Aechmea fasciata
Urn aka silver vase plants, Aechmea fasciata, are epiphytes in the Bromeliaceae family, which includes diverse species such as pineapples and air plants.
In their native Brazil they cling benignly to trees in the dappled sunlight that filters through rainforest canopies.
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In USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11, urn plants grow outdoors. In other regions, they are showy houseplants that add a tropical flair to indoor decor.
Read on to learn how to grow and care for an urn plant in the garden and the home.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What You’ll Learn
The foliage of young specimens may be green or purple.
As it ages, it develops silver or white cross markings, patches, and/or stripes covered in fine hairs called trichomes that trap water and nutrients.
The coloration resembles that of snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata).
Unlike snake plants, instead of standing upright individually, the leaves form a basal rosette that grows upwards and outwards like a funnel.
It surrounds a central well called a leaf vase or tank that holds moisture.
Quick Look
Common name(s): Silver vase, urn plant
Plant type: Evergreen herbaceous epiphyte
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 10-11 (outdoors)
Native to: Brazil
Bloom time / season: Spring
Exposure: Filtered sun, part shade outdoors; bright, indirect sunlight indoors
Soil type: Organically rich, sandy loam, loose, well-draining
Soil pH: 4.0-7.0, acidic to neutral
Time to maturity: 3-5 years
Mature size: 1-2 ft wide x 1-3 ft high
Best uses: Containers, houseplant, ground cover, mass planting
Taxonomy
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Aechmea
Species: Fasciata
Mature dimensions are one to three feet tall with a spread of one to two feet.
A tall pink stalk rises from the well every three to five years. It buds and opens into an impressive water-lily-like flower with small purple blossoms inside large pink bracts.
The display continues for months, and then offsets or “pups” grow beside the parent plant before it dies.
How to Grow
In Zones 10 to 11, the tropical urn makes a striking bed and border specimen, ground cover, and mass planted drift.
It is also an excellent candidate for container gardening in a partially shaded setting.
Indoors, the silver vase shines as an exceptional houseplant that creates a dramatic focal point before and during blooming.
Light
If you are growing outdoors, choose a location with filtered sunlight to part shade.
Indoors, you’ll need bright, indirect sunlight. A few feet away from a south- or east-facing window is ideal.
Soil
These bromeliads can grow in organically-rich loam, provided it is well-draining, and they tolerate a wide soil pH range of between 4.0 and 7.0.
Since many orchids are also flowering epiphytes, you can use orchid potting mix for your indoor specimens.
If you need a recommendation, Professional Orchid Soil from Leaves and Soul contains 40 percent pine bark, 30 percent lava in quarter-inch pieces, and 30 percent calcined clay or Turface to inhibit oversaturation.
The combination of ingredients provides organic matter especially beneficial for young specimens and sharp drainage.
Leaves and Soul Professional Orchid Soil
Professional Orchid Soil is available from Leaves and Soul via Amazon.
Temperature and Humidity
Temperatures of 65 to 75°F are perfect for this species. Urns like humidity but will tolerate drier environments, provided they have consistent moisture.
If your home has less than 30 percent humidity, you can place the pot on a pan of moist pebbles to increase the ambient humidity, run a humidifier, or lightly mist the leaves once or twice a week.
Water
Juvenile plants without developed “wells” at the center of their rosettes rely on soil moisture for hydration.
As they mature, the well should be kept topped up and the soil allowed to almost dry out.
If you’re growing outdoors, you can rinse the wells every month with the garden hose to stir up any breeding mosquitoes, then refill them.
Note that in a damp environment with poor airflow and inadequate sunlight, standing well water may lead to rotting.
In these conditions watering houseplants at soil level may be preferable to tank filling.
It’s essential to keep the soil of young specimens with underdeveloped tanks moist but not soggy.
The water you use makes a difference. Hard, mineral-rich tap water may cause a salt buildup that can burn bromeliad foliage.
Distilled, rainwater, or reverse osmosis purified water is preferable.
Mature specimens that can hold at least an inch of water should always contain this quantity.
Change the water at least every month by tipping the pot to drain it, rinsing the tank, and refilling it with a fresh inch. If the well dries up at any time before the month mark, rinse and refill it.
You should also keep the soil lightly moist but avoid oversaturation. Allow the top few inches to dry out in between waterings. A moisture meter can help with this task.
During the winter, growth slows down and water needs decrease.
Reduce the quantity and frequency by half or half an inch in the well every two months. If it dries up, rinse and add more. Moisten the soil very lightly every two months.
Our guide to watering bromeliads has more information.
Fertilizing
Bromeliads are not heavy feeders, but if you choose to fertilize, do so in the spring and summer.
Dilute a foliar spray to half or quarter strength and apply it to the leaves of mature plants.
Young specimens that haven’t yet developed the central tank take up water and soil nutrients via their roots and don’t require feeding.
MIracle-Gro Ready-To-Use Orchid Plant Food Mist is suitable for bromeliads as well as orchids.
