For green thumbers, holiday travel can be frustrating. It’s nothing to do with trying to pack light, turning off water supplies or figuring out which electronics to leave on. For plant lovers, a bigger issue is what to do with their leafy friends. Without being able to keep an eye on that hanging Swiss Cheese plant above the big picture window or those Peace Lilies and Corn plants on the bookshelf, how can returning home to a dead plant be avoided? Seasons change. Sealing windows may help to keep out cold drafts for tropical plants. Carefully adjusting blinds may help to avoid blinding low-light plants with sunlight. But then there’s the matter of keeping your home secure from onlookers.

It can make some homeowners throw in the towel and just buy fake plants. That way, they’ll never have to worry about dying plants again. But what about air plants? Could those be the happy medium between artificial plants and plants that depend on soil to survive?

What Are Air Plants?

One of the biggest perks of this type of plant (epiphyte) is it needs no soil. Although their leaves look otherworldly, air plants are indeed alive. Their care regimen is just a little different than your average houseplant. They grow on top of other plants (usually trees), and get their nutrients from air, debris, dust and water. The silver leaf air plants are the most likely to do OK with a drought (and longer travel) while green air plants tend to need water more often (but not nearly as much as most houseplants).

How to Care for Air Plants

A few rules of thumb when it comes to air plants are to keep them out of direct sunlight, water them weekly or bi-monthy, and don’t be afraid to get touchy with these plants. Because these plants grow in the wild and shady places, they’re used to being in indirect (but bright) sunlight. In the southern region of the United States, Central and South America, and Mexico, air plants are used to high humidity and rainfall. So your home needs to mirror their natural habitat by watering air plants as needed. (Each air plant has its own watering regimen, so don’t assume that if you can water one every two weeks that the other one doesn’t need a weekly watering.)

Don’t pull out the flower pots and the watering can with these plants though. Put the air plant into a large enough bowl or cup for it to submerge into the water. Let it soak for approximately 30 minutes. Turn the air plant upside down, gently shaking out excess water beforehand, onto a towel. Let the extra water drain off while the air plant is still upside down. (Just like houseplants should be put into pots with drainage holes, air plants need to drain to prevent rotting.) Then, return to them to the original air plant dish they were living in.

Expanding Your Air Plant Collection

Because they only bloom once in their lifetimes, plant owners will have a decision to make. Either detach the pups from the parent plant at the base to grow them separately. (The parent plant won’t die for a few years usually; it will eventually shrink up.) Then, start the process all over again. Or, let the pups grow in clumps onto the mother plant. Unlike houseplants that have to have yellow leaves and dead leaves pulled away to avoid hurting the remainders, this isn’t the case with air plants.

Where Air Plants Should Be Stored

Air plants are usually pest-free, minus the occasional mealybug. Female mealybugs lay 300 to 600 eggs, which hatch in a few days. In a couple of months, the hatched insects are ready to lay eggs again, so this process can go on indefinitely. If they’re found on air plants, that plant should be isolated (mealybugs eat plant sap) and wiped with a damp cotton swab. As long as it’s not extremely hot and sunny outside, air plants can then be set outside so birds can handle the rest. (This is a good time to buy a birdhouse, bird feeder or bird bath. Don’t just stick the infected air plant in a garden.)

Without the pest problem, air plants can pretty much survive anywhere: bark slabs, dishes filled with pebbles, glass globes, glass vases, sea shells, terrariums, trays or windowsills. While they can also mingle with houseplants that are in soil, be careful with that option, primarily due to the risk of overwatering. Carefully place air plants between the dry leaves of house plants instead.

Air Plants Are Ideal for Business and Leisure Travelers

Because of the minimal care needed to survive, these plants are much easier to take care of for people who travel a considerable amount of time. If all else fails and you know you’ll be gone longer than a week or two, and if TSA has no qualms about the type of air plant, your greenery can come along with you in a carry-on bag. There’s no soil or fertilizer spillage to worry about. Just make sure to get the air plant near suitable light in a window sill as soon as you reach your destination. And let housekeeping staff know not to throw it out while you’re out and about.