Bridal Veil Plant : How to Grow This Beautiful Flowering Houseplant

Learn how to grow and care for the stunning Bridal Veil Plant, a beautiful flowering houseplant. This guide provides tips on light, watering and maintenance to keep your plant healthy and flourishing indoors.

The Bridal Veil plant (Gibasis pellucida), also known as Tahitian Bridal Veil, is a graceful and delicate trailing houseplant. Its thin, dark green leaves are accented by small, white, star-shaped flowers, which give the plant its “bridal veil” appearance. This plant is part of the Commelinaceae family, related to the popular Wandering Jew plant.

Here’s a detailed chart for the Bridal Veil Plant:

What Is a Bridal Veil Plant?

The bridal veil plant, scientifically known as Tripogandra or Tradescantia, is a flowering perennial native to parts of Mexico and Guatemala. It’s a trailing variety from the spiderwort family, known for producing masses of tiny three-petaled white flowers.

As the blooms emerge in clusters along slim, arching stems, they create tiers of lacy, veil-like displays that gracefully spill over the sides of containers. Some varieties even feature attractive green, purple or silvery foliage to complement the delicate white flowers.

While incredibly beautiful when in bloom, these interesting houseplants are also surprisingly low-maintenance when you provide the right conditions. They make excellent choices for beginner gardeners or those looking to add some unique, eye-catching interest to their indoor gardens.

Caring for Bridal Veil Plants

Getting a bridal veil houseplant to flourish and produce those stunning flower displays largely comes down to meeting its ideal care requirements. Here are some tips for keeping your bridal veil happy and blooming.

Lighting

As you might expect from its trailing, vining nature, the bridal veil plant evolved to grow under the bright, filtered light of rainforest canopies. That means it prefers bright, indirect sunlight when grown as a houseplant.

Too much direct sun can scorch the delicate leaves and flowers, while not enough light results in sparse, leggy growth and fewer blooms. An east or west-facing window is perfect for achieving the right balance.

Watering

Like most houseplants, the bridal veil likes its soil to dry out slightly between waterings. That said, it won’t tolerate excessive dryness or overwatering for too long. Aim to keep the potting mix evenly moist, but never soggy.

Watering every 5-7 days is a good general rule of thumb, though your particular conditions may require more or less frequent watering. Check the soil by sticking your finger down into the pot, and water thoroughly when the top inch or two of soil is dry.

Temperature and Humidity

Being a tropical plant, the bridal veil prefers warm, humid conditions around 65-80°F. Standard household temperatures are typically fine as long as you avoid drafty areas or excessive heat.

To boost humidity, set the plant’s container on a pebble tray partially filled with water, group it among other plants, or use a small humidifier nearby. The bridal veil will show its dislike for dry air by developing brown leaf tips or edges.

Potting Mix

A well-draining yet moisture-retentive potting mix is ideal for bridal veil plants. A quality, porous mix made for houseplants is a good choice, or you can create your own blend by mixing potting soil, peat moss, and perlite in equal parts.

These plants don’t mind being moderately rootbound, but aim to repot every two years or so in the spring by moving to a slightly larger container. This gives the roots some fresh potting mix to spread into.

Fertilizing

Feed your bridal veil plant lightly during the spring and summer growing months with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted to half strength. Fertilizing every 4-6 weeks is plenty. Hold off on feeding during the winter when growth naturally slows.

Pruning

While their long, trailing stems are part of what gives bridal veil plants their elegant charm, an unruly plant with overgrown stems can look unkempt. Use clean, sharp pruners to trim back stems as needed to keep the plant neat and contained. Cutting back overgrown vines also encourages more branching and lush new growth.

After flowering has finished for the season, you can give the entire plant a light trim and shaping to prepare it for its dormant period over the winter months.

How to Get a Bridal Veil to Bloom

Want your bridal veil houseplant to put on an incredible floral show and produce those trademark lacy white blooms? The key is providing it with the ideal conditions during the winter months, as this signals to the plant that spring is near and triggers the flowering cycle.

Starting in late fall, allow the plant’s soil to dry out more between waterings and place it in a spot with cooler temperatures around 50-60°F. Reducing watering and exposing the plant to cooler temps essentially sends it into a dormant state for the winter.

Then as spring approaches, gradually increase watering and move the plant back to a warm, bright location. With the combination of longer daylight hours and warm temps, you should be rewarded with those gorgeous trailing white blooms within 4-6 weeks.

Key Takeaways:

• Provide bright, indirect light
• Water when top inch of soil is dry
• Maintain warm, humid conditions
• Use well-draining potting mix
• Fertilize every 4-6 weeks in spring/summer
• Prune to shape and encourage branching
• Cool temps and drying out soil triggers blooming

With its explosion of delicate flowers that softly drape down like a bride’s lacey veil, it’s hard not to be captivated by this unique houseplant specimen. A flourishing bridal veil makes a breathtaking statement on tabletops, shelves, or when allowed to elegantly trail down from a hanging basket.

While far from commonplace, the whimsical bridal veil plant is definitely worth seeking out if you want to add some serious flair and conversation-starting beauty to your houseplant displays. With the right care, you too can enjoy this beautifully romantic flowering houseplant!