How do I keep my bromeliad plants blooming longer?
I love bromeliad plants and keep buying them but the flowers fade and die after a few weeks. What should I do so that the flowers stay looking beautiful longer?
Hi,
Bromeliads, like the bromeliad Guzmania below, bloom longer when placed in lower light and cooler temperatures. When you purchase a bromeliad plant, select one in which the flower spike is still hidden between the leaves and the flower has not fully opened. The large colorful part of the plant is not really the flower but are called bracts. The real flowers are very small and usually bluish purple in color. Once the real flowers appear, the brightly colored bracts start to fade and die. Bromeliad plant rarely rebloom. The tiny “pups” that appear around the base of the original plant can be used to start new plants which will flower in about 2-3 years. You can read all my care tips for a bromeliad in the popular Houseplant section of the website.
