How to Fertilize Bromeliads! 

Thanks...carefully watching with fingers crossed!

Welcome, very happy to have you here! Thanks so much for watching!

I never feed any of mine & I've grown them for 20 years. I was always under the impression that they "ate" through their cups. Not saying that they're carnivorous (though a few do exist!), but the fallen plant matter, leaves, etc. that may collect in their cups - I thought gave them sustenance? I never fed mine & they reproduce & bloom consistently year after year, to the point of excess in some cases. Also...The fading of color could potentially be due to the light levels... could be too low, or of course there's the other extreme; too much light may cause a bleached & chlorotic look. Depending where you're located, they do best outside, in areas where it doesn't freeze. Some can handle full sun, or at least a few hours of it; most prefer half a day of sun or bright indirect light, w/ the rest in reflected or bright shade. That helps color a lot too. Another thing is the substrate they're in. Mine always have better colors in a "lesser" sort of medium; I.e., my mounted specimens, purely wrapped in sphagnum & tied to wood/rocks/trees, display the best colors due to their stressing. If they have too rich of a substrate (or are fed too much), they can become lax & kinda faded too. Same with succulents - put 'em in sphagnum, & they do amazing with the minimalistic medium & the fantastic aeration. If it's too heavy on soil, they fade or rot...not always; it just may happen faster. Sorry for the speech haha

Organic fertilizers are generally considered 'safe' due to their slow breakdown rate...two things: test any new product on a small sampling of your plants just in case, and I would confine it to the substrate unless you have tried foliar application previously. Let us know how it works for you!

@@islandbreezetropicals1276 thank you I'll definitely let you know Actually one of the products recommendations is foliar spray but I'll do it like you say in one or two plants only and see how it works Thanks for your reply

Great tip Mike...thanks a lot for sharing that!

Great question! Before Hurricane Ian a lot of the trees at The Tangle had bromeliads growing on them and they were never fertilized, except by nature when organic material falls into the tank.

That is such a great question! In the wild this occurs naturally so you should have no problem with your broms in that habitat in the terrarium. Fecal matter along with dead insects and detritus are all natural ways that bromeliads receive nutrient. In the future we're hoping to have a running series on bromeliads in constructed habitats! Thanks so much for watching!

Could you share more about the product you are using? Would love to hear more about it!

Wow, that is a really good question! Having not tried that I really can't say what effect it would have ... the standard for testing is try it on only one plant and start out with small amounts first and work up to whatever has been recommended. If you do decide to try, I hope you will come back and report your findings! Thanks so much, I appreciate you watching IBT!

Because the analysis is going to vary depending on the fertilizer you have may have, specific amounts are difficult to recommend. Apply the fertilizer to the surface of the pot sparingly, a good rule of thumb would be 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per 6" pot. I really appreciate and welcome your participation, thanks so much for watching!