I want to place 7-10 Bromeliad billbergia on plant stands in an area, off the ground to show off their blooms. Any ideas for an inexpensive way to do this? Thought about inverted clay pots but would rather have them higher off the ground, say 18"-2 feet. Any great ideas for me?

Here's an idea for mounting them on a tree. There are plastic clips that screw into the tree and hold tight to the lips of the pots.

I'm always hitting up thrift shops for plastic children's tables, milk crates, wire shelves and pretty much anything for setting plants on. If I don't like the color then some Krylon Fusion fixes that problem. Here are some of my finds .. btw that green and white table with nothing on it was originally red and blue .. I haven't got anything on it as I'm waiting to put a 2nd coat of paint on it.

Thanks for the fantastic ideas! @Bubbles, Sandy, what type of medium if ay do you anchor your broms with? I know the epiphytes don't need soil. Perlite, maybe?? The less soil the better for me in this case as it would add less weight to the pot. Planning on using some old tomato cages to raise them above ground.

I use Sunshine mix. It comes in a big block. I use it for starting plants, and blend it with compost for repotting. If you have a lot of wind whipping around, you might want a little heavier mix to anchor them.

Tomato cages turned upside down and 4 inches cut off bottom prongs and later pushed into round hanging planters without hangers. The round hanging planters become the top and when plants grow longer they hide tomato cage. Also pieces cut off can become ground staples for part that you push into ground to help hold it all upright. Found this is my Garden Gate magazine. Hope it helps.

Bonnie

Bonnie - I saw the same article and thought it was a great idea! I may try that this year.

I like using orchid bark or a mix of bark and clay pellets for Bromeliads. I have a couple of friends like to use pine fines and perilite. I think they get the fines at Southern States. Another good option is a Pro Mix BRK, if you can find it wholesale it's about $15 for a 2.8cu' bag.

You just convinced me that the place I thought of, locally, as "semi-wholesale" really isn't. Their price for any Pro-Mix product is $38 / 3.8 cu ft compressed bale.

Hmmm. "3.8 CF bale", not "2.8 CF bag".

If the "compression" packs 36% more mix per cubic foot into the bale, than into the bag, those are the same prices!

$15 X (3.8 / 2.8) = $20.36

$20.35 / $15 = 136%

I guess they DO have good prices!

I think I'm paying around $26 for a 3.8 bale wholesale, although I've seen it at $42-45 retail at gardening centers. Retail mark-up can be ridiculous, I remember delivering 10" hanging baskets @ $10 wholesale, and seeing them priced from $25-30.

I can easily believe a factor of two markup, but 3X seems like a lot!

These were stock baskets from which we took cutting most of the winter, very full, very nice. and retailed at a high end florist in Bucks Co. Pa. Think Baldwin Brass, FTD, and Lenox china. That was there regular mark-up on nice plants. What the market would bear, and it was a lucrative market.

Yeah, "all the market will bear" is probably what they teach in business school.

Since, to most people, growing healthy plants is totally nysterious magic, the markup can be large.

Hi everyone! I usually go to thrift stores and look for shelving or small children's chairs! I found cheap floating shelves and love my pothos on them! Oh, stacked books under a flower pot is cute too.

Old wooden step ladders can make a great display for potted plants, even with the back legs off, tilted, and "hung" on the wall.

Bubbles said:Here's an idea for mounting them on a tree. There are plastic clips that screw into the tree and hold tight to the lips of the pots.

Cheryl, I just this moment saw this post, & would also like to share with you what I did. It sounds exactly what Bubbles was describing.


I think my dad got them at Green thumb- they are attached on my patio walls throughout & attach by a screw on top & bottom of the clip.

Yep! Those are the same. I believe I bought mine through a co-op years ago. They are still looking great. We did have to replace the screws with longer ones last year. The tree limb grew bigger and the hangers are rigid. The bottom screws popped out.