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GLT's Grow: No Soil Needed

Laura Kennedy
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WGLT

Sporting a brown, rather than green, thumb?  Looking for a fun plant that's easy to grow?  Then give Tillandsia a try!

  • Tillandsia is an epiphyte, or so-called "air plant," that uses its minimal root system to attach itself to trees and rocks.
  • Watering this plant is nontraditional:  you can dunk it.  Or, if you prefer, give it a spritz.
  • Tillandsia is a bloomer, and in a range of colors, too.  If they don't bloom, that's a clue that it's not getting enough light.
  • Treat this plant like a plant, but you can also treat it like art and hang if from the ceiling or put it up on the wall.
  • The plant is like a little octopus with their spreading tentacles.  There's actually a somewhat surreal quality to Tillandsia.  
    Credit Laura Kennedy / WGLT
    /
    WGLT
    Here's an epiphyte known as stag horn.
Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.