Bromeliad Red

The next time you snack on pineapple in a dessert or fruit salad, consider this: you’re eating a bromeliad!! While it’s true that pineapples are fruiting bromeliads, most of the bromeliads we’re familiar with are grown primarily for their colorful foliage. They make terrific houseplants, and they’re great outdoor plants for those who live in mild winter areas, or who can bring them in once the temperatures drop.

Product Code: bromr

Care:

• Because these plants are native to the American tropics, they prefer warm growing conditions, and do best indoors when the daytime temperatures stay around 70 degrees F, and the nighttime temperatures drop to 55 to 60 degrees F.
• (They don’t like drafts, so if your plant sits on or near a windowsill, make sure air isn’t leaking in around it.)
• You won’t need to water most bromeliads as often as ordinary houseplants, but when you do, pour the water into their “vase,” the natural, vase-like reservoir formed by their leaves.
• Because most bromeliads grow slowly, you won’t need to fertilize often. When you do, sprinkle a time-release fertilizer around the base of the terrestrial types. Don’t put the fertilizer into the vase, as it could burn them or promote the growth of algae in the trapped water.