Knitting Up a Little Planter for our Tillandsias

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Hey there, how are you doing? It’s been a strange week here. The temperatures have yo-yo’ed between sweltering and freezing, which is very unusual for this time of the year. We don’t know if we should get our winter coats out of storage or put a bikini on 😀 Even our garden is saying “what the fudge!!?” So we spent the weekend doing some preventative maintenance just in case. Tender new shoots got little blankets of their own and spent about an hour knitting up a little planter for our Tillandsias. They all made a whole bunch of pups, which need a new home.

Tillandsias or “Air Plants” are fascinating little things. They do all their feeding through their leaves rather than their roots and they can grow on almost anything. From rocks, seashells, forks, clay tubes, leather and scraps of wood. As long as the wood hasn’t been pressure treated. 

 

You can even combine different things to show off your air plants like I did with this one. 

 

Okay, before I show you how to knit your own Tillandsia planters, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

What you need to make a knitted planter

• A scrap piece of wood
• Jute twine
• Knitting needles
• Embroidery needle

This knitted planter is suitable for small Tillandsias or succulents. I put tillies in mine.

 

How to make a knitted planter

I wasn’t 100% sure what this piece of scrap wood had been stained with so we sanded it down and used a heat gun to bring out that beautiful grain, before sealing the wood with a non-toxic outdoor sealer.

 

There are many different ways to attach Tillandsias to wood. Soft wire, elastic stretch cord, or glue. We normally use E6000 because it’s waterproof and non-toxic to plants, but I wanted to try something a little different this time. So instead of gluing the Tillies on, I used natural jute twine to loosely knit three rectangles, which were gathered at the bottom to form small pockets.

Knitting keeps me from unraveling Click to Tweet

The pockets need to be “loose” to allow for proper airflow. Tillies don’t like feeling smothered.

 

I used a paper template to figure out where to drill some holes so I could sew the pockets onto the piece of wood.

 

Adding the Air Plants

Once all the pockets had been sewn on they were filled with a tiny bit of coconut fiber and the Tillandsia pups. The coconut fiber helps “anchor” the Tillies until they get a little bigger. It should encourage them to grow some roots too.

 

Tillies thrive in bright indirect light and don’t mind a few hours of direct sun in the morning or afternoon.

 

We’ve hung ours outside on a western wall that gets early morning sun and dappled shade for the rest of the day.

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m loving the look.

 

We’ll watch our pups for the next few weeks and if the weather carries on being temperamental we’ll bring them inside for a bit. Just until they’re settled. Or I might even bake up a few clay cubes and keep them there while Mother Nature figures out what season we’re in. 

But I would love to know what do you think? Would you knit up a plater for your air plants?

If you like the idea of making a knitted planter, don’t forget to pin it for later.

Oh and if you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us make more amazing crafts to share with you 😉

And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then maybe these beauties will appeal.

And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.

Last update on 2026-08-16 / Source Amazon Affiliates