Urn Plant Care

Urn plant is an exotic-looking flowering plant from the bromeliad (Bromeliaceae) family. This beauty grows in a rosette of silvery green leaves with a crown of long-lasting pink bracts. 

Although it's not big in stature, this tropical rainforest native lends a luxurious feel to a room that's sure to capture attention.

In this urn plant care guide, you'll discover how to make it bloom, why you want to propagate its "pups", plus learn the unusual way it likes to be watered.

Bring a fresh splash of tropical color to your home with easy-care Aechmea fasciata.

Get to Know Urn Plant

Known botanically as Aechmea fasciata, this member of the Bromeliad family is native to Brazil. 

Aechmea fasciata grows in a rosette of stiff, arching leaves that form an urn. In its native South American rain forest, the leaves gather rain water in its urn, which must be filled with water at all times. 

Despite its exotic appearance and tropical nature, this bromeliad adapts well to living as a potted house plant.

How tall does it get? At maturity, urn plant will reach 20 in (50 cm) in height.

Urn plants are often bought at garden centers or florist's shops already in bloom.

You may find urn plant sold by other common names: Silver Vase Plant or Vase Plant, or by its botanical name, Aechmea fasciata. Some striking varieties are available, such as 'Variegata' with creamy yellow stripes on its leaves. 'Purpurea' has silvery leaves blushed with maroon.

Urn plants have shallow root systems and won't need repotted.

Want to hide a plain nursery pot? Slip it into a cachepot -- a decorative container without drainage holes. I put small rocks in the bottom of my cachepots to hold plants above the drainage water. As the water evaporates, it adds humidity around the plant.

Close-up of the flowering urn plant. Image © Ramona Dviola | Dreamstime.com

What to Know About Urn Plant Blooms

In mature plants (3 years old), the mottled, silvery green foliage is upstaged by a crown of pink bracts. Between the bracts, small violet flowers appear that quickly turn red. The flowers themselves are short-lived, but the bracts last for a month or longer.

Got a late bloomer? Plants that don't produce bracts aren't getting enough light. Move your plant to brighter location.

Still won't bloom? If it still won't produce a flower stem, you can encourage it to bloom with this easy trick: Place a ripe apple or a few apple cores around the plant and enclose the whole thing in a clear plastic bag for a week or two. The apple gives off ethylene gas that promotes blooming. Keep your plant out of direct sun while it's covered with the plastic bag to prevent it from getting too hot.

Urn Plant Care Solutions and Special Helps

Brown leaf tips are a sign that the plant is too dry. See "Water" tips below.

Something bugging your bromeliad? Watch for scale insects. These tiny, brown, oval-shaped insects can cause damage by sucking plant juices. Early detection will prevent serious damage. Wipe off affected leaves with warm, soapy water, then rinse with clean water to remove soap. 

How to Propagate Urn Plants

Like other bromeliads, urn plant only blooms once then dies. After the flowering, you can expect your urn plant to produce 2-3 offsets called "pups". Remove them when they are about 5 months old and at least 6 in (15 cm) tall and pot them in their own containers.

Propagating its offsets that grow at the base of the plant will allow you to enjoy these beautiful bromeliads for years to come. Here's how:

1. Slip the plant out of its container. 
2. Separate the offsets (pups) by pulling them away from the parent plant. Use a sharp knife to cut them off, if necessary. Take care not to cut off the plants' roots.
3. Pot each pup in its own fresh, barely moist potting mix.
4. Follow urn plant care (below).

Indoor Urn Plant Care

Light: Bright light with some direct sun. With this bromeliad plant, care should be taken to move plant to direct sun gradually to avoid scorching its leaves. A few hours of morning sun is ideal.

Water: Keep the plant's urn filled with water at all times and change it weekly. Water regularly to keep the potting mix lightly moist, but not soggy. Don't allow the urn to dry out. Brown, shriveled leaf tips are likely caused because the plant is dry. 

Humidity: Try to maintain a relative humidity around 50%. Take a look at these easy ways to raise humidity for houseplants.

Temperature: Average room temperatures 65-75°F/18-24°C

Soil: Orchid potting mix or mix equal parts: fir bark, peat moss and horticultural sand or perlite.

Fertilizer: Feed monthly spring through summer with a balanced liquid fertilizer (mixed at half strength) in the plant's urn. Or mist the leaves with a weak foliar fertilizer once a month.

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