphytes , notably orchidaceous plant , bromeliads like a nice and aeriform filth mixture that does n’t pop off their base . In fact , you may actually use orchid soil for your Guzmania . It unremarkably consists of fine barque chips , mean there are lots of air pockets and moisture waste pipe speedily enough to foreclose any offspring .
Although pure orchid barque should work , I like to up my biz a bit and also bring a fiddling sphagnum moss . The type of plantation owner does n’t really matter as long as there ’s a drain pickle in the bottom .
And by the way of life , you’re able to actually look at foregoing the soil entirely . If you ’d like to see a Guzmania spring up as it naturally would , you could mount yours on a tree diagram branch or log ! It ’s easy : just loosely pack some sphagnum around the roots and secure the plant with fishing wire until its beginning have taken hold .
commend products for Guzmania bromeliad plant precaution :
Water and humidity
Okay , so we ’ve established that epiphytes have some particular soil requirements . As you may imagine , the same go for watering , because their source are adapted to life in the trees rather than in the substrate . So how does that work ?
Well , the interesting thing is that there are two ways to water a Guzmania . It ’s really the subject of a lot of heated debate in the houseplant world , with some saying that you should n’t wet the soil at all and others stating that these plantscanadapt to soil watering as long as you ’re logical about it .
If watering “ commonly ” is your preferred method , you may go ahead and keep the dirt lightly moist . No pie-eyed feet please , or your flora will before long bug out waste ! It should theoretically do fine this fashion .
This being allege , I in person choose not to nark too much with normal waterings . Instead , I make use of a nifty trait that Guzmanias developed so as to stick hydrated : their central cup or vase ( or tank car , or urn … ) . This is a natural source organize by the way the leaves meet at the base of the flora .
In the wild , the cup will occupy with pelting . lilliputian hairs inside , call in trichomes , engross the piddle and nutrients into the industrial plant as needed , go around the roots entirely . In our home base , we can utilise percolate H2O to keep the cup filled around a quartern of the way ( less if it ’s cold or your plant does n’t get a lot of light ; more if you live in a hot and dry mood ) .
In society to prevent mineral chassis - up and bacteria growth , give the cupful a good boot with refreshing , clean water on a monthly basis .
Lastly , keep an eye on the humidness in your rest home . Guzmanias do n’t like it when the air wet level regularly drops below 50 percent , so if this is the case , you may need to consider running a lowly humidifier . Your plants ( and your sinuses ) will thank you .
Quick Tip
If you mounted your Guzmania on Sir Henry Wood , you’re able to spray the leafage and the sphagnum moss around the roots day by day in addition to keeping the cardinal cup partially filled .
Fertilizing
Bromeliads do n’t tend to be with child feeders , because in the wild they have to swear entirely on scrap of folio , bird poop , and other detritus that falls on them from above . However , they do n’t say no to a bite of plant life food for thought either , as long as you do n’t exaggerate it .
you may apply a small amount of smooth orchid or bromeliad fertiliser during the summer growing season , preferably around once a month . It ’s best to debase it to around one - third of the amount suggested on the bottle ; too little is really dear than too much here .
you’re able to also regularly use a foliar fertiliser meant for closely link Tillandsia gentle wind industrial plant , because Guzmanias do absorb nutrients through their leaves . These mixtures are usually highly dilute , so you could use them once or twice a month just fine .
Be sure not to apply any fertiliser directly to your bromeliad ’s cup , or if you do , do n’t forget to flush the cup one to two days after . Otherwise , the organic material and mineral figure - up can cause issues like rot or burn up .
Recommended fertilizer for Guzmania bromeliads :
Pruning
Guzmanias are n’t among the houseplant that require unconstipated pruning . you could remove dead foliage regularly , though . You ’ll also have to do some upkeep after the plant has cease blooming , but we ’ll discuss that in the section on propagation below .
Propagating Guzmania
Did you bang that bromeliads are monocarpic ? This means they ’re only able of blooming once — they give up the wraith once their prime are spent . Luckily for us , though , this does n’t mean you ’ll have to throw off your Guzmania in the folderol after just a few weeks .
First off , bromeliad bloom time is pretty crazy . Their flowers ( bract ) can last up to four month ! These bract provide the wow factor ; the actual efflorescence are minuscule and nothing to spell home about .
In fact , this is one thing you should look for when buy a Guzmania : if the livid bloom inside the colored flowerhead are fully clear , your plant wo n’t last long .
fortuitously , once they ’re finally done bloom , they send out one last hurrah in the grade of one or multiple runner . By the meter the female parent plant is drained , there will normally be a bunch of baby happily rise along next to her .
Of course , a bad stagnant plant with a bunch of live offshoots around it is n’t the nice thing to look at . That ’s why most Guzmania enthusiast await with repotting and other upkeep until the above chance , making it easy to fix everything at once .
Here ’s what I do when my Guzmania female parent plants die :
Voilà , from death sprouts new life . Instead of a single Guzmania , you now ( ordinarily ) have multiple . The pups will keep growing and should blossom in three to four age with the right care .
If your idle Guzmania was mounted on wood , you’re able to cautiously dislodge the roots to remove it . Gather its pups and bind them to the same branch together — or give them all a separate one to live on .
Is Guzmania toxic to cats and dogs?
Nope!Bromeliads , admit this one , are not toxic . No penury to interest if your furred friend has taken a bite out of your Guzmania ( except perchance about the plant ) .
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