Vriesea fosteriana grow and care – epiphytes leaf plant of the genus Vriesea also known as Flaming sword plant, Vriesea fosteriana perennial evergreen used as ornamental plant, can grow in tropic, mediterranean or subtropics climate or houseplant and growing in hardiness zone 10b+.
Leaves color green with white, green with red and white, dark green with light green or purple with green and white, the color can appear as horizontal stripes, spots or dots, the leaves grow in rosette structure in elliptic and sharp in the edge.
Well-drained soil, moist soil, warm climate, more than 15C (59F) can survive 5C but not recommend, better to use purified water or rain water, soil should be something light and enteric, because in the nature those plants are mostly air plants live on rocks or crock of tree or air roots in tropical forest with big amount of rains that keep the plants in humidity all time.
What is the best way to start growing?
Plant / Seeds / Vegetative Reproduction
Is it necessary to graft or use vegetative reproduction? Yes, easier start form daughter plants and choose the color
Difficulties or problems when growing: Mosquitoes that grow inside the leaves
Fertilizer: Better to fertilize by spray on the roots and the leaves better in the rosette base where the water lay, that needed to be in spray because in the nature nutrient arrive from the organic material that the fall down from the trees
Planting season: All year (in hardiness zone 10b better in the spring to summer)
Pests and diseases: Aphids
Pruning season: All year
How to prune:
Dead leaves and dead flower
Size of the plant: 20-60 cm, 12-24 inches
Growth speed in optimal condition: Slow growing
Water requirement: Average amount of water, need to put water in the middle of the rosette leaves, need humidity and moist, but well ventilated and well-drained soil, like in the nature big amount of rains and the plant that lay down on trees on the plants on the air.
Light conditions in optimal condition for growing: Half Shade better without direct light / Full Shade (with light), those plants like a lot of like but without direct sun, because the sun will burn the leaves and the flowers and leave on the burning marks
Is it possible to grow indoor as houseplant? Yes, mostly it is easier to grow it as houseplants because it’s better to grow it outside the soil in pot like in a nature that mostly its epiphyte
Growing is also possible in a planter /flowerpot / containers: Yes, because it’s an epiphyte it’s actually better to grow it in planter or even on cork, disconnect from the soil, if you choose to grow on cork or bark as need to keep with higher humidity and moist on the roots, better to cover it with a bark or something that will keep the moist in the roots.
Blooming information
Bloom season: Most of the year tropic or houseplant (in cooler temperature in autumn and spring)
General information about the flower Green or yellow small flowers that grow inside bracts, bracts color red and the bracts that look like the flowers.
