Tillandsias are beautiful plants that have leaves of various shapes and sizes. But is your air plant losing leaves or splitting? Why is my air plant falling apart? In this post, you will find common reasons why air plants start falling apart or lose leaves and what you can do in this case.
If your air plant is falling apart, it has probably suffered from wet rot at the base of the plant due to overwatering. It could also be due to lack of air exchange and light, or displaying air plant in wet conditions.
Reason #1: Overwatering
Overwatering is one of the most common reasons why air plants start to fall apart. While overwatering is generally an unusual issue with air plants, trapped water is the main concern. When watering air plants (by dunking, soaking or misting), they generally take as much water as needed.
If you take your air plants out of water, let them dry and then display them normally, you are not likely to run into issues. However, if you have just watered your air plant and there’s trapped water in between the leaves, it can cause rot.
After watering your plants (especially if dunking or soaking), make sure to shake off any excess water and let your air plant dry. To dry, you can lay it on a tissue, turning it after 10 minutes to let each side dry out. You can also hang your air plants upside down to let all the water drip down.
Make sure to allow it to dry straight away, and that’s the key. If you leave water trapped even for some time, it might be detrimental to your plant. Air plants must dry within 3-4 hours.
Most tillandsias require deeper soaking or dunking once in a while. However, some tillandsias, such as Tillandsia tectorum, prefers daily mistings instead and is susceptible to rot if soaked frequently.
Air plants with large bases need lighter dunking to prevent rot, as water gets trapped there easily. If dunking, you must hang it up upside down to allow to dry properly.
In general, xeric (silvery-fuzzy looking) tillandsias, such as t.xerographica, have more trichomes and are adapted to survive in higher heat. They require less watering, lower humidity levels, more heat.
Mesic (greener) tillandsias, come from higher humidity environments, so they prefer more watering and higher humidity.
Reason #2: Under watering
If you under water your air plants, they will also not survive for too long. Most air plants, especially mesic ones, require deep watering around once a week during warmer months of the year.
If you just mist your plants, it won’t be enough to satisfy your tillandsia’s watering needs. You should mist in between waterings, but as a main source (unless it’s a type that can rot easily and does better with regular mistings instead, such as T. tectorum).
Signs that your plant is under watered are brown shriveled leaves, drying leaf tops. Tillandsias that are dry also start curling inwards, some plants’ leaves will start bending/coiling.
If you have been noticing those signs, please review your watering schedule. Under watering your air plants for a longer period of time will not allow them to photosynthesize, and one day they will just fall apart.
Reason #3: Lack of air exchange
As you probably know, lack of air exchange creates damp and stagnant air. Tillandsias enjoy humidity in the air (especially green mesic air plants that come from rain forests etc.).
However, in their natural environment, if there’s high humidity, they also have proper air exchange. At home, air exchange is significantly lower. So, if you have overwatered the plant and there’s no proper air exchange, your plant can start rotting.
Air plants actually enjoy proper ventilation and breeze. So at home, make sure to ventilate the room where your plant is. You can also take it outside whenever possible, and it will definitely enjoy that.
If temperatures are high (85-90 F/29-32 C) – need for ventilation is crucial. At this point, it can be a good idea to keep your plants in a bright but shaded area outside and water more extensively. At home, bright windowsill or a well ventilated room is a good option.
Reason #4: Wrong display options
There are different options of displaying your air plants. However, always make sure that display surface is dry. Don’t place or mount your air plants on moist soil, wet coconut fiber, wet moss or bark chips etc.
If you place your air plant on moist or wet substrate, it will start rotting. Air plants don’t absorb water from their roots (if it has any), so the bottom of the plant should be kept dry. Some air plants, such as tillandsia xerographica, also have a big base and can easily catch water and rot.
What is more, you must not display air plants in closed lid terrariums. While you can put air plants in a terrarium, it must be open and with dry filler to allow air circulation. Also, don’t put a lot of other plants or moss in the terrarium (no over stuffing).
