Anthurium care guide
The Anthurium has around 600 species, which all have stunning leaves. These plants are epiphytes which outdoors grow on trees for support, which promotes aerial root growth, and bigger folliage.
(all Anthurium plants are quite toxic, so keep it out of reach of small children, and of course your pets!)
I reached out to PlantsWithRoos (@PlantsWithRoos on YouTube, Instagram, Patreon and Tiktok. www.PlantsWithRoos.com), and asked for a golden Anthurium tip. She responded! She said, and i quote : ¨That's amazing! My golden tip is to give them a bigger pot quite quickly, then the leaves will grow bigger very fast. But use well draining soil or it will rot the roots! (Mix in lots of bark, pumice, perlite, leca or whatever you have)¨
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FLOWERS
The flowers of the Anthurium Andreanum for example, has a thick stem-like thing at the start of the flower, which is called an "inflorescence". And are suprisingly easy to pollinate.
If grown in the right conditions, they can grow berries on their infloresence/spandex after pollination.
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POLLINATION
For pollination, find a male, and a female inflorescence. A male inflorescence is easy to identify. Just look for a inflorescence with yellow-ish powder on the inflorescence. That is the male stage. Right after the inflorescence has been in the male stage for a while, it can change to the female stage. The female stage has a thick, viscuous liquid that is not the same as nectar (although some anthuriums do produce a tiny amount of nectar) on the inflorescence. Rub the male inflorescence on the female one. Successful pollination will cause the Anthurium to develop small berries containing 1-3 seeds, which you can squeeze out and germinate in a loose, moist potting mix. Anthurium seeds die if they dry out, so saving them is difficult.
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WATERING
The watering is quite simple, water the plant when the soil is 75% dry. In the winter months, it is better to let the soil dry out in between waterings.
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PROPAGATION
As you've read at the 'Pollination' part, propagation can be done by seeds, and stem cuttings.
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LIGHT REQUIREMENTS
The Anthurium prefers bright indirect light. That basically means that the plant can see the sun, but the sun can't see the plant. Of course, the plant can and definetely enjoy bright direct light, but it may burn the leaves.
Many people keep it under a grow light, which i do recommend.
Remember, the more light, the more happines!
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MEDIUMS
I just bought my first Anthurium, and i realized that mine does well in a chunky soil mix. Not too chunky, because the plant likes to be stable in its pot, My standard soil mix is universal soil, perlite, LECA, coco peat and coco chips. I´ve seen people grow Anthruiums in Fluval stratum (aquarium substrate) and LECA.
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