How to Mount Bromeliads the Right Way

Author: Celeste Booth10 Comments

Growing Indoors

Why Mount Your Bromeliads?

Decorating indoors with bromeliads has become very popular among interiorscapers and interior designers. One way to accent any home or office is to mount bromeliads in a pleasing and unique manner. Most of the epiphytic bromeliads have also adapted very well to pots, and that is the way most of them are grown. However, their ability to grow without soil is one of their main attractions and growing them mounted is a great way to show off this quality.

Photo by Larry Giroux

There are some bromeliads that do better mounted and even others that do not like to be potted at all. A good example of this can be found in the genus Tillandsia (click here for tips on growing tillandsias). Most of these tree dwellers do not have a cuplike formation that will hold water and must depend on tiny peltate scales or trichomes on their leaves to control their moisture requirements. These scales open up to capture needed moisture and close when a sufficient amount has been absorbed. The survival rate for this type is much better when mounted.

Mounted bromeliads form small but strong, wiry root systems that serve primarily as holders and will take little if any nutrients into the plant. Currently, there are several ways to mount bromeliad plants. Just remember that it is important that you have some mounting material that is not going to deteriorate and fall apart just when your bromeliad plant has rooted and is beginning to flourish. Pieces of hardwood or tree fern slabs are good. Juniper or cedar stumps make some very interesting mounts. It is also important that the plant be firmly secured to the mount so roots will form and attach themselves.

How to Mount your Bromeliad

You can choose to mount your bromeliads on a variety of surfaces, but one common one (and the one we’ll describe today) is driftwood. Now, before we get started, please note that if your driftwood is straight from the ocean and has not been treated to take out the salts, you should soak the wood in water (changing the water regularly) so as to remove all the harsh salts from the wood.

Take your bromeliad plant and a bit of sphagnum moss to put with the roots, find a nice nook in your driftwood to tuck in the root system, and place your bromeliad here (still holding it in place). Next, take some wire (non-copper) or strong twine and wrap it around your bromeliad and the driftwood, holding it firmly in place (not so firmly that you are damaging the plant). Repeat these steps until you have fastened all the bromeliads you want to the driftwood. Place your new bromeliad display in an attractive location that gets plenty of light. You may now water your bromeliads, but make sure they are able to dry out before watering again. Within about a month you can remove the wire as the bromeliads will have fastened their roots on to the driftwood and no longer need that extra support.

Header image via: Wikimedia