Wet plants or moss will increase chances or rot. It’s the best idea to display tillandsias on their own, with other dry decorations and figurines. Even displaying with succulents is not a good idea – they require soil that will be too wet for your air plants. You can however attach your air plants on top of other plants.
Reason #5: Low temperatures/low light
Another reason why your air plants might develop a fungal infection or rot is because of low light or temperature. Tillandsias have medium to high light requirements, as well as need warm conditions. Low light can make your air plant start falling apart or lose leaves.
Otherwise, your air plant might not dry out completely, and will start withering. Ideal temperatures for air plants at home are around 60-80 F (16-27 C). If temperatures drop below 50 F (10 C), or raise above 95 F (35 C), make sure to take to a warmer spot/water more and provide shade.
Also, when displaying air plants, please make sure that all parts of the plant receive light. Don’t bury air plants in deep containers, or leaves at the base will start going brown and falling off.
If there’s low amount of light, especially in winter, please use full-spectrum fluorescent plant light like this for your air plants. Please don’t use general bulbs as they won’t promote photosynthesis. Low light, coupled with higher humidity can cause rot in air plants, so be careful with watering in winter.
Reason #6: Lack of nutrients/wrong type of water
In their natural environment, tillandsias absorb nutrients from excrement, dying leaves and other debris. This does not happen when you keep air plants at home.
While lack of fertilization rarely makes the plant die (especially suddenly), it will reduce its lifespan significantly. For this reason, it’s a good idea to fertilize your air plant once a week/month (depending on a fertilizer). Only use a water-soluble, non-urea fertilizer that your air plants can utilize, like this one.
Another case when you can cause lack of nutrients in air plants is by watering them with distilled or softened water. Softened water contain salts that don’t allow your air plants to absorb crucial nutrients to thrive and grow. Distilled water lacks nutrients that your tillandsias need.
What is more, don’t use tap water that you have just poured to water your air plant. Tap water contains chemicals that will over time weaken and even kill your air plants.
Allow tap water to stand in an open container for 2 hours before using. Best types of water to use are rain water, fish tank water, bottled and pond water.
Can I save an air plant that is falling apart or splitting?
If your air plant is falling apart easily – that is when leaves are splitting without much force, you cannot save the plant anymore.
At this point, it has probably been destroyed by rot or fungus, and the structural integrity of the plant is lost. If the center of the plant is falling apart too, you can’t save this plant anymore.
Only if your plant is showing signs of rot on the outer side, you might try to save it. You can try to remove leaves at the base, to prevent spread of rot. But if your air plant is soft/mushy and is falling apart, it might be too late to save it.
If you notice rot on the bottom leaves only, you can use a fungicide – but don’t use any fungicides that are colored. That’s because colored fungicides will stain leaves. Instead, choose clear fungicides.
Stay away from copper fungicides – as copper is toxic to tillandsias. Always try to prevent rot or fungus and avoid using general fungicides. The diluted fungicide, bactericide, algaecide that is great to use is Physan 20 like this.
What is more, avoid soaking all air plants in one water, especially if you suspect that one has fungal infection or similar. If you soak them together, spores will contaminate other plants as well, and you could lose all plants.
Signs of rot in air plants
- Mushy and soft plant, especially on the base
- Easily falling leaves
- Black spots on the outer leaves (not drying tips)
- Bad smell (wet rot)
- Black leaves, especially on the base
Please note that most rot happens on the inside of the air plant. This way, it can be harder to notice it. If your press on the base of the air plant and there’s no slight resistance, then it could be rotting.
Don’t confuse black leaf tips, that are dry and can be removed – that’s not rot. Some air plants also have darker base, which is normal.
Please note that rot in air plants is often not visible, as it happens on the inside of the base. Your air plant might seem fine for some time, and then suddenly start falling apart. If this has happened to you, don’t worry – it’s all a part of learning.
If your air plant also has brown leaves or spots, it could be due to other reasons. You can read more about that in this post.