Aechmea gamosepala (EEK-mee-uh gam-oh-SEP-uh-luh)
Recently, I have gotten much more into plants, not just herbs and medicinal plants. I decided that, now that Yule was over and I had been cleaning up my home for the new year, I would go out and get a little bit of greenery for it. I don’t have a lot of luck in plants. That rosemary I was so fond of is black and dead right now. It didn’t even take a month. I now know I don’t get as much sun as I had thought I did….
On that note, I took a trip to the local nursery and picked up a few plants that are low sun, low water, and basically super hard to kill! The first of those is the matchstick bromeliad. This is not a metaphysical plant nor does it have any extra benefits. This plant is grown purely for ornamental reasons. Not everything has to be full on witchcraft! I feel that you should have at least a few plants in your home that are just pretty to look at!
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Element: Air, water
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Type: Deciduous tropical perennial
Grows in Zone: 9-11
Plant for bees?: No
Natural pesticide?: No
Poisonous/ Toxic: No
The Aechmea gamosepala, also known as the Matchstick Bromeliad, is a member of the bromeliad family often cultivated as an ornamental plant. The name Aechmea comes from the Greek aichme (a spear). It is also known as the urn plant and is a plant native to Argentina and Brazil.
Matchstick is a somewhat hardy bromeliad. Aechmea gamosepala is very drought tolerant and blooms a couple of times a year in early spring, late fall, and early winter most commonly. It looks very exotic, is easy to grow as it is quite hardy and also goes well in pots indoors. After the blue and pink spikes have finished flowering, those spikes turn fuchsia and stay that color until late summer or early fall.
Aechmea gamosepala enjoys light shade, filtered shade, early morning sun and should be grown in light, well-draining soil. It grows to about 16 to 30 inches. The leaves are bright green and smooth edged and form a water holding rosette.
Place your matchstick bromeliads in shade to partial shade like that found underneath tall trees. Keep their cups filled with water, but if they are in soil, make sure it is well drained.
Unlike most plants where you water the soil, this plant you will actually water the rosette. Like many bromeliads it should not be allowed to dry out, but should always have water in the cup of the plant. Indoors, mist the plants occasionally with room temperature water and feed with a reduced strength water soluble fertilizer. Propagate by removing the offsets (pups) with a sharp knife.
Witch Tip: Encourage bloom, if necessary, by placing the plant in a sealed bag with an apple for a couple of weeks. Ethylene gas given off by the apple stimulates bloom.
Plants spread by stolons (runners) from the mother plant and will quickly spread to fill a pot and put on a spectacular show when it blooms. It is best propagated from the offsets (or pups) with attached roots that appear in the summer. These should be removed from the mother plant using a sharp knife.
Use level: Easy
The lady at the nursery was confident I would have trouble killing this one off so I am going to try my best by it!!! I would love to be a green witch due to how much I enjoy nature and just being able to sit beneath a tree in the sunlight. The lady at the nursery also said that it takes a few tries of learning your own environment and trying out new plants so don’t get discouraged just because the rosemary didn’t work out. I will take that advice to heart and pass it on to all of you!
Nothing on this website should be taken as medical or legal advice. Please use herbs responsibly. Always consult your doctor before using any kind of supplements.
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
