A: Bromeliads are a family of fun, tropical plants! Whether outside (when temperatures are well above freezing) or as a houseplant, give them bright light, but not direct sun. They do best in a light, well-draining soil mix. These mixes will likely contain peat moss and bark.

Since they are often slow growing, most bromeliads don’t require a lot of fertilizer, though fertilizer can help promote the blooming process. Bromeliads with overlapping leaves (such as a pineapple) prefer to be watered overhead so that water rests at the base of the cup-shaped leaves. Soil can be kept moist, but not wet.

Some of the characteristics bromeliads share are

- long-lasting flower displays

- brilliantly-colored foliage

- spiral arrangement of leaves sometimes called a “rosette”; The “vase” in their centers holds and absorbs water.

- the presence of tiny scales on their leaves called trichomes; These scales serve as a very efficient absorption system and often keep the leaves from transpiring (loss of water vapor) and shield the plants from the solar radiation.

- slowly dying after flowering; But pups, or offshoots from the original plant, can be propagated.

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