Miracle-Gro Ready-To-Use Orchid Food
It contains two percent of the three essential macronutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or a 2-2-2 (NPK) ratio.
This product is available from Miracle-Gro via Amazon in single or multi-pack options.
Where to Buy
You can generally find urn plants available from nurseries that have a good selection of bromeliads. Alternatively you can shop online.
You can find A. fasciata in six-inch pots available from Wekiva Foliage via Walmart.
Cultivated varieties offer the home gardener characteristics that vary from the species in the wild. Here are two:
Primera
‘Primera’ exhibits the features of the straight species, including green foliage with silver cross markings and patches, pink bracts, and purple blooms.
Its unique attributes are broader leaves and a lack of spines.
Purpurea
‘Purpurea’ has purple foliage with white horizontal accents and the familiar pink bracts and purple flowers.
Maintenance
You don’t need to prune A. fasciata, except to use clean garden scissors to cut off any leaves damaged by breakage, disease, or pests.
To encourage blooming, some gardeners place a whole ripe apple on top of the soil and cover the plant and pot with a plastic bag.
The ethylene gas given off by the fruit can stimulate budding and blooming.
Remove the apple and bag after two to three days. Flowering may take weeks or months to occur.
Deadhead spent flower stalks as they begin to fade by cutting them off as close to their point of origin as possible to redirect energy to offset development.
Post-bloom, cut the offsets away from the parent when they are at least six inches tall.
Pot them up individually or grow them in-ground spaced one to three feet apart, as discussed in the propagation section below.
Discard the parent plant when it withers and dies.
Repotting
Repot as needed to maintain two to three inches of space between the leaf rosette and pot rim.
When you choose a new pot, make sure it is porous and has adequate drainage holes. The size should be two to three inches wider than the base of the leaf rosette.
Avoid using pots that are too large as the excess soil tends to hold too much water, leading to rot.
Propagation
This species doesn’t pollinate itself, so there are unlikely to be seeds available for collection.
It’s best to start from offsets that are produced after blooming or by purchasing a starter plant from the nursery.
Our guide to propagating bromeliads has full details, but here are the basic steps:
From Offsets
These bromeliads are monocarpic, which means the parent dies after flowering once in its life. After blooming it produces offsets beside the parent.
When these offsets are at least six inches tall, you can separate them as follows:
- Use a sharp knife or pruner to sever an offset from the parent as close to its point of origin as possible.
- Dip the cut end into rooting hormone powder.
- Fill a container two to three inches wider in diameter than the offset with moisture-retentive, well-draining potting soil.
- Set the offset an inch deep in the center of the pot and backfill. Insert chopsticks beside it for support as needed.
- Lightly moisten the soil.
- Place the pot in bright, indirect sunlight.
- Keep the soil moist, but not oversaturated.
You’ll know the offset is successful when the foliage starts to grow.
Transplanting
To transfer a propagated offset or nursery start to a new container, it should be at least six inches tall.
Fill the pot a third of the way with potting soil. Settle the roots at the same depth as in the original container and backfill to hold it firmly upright.
To transplant outdoors, loosen the soil to a depth of four to six inches.
Unpot and set the urn at the same depth as in the original container.
Backfill to hold it firmly in place. Water lightly over the soil or in the tank.
Managing Pests and Disease
When growing in Zones 10 to 11 and indoors, you may face issues with mealybugs or scale insects that prefer warm, humid conditions.
These sapsucking pests disfigure foliage with their feeding, leaving sticky “honeydew” that is prime breeding ground for sooty mold.
In the event of an outbreak, rinse away visible pests and treat the foliage with insecticidal soap or neem oil.
Bonide Neem Oil is available from Arbico Organics in quart and gallon ready-to-use bottles and a pint-sized concentrate.
The tanks of outdoor and indoor plants may become infested with breeding mosquitoes, which is why draining, rinsing, and refilling monthly is essential.
Urns are not prone to disease. However, they are likely to suffer crown and root rot in overly wet conditions.
Symptoms of rotting include mushy, yellow to brown foliage that detaches from the rosette and slimy, malodorous roots.
Removing affected plant material and repotting in fresh soil may enable you to salvage your specimen.
In addition, in conditions that are too cold and/or dry, the leaf tips may turn brown and crisp.
Prevent leaf tip browning by maintaining the recommended temperature range and increasing the ambient humidity with a tray of moist pebbles, humidification, or misting.
Use clean garden scissors to snip off the browned portions and restore appearances.
A Wellspring of Beauty
In the wild, A. fasciata asks nothing of the trees in which it nestles, relying on rainwater to supply moisture and nutrients.
In gardens and containers, it thrives as it would in nature when supported by soil and supplied with filtered or bright indirect sunlight, light soil moisture, tank water, and weak doses of foliar fertilizer.
In return, it rewards growers with lush, variegated foliage and a spectacular flower that remains on display for months.
Bromeliads are some of nature’s most beautiful creations. Isn’t it time you had one of your own?
Are you growing urn plants? Let us know in the comments section below and feel free to share a picture!
And for more information about growing and caring for bromeliads, add these guides to your reading list next:
