Care and feeding of an epiphyte

[DaveC426913]

I've had epiphytes before. Supposedly they don't need watering, but then when I read the instructions, it says I'm supposed to drown it and then let it dry out. Tried that once, and killed it off.

So now I've got an epiphyte as a Christmas ornament. It's in a 4" glass ball with open sides, sitting on a little bit of driftwood.

Do I water it? Soak it?
I guess I don't put it away with the ornaments.
How much light/warmth does it need?
Do I hang it in the (full shade) window?
If it wants warmth, will the window be too cold in the winter?
Do I leave it in our (dim) living room?

 

[phinds]

Dave, I don't have a clue about your question, but I find the whole concept of epiphytes interesting. I don't recall having heard the word before but I immediately recognized the main characteristic that it is on something but doesn't feed from it, just uses it as a platform. I have a question for you though; is the driftwood that it's on pretty much devoid of moisture? For some reason, I though these things needed a platform that had some inherent moisture, but it listed moss as an example, and since that grows on rocks, I was clearly mistaken.

That's a nifty looking little plant.

 

[DaveC426913]

I was in fact mistaken. It is not on driftwood, but moss.

 

[Evo]

I used to raise the whole range of these, a lot of bromeliads. Just lightly water them when they feel dry. You might want to lightly mist them, the ends of yours are drying out and dying.

The best-known epiphytic plants include mosses, orchids, and bromeliads such as Spanish moss (of the genus Tillandsia), but epiphytes may be found in every major group of the plant kingdom. 89% of epiphyte species (about 24,000) are flowering plants. The second largest group are the leptosporangiate ferns, with about 2800 species (10% of epiphytes). In fact, about one third of all ferns are epiphytes.[4] The third largest group is clubmosses, with 190 species, followed by a handful of species in each of the spikemosses, other ferns, Gnetales, and cycads.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyte

 

[DaveC426913]

I used to raise the whole range of these, a lot of bromeliads. Just lightly water them when they feel dry. You might want to lightly mist them, the ends of yours are drying out and dying.

Thx. I got a little spray bottle.

BTW, that's not mine. It's a Googled pic of the same type.

 

[Evo]

Thx. I got a little spray bottle.

BTW, that's not mine. It's a Googled pic of the same type.

Oh good!

 

[Medicol]

...

Plants like this tend to be environment-friendly. I would leave them inside the living room to keep the room air fresher.

 

[DaveC426913]

Plants like this tend to be environment-friendly. I would leave them inside the living room to keep the room air fresher.

Well, it's teeny - barely one cubic inch.

I'm more concerned about what's best for the plant.

 

[Medicol]

Well, it's teeny - barely one cubic inch.
I'm more concerned about what's best for the plant.

Look at its leaves, it tells you that it may not need a lot of water, the tiny hairs on their leaves are to catch and keep moisture and water in the air, that also means it doesn't need a lot of sunlight. For decoration, I would hang it in the kitchen near the windows where it can see the natural light from the outside and get itself activated on pollutant filtering purpose.

 

[jmeps]

My wife (the plant guru) has 3 of these things, in glass globes with holes in them. The plants are on/in some kind of rocky material. They live in our kitchen hanging above the sink and out of direct sunlight. She mists them about once a week in the winter and maybe every other week in the summer. Hope this helps.