How Fast do Air Plants Grow? (+ 4 Tips to Grow them Faster!)
Air plants are a popular houseplant that can grow in many different environments. They require very little care and have unique, delicate leaves.
Have you recently gotten some new air plants and now you’re wondering how fast they should grow?
Let’s take a look at how long it takes for air plants to grow larger. Plus, I’ll share some tips on how to help your new plants grow faster!
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What are air plants?
Air plants are actually a type of bromeliad. They are members of the Tillandsia genus, and they’re native to South America, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, southern Florida and Texas.
One example of an air plant that you might recognize in the States is Spanish Moss. There are approximately 540 different species of air plants.
You’ll see scientific names like Tillandsia Bulbosa or Tillandsia Ionantha, but they all share the common name of Air Plants.
Interesting fact: Pineapples are also from the bromeliad family!
Air plants are epiphytes, which means they don’t require any soil in order to grow. (Soil is actually bad for air plants, so don’t try planting them in it!)
In the wild, they use their roots to attach themselves to trees, but they aren’t parasitic.
They get all the nutrients and water from the air (hence their name) as well as rainwater that’s collected in tree branches or leaves.
Instead of using their roots to absorb enough water and nutrients, they use their specially designed leaves.
Indoors, air plants make a great addition to hanging planters, glass globes and open terrariums. A lot of times you’ll see air plant displays made of driftwood and stones.
Another cute and simple way to hang them is with macrame air plant hangers! As long as you recreate their natural environment, they’ll thrive indoors.
How Fast Do Air Plants Grow
The growth rate of an air plant can see painfully slow. You can take really good care of them and they still grow very slow, especially if it was grown from seed.
When you have air plants that are grown from seed, the baby plants will grow super slow for the first couple of years, only reaching around an inch in size. After that, you’ll see faster growth.
Air plants grown from seed tend to be very healthy and vigorous. That being said, it takes a very long time to grow air plants from seed. That’s why most are propagated!
For plants that were propagated from a mother plant (called “pups”), they tend to grow faster at first, but aren’t as vigorous as plants started from seed.
Certain varieties of air plants will grow faster than others.
For example, the small Tillandsia ionantha variety grows pretty fast (at least for an air plant), and the Tillandsia xerographica variety grows very slowly, but can end up getting quite large.
Eventually, your air plant will bloom and then begin growing little air plant babies called “pups”. They only flower once in their life, and afterwards the plant will die. The pups will live on though, so don’t worry!
The good news is that with proper care, these laid back little plants continue living on through their offspring, so your air plant family will expand over time.
You can leave the pups to grow in clumps, or carefully harvest them and grow them separately.
Simple tips to make your air plant grow faster
While you can’t make your air plant grow at super speed, there are a few things you can do to make sure it grows as fast as it can. Let’s look at 4 tips to grow air plants faster!
Tip 1: Make sure you have the correct environment for your type of air plant
There are three types of air plants, Hydric, Mesic and Xeric. Each type has a different native habitat and therefore have different needs.
Most air plants sold in garden centers and online are from the Mesic or Xeric category.
Mesic air plants: these air plants originate from fairly humid environment that receive large amounts of rain, but then a dry period after.
Plants in this category like to be watered a bit more frequently and then allowed to dry, and they do best with indirect light. They also like to be misted in between waterings.
Xeric air plants: this type of air plant originates in a desert environment. Plants in this category don’t require as much water and are also cool with brighter light conditions. These plants tend to be easier to care for than Mesic plants!
All air plants will benefit from good air circulation, and most like frequent watering. Speaking of watering, that brings us to tip 2!
Tip 2: Water your air plants properly
The general rule of thumb when it comes to watering air plants is to submerge them in filtered tap water once a week for about 20 minutes, and then allow them to dry fully before returning them to their display.
You don’t want to put them back in a closed environment with any excess water trapped in their leaves or they can rot.
If you have a high humidity loving type of air plant, you can mist them with a spray bottle in between the main watering to help keep their humidity levels up.
Check out this article that talks all about how to water air plants! (link to article that I haven’t written yet)
Tip 3: Try some fertilizer!
Another way to make your air plants grow faster is to feed them some fertilizer.
You’ll want to get a bromeliad fertilizer that is specifically made for bromeliad and air plant needs.
Plants that absorb water and nutrients through their leaves require a fertilizer that’s non-urea based.
The nitrogen in urea based fertilizer depends on soil to transfer it to the plant, and that obviously doesn’t apply to air plants.
This is a great air plant friendly fertilizer that I recommend.
You’ll want to feed your air plants with fertilizer about once a month when they’re blooming. Usually their blooming season lasts from Spring until the beginning of Winter.
Tip 4: Give your air plants enough light
It’s important to make sure your air plants are getting enough, but not too much light.
Depending on the tillandsia species that you have, it may need more or less light to be happy.
Xeric types of plants that come from sunny, dry climates typically enjoy more light than Mesic plants that are used to living on (and getting sun protection from) trees.
A south facing window will probably be too much direct light for your air plants, but if you move them away from the window a bit so they get more indirect sunlight they’ll thank you.
Where to Get Healthy Air Plants
One of my favorite places to purchase air plants is Etsy. There are some great sellers on there who’s passion for plants really shines through.
Here are a few of my favorite places to shop for new plant babies:
You can also shop for air plants at your local nursery, home improvement store, or even the grocery store.
Personally, I’ve had the best luck when I get plants from a specialized shop that really knows how to properly care for air plants and also how to ship them.
Air Plant Growth FAQs
Still have a few questions about air plant growth? Here are answers to some commonly asked questions I’ve seen floating around the web.
How long does it take an air plant to grow pups?
Before your air plant grows pups, it’ll need to bloom. Usually an air plant blooms within a year or two and then start growing pups.
If you plant to separate an air plant pup to form a new plant, the best way is to wait until it’s at least 1/3 of the size of the mother plant. Then you can carefully remove the pup from the base of the plant and move it to a new location.
You can also leave them as they are and let them grow in clusters where the mother plant used to be.
Do air plants grow bigger?
Yes, but they grow slowly so it takes a while for them to increase in size. For the first year or two of life they usually only grow about an inch!
After that, they grow at a faster rate.
How big will my air plant get?
In the wild, air plants can grow anywhere from 2 inches to several feet in length.
Most house plant varieties end up between 2 and 5 inches once they’re fully grown, but there are some varieties, like the Tillandsia Xerographica, that can grow to over a foot tall when it blooms!
Can air plants live forever?
The life cycle of an air plant can last anywhere between a few months and several years.
While one air plant won’t live forever, it will form pups before it begins to decline and eventually die.
So, as long as you take good care of your plants and give them regular waterings and the proper amount of light, you’ll have an exponentially growing collection of air plants that will last long into the foreseeable future!
In Conclusion
I hope this article answered your questions about how fast air plants grow (and how to make them grow even faster!) If it did, or if you have some other questions I didn’t address, leave a comment and let me know.
If you’re looking for more information on how to care for your air plant, be sure to check out the articles below. Thanks for stopping by!
