Dear folks, honestly, I have this question still linger in mind in these last couple months, but I was ashamed of asking you this trifling question. Here, it was started when I noticed some grown up foliage Anthurium pictures like blonpandii, jenmanii, hookerii and others in the net. I found that it seemed they never do reppotting on their plants. But the plant is just OK and they have grown up well. The pot is so tiny so the roots come out of the pot everywhere, which this thing is something never happened in my neighbourhood. My countrymen never let roots disorderly out of the pot. They always do repotting to a bigger and wider pot when they think that roots need more space. The purpose is to keep roots inside media. And so every single root got its feed. I know that Anthurium is basically epiphyt. Plowmanii species and cultivars, the roots are tend to grow wide while hookerii, jenmanii and its cultivars grow down under (how's going ed ?). Correct me when I am wrong. So the really question is don't you think you need a repotting ?. And about splitting, how do you do a splitting to foliage Anthurium ?. This easily done when I did it for exercise with my Andreanum and simple heart shaped leaf like clarinervium. I just cut it in two and planted. No fungus infection or got rotten. But when I did split for my illewelynii, I just win the upper part. Is it matter of plant age ?. OK. That's it for now, sorry for disorderly english. *bows*
I have divided a few very large birds nest type Anthuriums . Just hacked the trunk into chunks with a large machete . Each section struck easily. I trimmed roots of a section and planted horizontally . Most sections grew a few offsets , I waited until they had enough roots and then seperated them . No idea of what species they were , I have given up trying to ID any birds nest , unless it has a distinctive characteristic . Not many do.
Thanks Mike. Illewelynii is one of birds nest. I lost the bottom part. The age is just about 8 months. I left the bottom in media with 2 leaves. It stopped grow, leaves got pale, weak and dried, while the upper grow its roots.
My experience has been the same as Mic's. I have even taken small chunks of the trunk with roots attached after I made the division and planted them and had those pieces grow a completely new plant. I don't know that is absolutely necessary, but I have always elected to use a fungicide to help avoid fungal growth when dividing a plant. Anthurium species are generally very strong and withstand a lot of abuse. Think about it. Most plants in the rain forest never even get a root near soil, the simply dangle in the trees. They have to struggle for all their moisture, light and nutrients. We give them pampered lives as compared to what they would experience in nature.
G'day everyone... Are we talking about seperating one plant by chopping chunks off for a new plant? Or are we talking about seperating 2 plants? Ed
I believe the original question had to do with division. Many aroids produce suckers which can be divided from the parent. But I've also had some luck when doing so in planting pieces of the larger plant that fell off (were severed) but also contained roots. In several cases I've been able to grow new plants.
Do you think I should give it a go on my big birdsnest, Steve? Actually my big one is 2 plants, so do you think, at that size, I could successfully divide it? My other birdsnest is half the size, should I have a go at trying to get another plant from this? Also, with my A. superbum, does this mean I could do this with that, when it gets a bit older? What would be the minimum height/age? So many quetions I know, sorry.... BTW no berries for me, just new spathes, so I guess I will never get an ID : ( But I wait in hope for berries, I'm just not holding my breath ; ) Ed
Ed , if your little superbum has any length of stem , study it , and if you can cut of a bit with some roots, and still leave some roots for the top . Give it a try . I often do this when repotting seedlings , especially if it a rare one that I only have a few . Anthuriums are so easy to divide this way . I would keep the stump in some spagnum moss until it sprouts . Sometimes you can get several plants from a stump cut from a mature plant . This can take a long time , but once a new shoot has new leaves and roots, remove it . The stump can shot more , it just depends how many nodes there are present , they seem to have lots more than other plants I have propagated.
Thanks Mick I will give it a go when I get time, but I am not confident to do this to the superbum just yet, but may try with the bogotense... Ed
Ha ha ha.. I will do the same if I have my superboom. Talking about superboom, I saw once in a plant exhibition, an anthurium called neo superboom. The new leaf is reddish that's what I thought it make a difference to 'real' superboom. Maybe that's what you people call it Willifordi.
Well I didn't think I made any mistake with my effort then. I tried to split or divine a plant that contain 2 plants like Ed's. I didn't forget the fungicide while I blend it with root hormone like GoldenGrow. You are right Steve, maybe I just need more luck to do next divine. And now talking about reppoting, Steve, if mother nature can be so hard to Anthurium, don't you think it is good for us to help one of her child named Anthurium to give a proper place for roots and a better feed instead, rather than we just let it grows by its own mother ?. So it won't have to struggle too hard for all their moisture, light and nutrients. Here is what's in my mind, I want my foliage Anthurium grows faster and faster. And at certain point, which I think it has leafes I desire-size and amount, I will start to decrease all fertilizers(I use both organic and anorganic) I use before to let it grows naturally. What do you think about this ?.
Ed, Mic's advice is exactly what I would have said. And Blackbeauty, certainly! If you give almost any Anthurium good care it will become a larger and more beautiful specimen than can be found in the wild. They receive almost no fertilizer in the natural state and they constantly have to defend themselves against predation as well as the rough treatment Mother Nature can provide. Since we generally grow them in a more protected environment, our plants are often both larger and more beautiful. I've seen them up in trees with every leaf is filled with holes and torn spots. Sometimes I get holes in the leaves as well, but not nearly as often as those found in wild specimens. So certainly, since we treat them as prized specimens, give your Anthurium specimens the best care possible. Dr. Croat has explained several times we grow captive specimens much larger than wild specimens due to all the fertilizer and care we offer the plants. I've got some that have never produced seeds and as a result I only have the single plant. A few can't even be identified. Don't know about most, but I hate to loose any plant so I try my best to treat them all, especially the rare ones, as gently as possible.
And finally gentlemen, which is you think better for Anthurium roots, all covered in media or letting them come out everywhere ?.
It is very natural for the roots to be exposed to air. I personally believe it is just a matter of taste since the plant doesn't really care. But if you leave them exposed to air you need to keep them misted. In the rain forest they capture water almost daily from the falling rain. I have one specimen hanging from the ceiling with very large leaves and the roots dangle and hang almost 3 meters long. Quite a few of my Anthurium plants have roots that are 2 meters long or slightly longer.