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Species library › Aechmea › Aechmea mexicana
Other Well documented

Aechmea mexicana

A large, mostly epiphytic tank bromeliad found from Mexico to Ecuador, most often in warm lowland and foothill forest. It is easy-going: bright filtered light, warmth, and a tank kept topped up.

Aechmea mexicana
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Most records are from humid lowland and premontane forest on the Gulf slope of Mexico and in Costa Rica, where it grows on trunks and branches and sometimes on rocks or the ground. Detail is inferred from the record sites and the genus.

Recorded from 5 to 2,700 m, median 181 m; the highest records are probably outliers.

MexicoGuatemalaBelizeNicaraguaCosta RicaPanamaColombiaEcuador

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.