How to Grow Anthurium Brownii Step by Step

Last Updated on April 14, 2022 by Admin

The Anthurium Brownii has uniquely beautiful leaves. These are bright green with 3-lobes and look a bit crumpled.

While the leaves may look modest when young, they will get bigger over time making the plant look impressive.

It is native to South America, particularly, Costa Rica and Colombia. Although, you’ll also see it Hawaii quite a bit since the weather there is perfect for growing the Anthurium Brownii.

How do you care for the Anthurium Brownii? Keep the plant in medium to bright, indirect light. Avoid excess direct sunlight or very harsh light. It likes warm, humid environments.

To support the plant, feed it with a balanced fertilizer during its growing season. Don’t overwater it and use well-draining soil to avoid waterlogging.

Table of Contents

Anthurium Brownii Plant Care

Light Requirements

The Anthurium Brownii needs medium to bright indirect light to grow optimally. Here, it is important to consider the two aspects, the amount of light and the intensity.

The plant needs medium to bright light for photosynthesis. This allows it to produce it beautiful 3-lobed saturated green leaves.

Additionally, keep the intensity of its light source at indirect, filtered, dappled or diffused indoors. If you keep the plant outdoors, it is best suited for partial shade or slight shade.

Too little light is not good for the plant as it will struggle to grow.

While it may do okay, you’ll see its growth slow down, produce fewer leaves and smaller ones at that. Additionally, the color won’t be as vibrant.

On the other hand, you also want to avoid very intense light.

It cannot tolerate long hours of direct sunlight exposure or very harsh sun like that during the hottest times of the day (mid-day) and summer.

If you leaves it in this kind of environment, its leaves can turn yellow, become paler or experience sunburn.

Therefore, an east or west facing window are both great spots indoors. If you want to keep it near a south facing window, make sure to give it some protection to filter the sunlight.

Outdoors, the patio, balcony or porch work well. Ideally a spot with some kind of cover or shade that still lets plenty of light without getting hit by the direct rays of the sun.

Temperature

The Anthurium Brownii will tolerate temperatures between 60 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Although, its ideal range is between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

It likes a more moderate to warm climate condition since it is native to the tropical jungles of South America.

As such, it is used to weather that is warm to hot consistently throughout the year.

This is also why the Anthurium Brownii has become prevalent in Hawaii. The weather there is perfect for the plant.

This means that there are two conditions you want to be careful with.

One is inconsistency, especially sudden and drastic temperature fluctuations. Regular ups and down of hot to cold or vice versa will eventually cause problems for the Anthurium Brownii.

Additionally, keep it away from the cold.

It does not like temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Again, this is because there are no cold spells or winters in the tropics. Instead, it is sunshine and warm to hot weather even from November to March.

Therefore, if you experience four seasons where you live, make sure to keep the plant indoors during wintertime.

You can take it outdoors during summer to let it enjoy the bright sun and fresh air.

The only exception to this is if you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11. The plant enjoys these regions since it gets consistent sunny and warm conditions 365 days a year.

Humidity

The Anthurium Brownii thrives in humidity of 60% and 70%. Along with light, temperature and watering, humidity is important for the plant’s growth.

That’s because in the wild, the Anthurium Brownii is found in the rainforests.

Therefore, it is used to humidity of 70% and higher due to the regular rains that occur in that environment.

This makes the plant perfect for greenhouses of if you have a grow cabinet where you can control the conditions.

Additionally, it grows quite well in tropical climates as well as coastal locations due to their proximity to the water.

Note that the plant can tolerate humidity of 40% which somewhat makes it easier to care for indoors (at least for some homes).

The issue here is that most homes have humidity that’s between 20% and 50%. Additionally, winters will cause the air to dry up which leads to lower humidity as well.

Therefore, depending on where you live, you may or may not need to increase humidity around the plant.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to increase humidity for an entire room or your home. Instead, just the surrounding air around the plant is sufficient.

This is why misting, grouping houseplants together and using a pebble tray are all viable solutions. You can also use a humidifier if you prefer to just set the target humidity levels and leave it to run on its own.

How Often to Water Anthurium Brownii

The Anthurium Brownii likes moist soil. But this is one plant you do want to be more careful with watering too often.

That’s because it has fleshy roots. And you can check these out by unpotting the plant.

This means that its roots store moisture.

This is something other philodendron varieties don’t have (fleshy roots). And while this helps the plant tolerate dry periods better, it also makes it even more prone to overwatering and root rot.

Therefore, keep watering in moderation.

On average once a week of thorough watering is sufficient. However, make sure to adjust according to the changes in the weather.

The simplest way to make sure you don’t end up overwatering the plant is to always feel the soil before adding any water.

If the soil feels moist or wet, never add water.

Instead, the top few inches of soil needs to be completely dry before you water the plant. This is your main criteria.

And don’t worry about being late a day or two.

The plant won’t care.

Instead, never be early. That’s when you increase the risk of overwatering.

That said, don’t get complacent either and allow the plant to go bone dry for a while. It does not like this either.

If this happens, you’ll see its leaf tips turn yellow.

