I bought an Anthurium plant today in a 6" pot for a couple bucks at Walmart (no flowers) but I really don't know much about them as far as care. I heard they can be tricky??? Does anyone have experience with this plant? What they like as far as light & watering? Thanks for any information!
Most of the anthurium plants you can buy at places like WalMart are hybrids. Many began as clones of Anthurium andreanum. For the most part anthurium species are relatively easy to care for provided you attempt to give them the tropical conditions they come from originally. We collect a large number of the rarer species of the genus (not hybrids) and most prefer indirect light and well draining soil that is kept damp, not soaking wet. We have found a good soil mixture to be composed of a moisture control type soil with extra peat, Perlite™, and orchid bark mixed in. If you use a very dilute liquid fertilizer when you water the plant should again begin to bloom on a fairly regular basis. Just keep the soil damp. These hybrids were created to be frequent bloomers. Anthurium tend not to like temps that are much below 55 degrees F. So keep it in a warm place and around high humidity if at all possible. In our atrium the humidity stays constantly around 85% and we have anthurium producing inflorescences most of the year. Very likely, your plant came originally from a field in Hawaii.
Thank you for all the information! Although I might be in trouble as far as humidity goes, as soon as it stops raining and the temperature's go up a little more, I'll be putting it outside.
Here's a simple trick developed by Dr. Mardy Darian from Vista, California. Take a larger shallow pot that is larger than the bottom of the pot your anthurium is in. That pot will work best if it is at least 3 to 4 inches deep. Fill it with fair sized rocks (about 1 inch) and then cover all the rocks with water. Sit your anthurium on top of those rocks. Make sure the rocks rise above the water level. When you water the anthurium the excess will drain into the pot with the rocks. And the water in that second pot will evaporate around the leaves of your anthurium and keep the air in the immediate vicinity higher in humidity. Just make sure you keep water in the pot with the rocks. Simple, but it works! Dr. Darian has had some amazing results growing very rare anthurium species in a dry climate using this technique.
I did think about what your discribing that I know of as a pebble tray, but I wan't sure that method really worked that well on high humidity plants. Since you have said it doee, then I will definitely give that a try!!! I will soon be setting up an indoor water fountain which I'm hoping will help out a little too. Thank you!
Having seen quite a few photos of Dr. Darian's exceptional anthurium species I'd say it works incredibly well! Do it!
