The plant is a Bromiliads, which are pretty easy to care for. They do have some different requirements. Keep the plant in bright light but not direct sun.Water when soil is slightly dry to touch. When watering, water the center of the rosettes that hold the flower. The water will stay in the pockets and helps keep it moist. Never let it sit in water...it will be it's death.
This plant needs a special soil to allow the air to reach it's roots. Hopefully when you bought it, the company provided that plant with this soil. If it ever becomes root bound and needs to be repotted, use a special soil that is used for bromiliad as well as orchids. Just ask a garden center and they will be able to help you. This soil is the key to a healthy plant! It's makeup resembles chunks of bark and sphagnum moss. Your spike with flower will last for months...6 months or more. Once it has set forth a flower, the mother plant will begin to produces suckers called "pups" or more babies. After the flower has gone by, faded and dried...cut away. When these new "pups" have reached at least one third the size of the mother plant, you can cut underneath the soil with a sharp knife and repot into that special soil and start a new life. Once all the suckers have been removed from the mother plant. The mother plants will not produce any flower or suckers. It's up to you to hang on to it or not....thats the sad part. But you have all the new pups to start another cycle of life...Good Luck!!
Operational Manager at
Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Ames, Iowa
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