Planting air plants in driftwood is a very easy task to manage if you know what to use and to use it. The air plants look great on a piece of driftwood as the wood mimics the bark of a real tree around which the air plants grow.
You can display these air plants in driftwood anywhere in your house, garden, or office because these look amazing everywhere.
In this article, we will elaborate on how you can plant grown air plants on a piece of driftwood or any other type of wood because this method is universal.
Contents
How To Plant Air Plants in Driftwood?
You can plant air plants on driftwood cleaning the driftwood, planning and gluing the air plant on, placing or mounting the driftwood, and finally watering it accordingly. You must also remember to take care of the wood and tackle any growth of algae.
The air plants are also known as Tillandsia, and they are one of the most famous plants for keeping indoors as they can be enjoyed any time of the year. The interesting thing about these plants is that they do not need the soil to grow, so they can be planted in various habitats without the risk of them losing their integrity and dying, which is why driftwood, is a great place to grow it.
– Clean the Driftwood
The first step is to clean the driftwood thoroughly; note that this step will depend on where you got your driftwood from. If it is from a shop then they would have cleaned it thoroughly, and you don’t need to do much.
If you are self-picking your piece then you might need to clean it thoroughly. If you buy a piece from any shop, they would already have cleaned it for you, and it is better as they would have the best means to clean it.
A broken piece of driftwood has bugs in them naturally, which is why before you do anything, make sure that the piece is bug-free and that there are no damaging insects just roaming around in it. You can spray it with a bug repellent that will kill any and all bugs. Next, take a wet rag and clean off all the dirt and scrapes of all the splinters of it, making sure that all the debris would wash off.
While cleaning the driftwood wear gloves, so you don’t hurt yourself in any way. Thoroughly washing the driftwood might not be a good idea as the water can retain inside the wood and cause it to swell up and lose its original shape. This is why you must clean it more than applying water, or you may also keep it a bit under the sun to dry.
As a result, after you have cleaned it, spraying it with a laminating spray might be a good idea as it will hold all the pieces of the wood in place and prevent it from breaking at any point in the future. You wouldn’t want the driftwood to become vulnerable in its state or weak; hence, being careful is a good choice to keep it properly growing.
– Place and Glue the Air Plant
The air fern plant is always present in various bunches, so it is easy to plant them. You can place however many air plants you want on the driftwood depending on the piece’s size. Try to scatter the air plants around the wood’s piece, and the reason why is that this will give a fuller and more beautiful look.
After you know where you want your air plants to be, you can now go ahead and get yourself an adhesive. Make sure that it is not colored and most preferably transparent, so that it looks fresh and clean-looking.
In this way, the glue will not look bad on the driftwood and can easily hold the air plants in place. Be cautious and do not try to use a hot glue gun for sticking the plants on the driftwood or any other service as the hot glue is deadly for the plants, and it will cause them to die.
After sticking the air plants on it, hold the air plants in place for a while to ensure that they stick firmly to the driftwood. Keep it under a fan so that the glue can dry quickly, or air dry it with a fan. Alternatively, you can also use wires to stick the air plants on the driftwood. Make sure that you use the wires with gloves on.
– Place or Mount the Driftwood
After the air plants have been successfully glued on the driftwood, the next step is to place or mount the driftwood on a spot of your choosing. If the piece of driftwood is rather large, placing it would be the option to go for. In case the piece is small and can easily hold the weight, mount it on a wall for a serene look.
You can place the decorated driftwood on a wall shelf or a side table. The only downside to hanging or mounting it would be the use of nails and drilling. You can choose different other ways of hanging it like adhesive hooks, metal or plastic ones, and they would support the plant; you can also choose ones that are transparent.
Make sure you keep the driftwood in a place that has a little sunlight coming through because you don’t want it to get damaged if harsh lights come upon it. The reason behind it is that the sunlight will kill some of the bacteria and germs that try and grow on it.
– Water Accordingly
Another important step in the procedure is to water the plants very keenly. The air plants need very less water, so the best way to keep them hydrated is by spraying them with it. If the driftwood is mounted on, the water weight can cause it to fall down so make sure to keep the spray on a minimum.
The air plants lose their integrity if they are over-watered so maintaining a misting situation every week is the way to go for them. Also, make sure to keep the driftwood clean by using a wet rag. They only require a little watering and air circulation to thrive indoors in any temperature conditions. They can also be planted outside or kept in a jar in any season whatsoever because they do not require any specific conditions.
You can care for air plants in driftwood by spraying them with water once every week and making sure that they are cleaned properly every now and then, so the dust does not settle in the crevices of the driftwood.
The air plants however do not require much maintenance so even if you forget about them for a while, they will be alright and thriving; as long as the environment is kept humid, the plant will thrive. What can cause them to go bad is the overuse of water.
The surplus water can get trapped inside the driftwood, causing the algae to grow which can ruin your whole arrangement. Remember that the advantage of keeping an air plant is that they require the least maintenance, last a long time, and is cheap to use.
– Be Mindful of the Algae
A problem with over-watering your air plants in driftwood is that the driftwood is quite dense in nature. The excess water can easily seep into it and once there, would be trapped. This will be an ideal condition for algae to grow and make it their home. The only possible way to get rid of the algae then would be to get rid of the driftwood altogether.
The main focus here is to find a piece of wood that is without any bugs or living growth of algae or fungus, which means that you must tackle them, and a way to do it is by not watering it too much. Surely any piece that you find can be cleaned and used but for that, you will need to clean it very thoroughly, and this would be due to watering, or misting it too many times.
In case you are picking a piece from a forest yourself, take some time out and clean it properly. In short, the downside is that they can get algae to build up very easily in the roots, and they become a little dull after some time.
Conclusion
In this article, we talked about how to keep air plants in driftwood but in case you missed anything here is a short review:
- You can plant air plants on driftwood by following a simple four-stepped procedure that contains cleaning the driftwood, planning and gluing the air plant on, placing or mounting the driftwood, and finally watering it accordingly.
- The air plants do not need the soil to grow but only a little water and good airflow to grow in any atmosphere, indoors or outdoors.
- The air plants lose their integrity if they are over-watered so maintaining a misting situation every week is the way to go for them.
- You can keep the air plants in any weather, indoors or outdoors, and they will not die.
- Do not use a hot glue gun to stick the air plants on the driftwood as the hot glue is damaging to the air plants and the driftwood.
You can use these plants to decorate any arrangements but most commonly they are stuck on pieces of wood, which gives them a very subtle and elegant look. We hope this was a helpful read for you and that now you can display your air plants in a much more beautiful way in driftwood.
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