Anthurium Brownii Potting Soil

The Anthurium Brownii needs loose, well-draining potting soil to thrive. That’s because it is an epiphyte.

This means that in the wild, it grows on trees and other plants instead of growing in the soil. Thus, you don’t necessarily need to keep it in a pot with soil.

One example is that it will grow well in 100% sphagnum moss.

Also because of this, the plant’s roots enjoy a lot of oxygen. And they don’t stay wet for long periods of time since the airflow and light quickly allows them to dry up.

This is why the Anthurium Brownii is prone to overwatering and root root.

As such, avoid heavy soils or those that tend to retain a lot of moisture. These will spell trouble for the plant.

On your part, avoid watering it too often that it ends up wet and soaked in puddles of water.

Instead, soil with good drainage and aeration are essential.

The Anthurium Brownii also likes soil pH that is between 5.5 to 6.5.

A simple potting mix recipe you can use that works well consists of:

1 part peat moss
1 part coco coir
1 part succulent & cactus mix

Then add some compost to give the plant more organic matter content.

If you prefer something simpler, you can likewise go with:

1 part orchid bark
1 part coco coir or peat moss

Fertilizer

The Anthurium Brownii needs fertilizer to supply it with proper nutrients. But it does not need a lot of it.

Therefore, avoid overfeeding the plant.

Instead, you can use a balanced, liquid fertilizer once a month during the spring and summer. This will allow the plant to grow well.

Use a half or quarter blend by diluting the fertilizer with water when you use it.

If you want the plant to bloom more, you can go with a fertilizer that has a higher middle number. The higher phosphorus content will increase blooming.

There’s no need to feed the plant during fall or winter.

And avoid adding more fertilizer or increasing the frequency since this will be harmful for the plant.

The reason is that commercial fertilizers contain salts. So, while you’re giving it more nutrients when you feed it extra, it also increase the amount of salt that builds up in the soil.

This is toxic to the plant.

Therefore, it is good practice to flush the soil once every few months to get rid of the excess salts and minerals in the soil.

Pruning

The Anthurium Brownii will grow to about 2 to 3 feet high. Its leaves can grow to a foot long.

However, the stems and the leaves make up the entire plant above the soil. Therefore, there’s really no need to prune the plant unless you want to make it look a certain way.

You will need to remove the dead, yellow, brown or damaged leaves. Also, take out any old or diseased leaves as well.

But outside of that, there isn’t really much pruning necessary.

On the other hand, since the stems make up most of the bottom part of the plant, it can look sparse if you don’t have many leaves or your plant does not have large leaves.

Therefore, pruning is a good way to make the plant grow more.

How to Propagate Anthurium Brownii

Stem cuttings are the most effective way to propagate the Anthurium Brownii.

While there are other methods to propagate this plant, growing new ones from stem cuttings is simpler, more efficient as gives you faster results.

Therefore, it is what most home gardeners do.

Here’s how to propagate the Anthurium Brownii from stem cuttings.

Choose a healthy stem with at least one node with a few leaves on it. Make sure each stem cutting has at least one node on it. Otherwise, it won’t propagate.
To take the cutting, use a sterile pair of shears and cut just below the node.
Prepared a pot and fill it with well-draining soil.
Then plant the cutting by burying the node in the soil along with some stem. Don’t bury the entire stem in the soil.
Water the soil and keep it moist. And keep the pot in bright, indirect light.

It usually takes about 4 weeks or so for the cuttings to root.

And these will establish themselves in the soil after that.

How to Repot or Transplant Anthurium Brownii

The Anthurium Brownii needs repotting once it is root bound. Therefore, check the bottom of the pot every spring to see if the roots are sneaking out of the drainage holes.

If there are quite a few roots peeking out from the holes at the bottom of the pot, it is time to repot.

The reason I like doing this early spring is that this is the best time to repot.

Therefore, if the plant happens to be root bound, you can prepare the tools you need and repot in a few days.

When repotting, go with a pot that is one size larger than the current container. Avoid going any bigger as this will increase the risk of root rot.

Additionally, replace the soil with fresh well-draining potting mix.

Is It Toxic/Poisonous to Humans, Cats & Dogs

The Anthurium Brownii is toxic to people and animals when ingested. This means that it is safe to touch the plant. However, avoid chewing, swallowing or consuming any part of it.

This is true for both young children, dogs and cats who may accidentally or out of curiosity do so.

Anthurium Brownii Problems & Troubleshooting

Pests

The Anthurium Brownii is not particularly prone to pests. But like all houseplants, it can experience them at one point or another.

As such, you need to regularly check it in order to be able immediately treat it if there happens to be any bugs.

Mealybugs, aphids and spider mites are the common pests that will attack the plant.

These are all sap suckers which means they feed on the plant’s sap, which are its internal juices. Sap contains moisture and nutrients.

So, the larger the infestation grows, the weaker your plant will get.

Diseases

Due to its ability to store moisture in its fat roots, the plant becomes more susceptible to overwatering.

This is why it is important to avoid watering it too frequently or allowing it to get waterlogged.

As such, allowing the soil to dry between watering, using well-draining soil and a pot with drainage holes at the bottom will reduce the risk of overwatering and root rot.