Plant of the Week: Bromeliads

Turn your living room into a tropical jungle with these fascinating exotic houseplants. Bromeliads are rainforest plants, closely related to the pineapple, and are epiphytes – plants which grow on other plants, using their roots just to anchor themselves in place and collecting water and nutrients from rainwater.

Most bromeliads form a ‘tank’ – a water reservoir in the centre of a rosette of leaves. Keep this topped up at all times, preferably with rainwater, adding a houseplant fertiliser fortnightly in summer. Water the compost too, but sparingly. Mist leaves regularly or keep your plant in a steamy bathroom to mimic its natural rainforest habitat and your bromeliad should thrive.