Background information
Visit to the largest Japanese garden in Europe: Sabine Rusch reveals the secret of garden art
by Darina Schweizer
Fascinating flora: these plants grow out of thin air
19/8/2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Tillandsia pull off what very few plants can – they grow without soil. Find out how this unusual air plant manages this, and why it looks like half a pineapple.
Looks like potting soil and I will never be the best of friends. I keep getting lost in the jungle of countless varieties. I struggle to heave them home, always make a mess when repotting my plants and introduce fungus gnats or plastic parts to the apartment.
Recently, however, I came across a type of plant that doesn’t need any of it. That’s right, no soil. In fact, in the right conditions, this plant can live off nothing much than thin air for years. Don’t believe me? Well, let me introduce you to air plants or tillandsia.
Half a pineapple with suction scales
Tillandsia look like the leaves that stick out of the top of a pineapple. This is no coincidence,as tillandsia are related to the queen of fruits (page in German). They also belong to the bromeliad family and there are over 500 species. They grow in the most contradictory of places:
- Green tillandsia prefer the shady rainforests of South and Central America, and are epiphytes, which means they grow on other trees.
- Grey tillandsia thrive in the sunny and dry areas in the south of the USA or in the high altitudes of the Andes.
In other words, tillandsia are true survivors.
Source: Jonas Gruhlke/Shutterstock
Their secret? Trichomes, which are soft, hair-like sucker scales on their leaves. With these, the plant absorbs water and nutrients directly from the air. Some species work together with «suppliers». The tillandsia seleriana, for example, provides a habitat for ants in the cavities of its leaves. In return, it benefits from the organic material the ants carry in and excrete.
Just a few drops
Tillandsia don’t need much looking after and aren’t toxic, which makes them great easy-care houseplants. Your best bet is to hang them up high and tie them to a branch or stick them to the bark of a tree – just like in nature.
- In the bathroom, tillandsia can make do with almost no water at all because of the higher humidity. All they need is a bit of indirect sunlight.
- In the living room and bedroom you should pop them head first into a bath of limescale-free water once or twice a week. Or spray them with decalcified water every few days.
Source: GRACIELLADEMONNE/Shutterstock
With a bit of luck and a dash of universal, bromeliad or orchid fertiliser, air plants sometimes even produce magnificent purple, pink, red or yellow flowers after a few years. Leave the withered flower heads where they are and new tillandsia can sprout directly on them. Again, with a little bit of love and whole lot of air the cycle will begin again.
What’s your experience with tillandsia? Let us know in the comments.
Header image: Christian Walker
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI like anything that has four legs or roots. The books I enjoy let me peer into the abyss of the human psyche. Unlike those wretched mountains that are forever blocking the view – especially of the sea. Lighthouses are a great place for getting some fresh air too, you know?
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