Grow and Care for Earth Star

Grow earth star in bright light, water the mix when the surface is dry, and do not fill a cup. Earth star is Cryptanthus. Shops also say earth star bromeliad or Pink Starlite.

Give it bright light, water the mix not the cup, and keep it evenly moist

earth star is a terrestrial bromeliad. It sits in mix and takes water at the roots, so a cup of water in the rosette does not help and can rot the crown. [1] It is not a succulent either. Mix that stays evenly moist, then dries at the surface, is the site. Bone-dry mix shrivels the leaves; soggy mix rots the roots. [2] Keep it like an African violet on moisture: not soggy, and not bone-dry. [3] Pink and red stripes hold in bright light. Too little light turns the leaves plain green. Hot midday sun bleaches them.

1. Set the plant in bright light. An east window, or a few feet back from a south or west window, is the usual indoor slot. Harden it before any outdoor sun, or the leaves bleach.
2. Use a loose, humus-rich mix that still drains. Earth star cannot live mounted on bark the way an air plant can. [4]
3. Water the mix when the surface is dry. Empty the saucer. Do not fill the center of the rosette.
4. Keep the mix evenly moist in warm weather. In winter, wait longer between waterings, but do not let the roots go bone-dry.
5. Keep it off heat vents and air-conditioning drafts. Dry moving air crisps the leaf edges.

Bring it in before frost, and water less in winter

If you move the pot outside for summer, give it bright shade at first, then bring it in before the first frost. In winter, keep it in a warm room and water less. Do not fertilize while growth is slow.

Use a shallow pot and a mix that drains, and wait to repot

The roots spread wide and stay shallow, so a wide, shallow pot with a hole in the bottom fits better than a deep pot of unused mix. Earth star does not need a larger pot often. Wait until the rosette is crowded, then step up only one size. Pups that fill the pot are a separate job on How to Propagate Earth Star.

1. Choose a shallow pot with a drainage hole. A wide azalea pot is deep enough for the roots.
2. Fill it with a loose, humus-rich mix that still drains. Set the rosette at the same depth as the nursery pot. Do not bury the leaves.
3. Water the mix, then empty the saucer. Wait a few days before the next watering if you tore roots.
4. Repot only when the clump is crowded, usually after a few years, in spring. Go up one size.

Not an air plant, not an urn plant, and not an earthstar fungus

Earth star sits in mix. An air plant is a tillandsia with no potting mix; it soaks and then dries on a mount. See How to Grow Air Plants if that is the plant you bought. An urn plant holds about an inch of water in a cup; earth star does not. See How to Grow Urn Plant if the tag is silver vase or urn plant. Pineapple is a different bromeliad grown for fruit. See How to Grow Pineapple if that is the plant you bought.

Earthstar fungus is a star-shaped puffball on the ground, not a houseplant. Starfish plant on this tag is still earth star. A starfish cactus is a different succulent. Zebra banding on a shop Cryptanthus is still this genus. A zebra plant with fat succulent leaves is Haworthia. See How to Grow Haworthia if that is the plant you bought.

Keep the mix evenly moist, and water when the surface is dry. Pups can wait until one is about a third the size of the mother.