Meriel

Flaming sword - red

Vriesea 'Astrid'

• 
  Easy care
• 
  Bright light

• Meriel likes...
  • 
    Light watering

    She’ll enjoy a drink of water when the top two inches of soil feel dry. Make sure to water the base of the plant.

  • 
    Bright light

    Help her flower by putting her in a spot that gets bright, indirect light. Avoid harsh sunlight as it can burn her leaves

  • 
    Humidity

    She’s a tropical plant so she’ll feel right at home in a bright and steamy bathroom

• Quick facts

  Botanical name

  Vriesea 'Astrid'

  Nickname

  Flaming sword

  Plant type

  Indoor, flowering, bromeliad

  Plant height (including pot)

  30-40cm

  Pet/baby safe

  Yes

  Nursery pot size

  12cm

• About flaming sword

  Flaming swords are part of the bromeliad family. Eye-catching and easy to grow, this flaming sword, Vriesea 'Astrid', has glossy green leaves and signature red spear-like flowers, also known as bracts. Originating from South and Central America, this flaming sword plant will bring a tropical flare to your home.

  A flaming sword will bloom for 3-6 months every year in spring and summer, so snip off any dying or dead flowers. Flaming swords only bloom once, but you can remove the small offsets, or ‘pups’, from the mother plant to grow a new one. Learn more about propagating offsetshere. A diluted dose of liquid fertiliser one a month will help encourage more of those signature red flower spikes.

  In the wild, it’s an epiphyte - which means it likes to grow on other plants. Don’t worry though, yours will be quite happy in its nursery pot. This is a tropical plant that feeds through its leaves by collecting water, dead leaves and droppings in flowering rosette. Not to worry if you don’t have bird droppings to hand, a regular misting in summer will do the trick.

  Did you know?

  The vriesea is a particular favourite of poison dart frogs, who lay their frogspawn in the plant’s funnel.