Plants
Earth star
Cryptanthus bivittatus
BeginnerFine in a closed jar
A flat, striped star of a bromeliad. Slow, and bleaches in heat.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 3,000 to 12,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 50 to 85 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 16 to 29 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below 5 or above 38 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 5 to 6 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 0.2 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 0.5 cm/month
- How fast its edge creeps outwards.
- Copes with wet
- fair
- How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
- Copes with still air
- good
- Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
- Copes with shade
- fair
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- good
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.06 ml/cm²/day
- Water drawn up from its roots per cm² of leaves in room air; a sealed jar cuts this to a fraction and returns it down the glass.
- Leaf drop
- 2 %/month
- Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
- Soft leaves
- no
- Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
- Full size
- 10 cm tall, 15 cm wide
- Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.
Care
- Day length
- 10 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- waterlogged substrate (crown rot)
- frost
- midday direct sun
Description
This bromeliad hugs the ground instead of perching on trees, and it is one of the best picks for a jar. Growth is slow. Too much shade dulls its stripes, so give it decent light without letting the jar run hot.
Also called starfish plant.
Estimated, where sources were thin: temp_c; temp_lethal_c; growth rates; humidity_rh_pct.