Aechmea fasciata
Aechmea fasciata grows in a rosette of stiff, arching leaves that form an urn.
In its native South American rain forest, the leaves gather rain water in its urn,
which must be filled with water at all times. Brown leaf tips are a sign that
the plant is too dry.
Despite its exotic appearance and tropical nature,
this bromeliad adapts
well to living as a potted house plant.
Urn plants are often bought at garden centers or florist's
shops already
in bloom. They have shallow root systems and don't need
repotted.
Want to hide a plain nursery pot? Slip it into a cachepot--
a decorative
container without drainage holes. I put small rocks in the
bottom of my
cachepots to hold plants above the drainage water. As the
water
evaporates, it adds humidity around the plant.
In mature plants (3 years old), the mottled, silvery
green foliage is
upstaged by a crown of long-lasting pink bracts. Between the bracts,
small violet flowers appear that quickly turn red. The flowers
themselves are short-lived, but the bracts last for a few months.
Got a late bloomer? Plants that don't produce bracts aren't getting
enough light. Move your plant to brighter location.
Still won't bloom? If it still won't produce a flower stem, you can
encourage it to bloom with this easy trick: Place a ripe apple or a
few apple cores around the plant and enclose the whole thing in a clear plastic bag for a week
or two. The apple gives off ethylene gas that promotes blooming. Keep your plant out of direct
sun while it's covered with the plastic bag to prevent it from getting too hot.
Like other bromeliads, urn plant only blooms once then dies. Allow the plant to die back naturally.
After flowering, you can expect each plant to produce 2-3 pups. Remove them when they are
about 5 months old and at least 6 in (15 cm) tall and pot them in their own containers.
Propagating its offsets that grow at the base of the plant will allow you to enjoy these beautiful
bromeliads for years to come.
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