How to Grow & Care for Anthurium Plants

Last Updated on March 19, 2022 by Admin

Anthuriums are bright red colored flowers that are uniquely amazing to look at. But, it’s not all about looks.

Besides its lovely appearance, these plants are tough enough to survive in less than ideal conditions. Thus, making them perfect if you’re very busy or don’t have a lot of gardening experience.

Best of all, the little work you put it gets rewarded in a big way since their flowers last a long time.

Learn how to properly care for anthuriums by reading on.

Table of Contents

About Anthuriums

The anthurium plant is also commonly known as the flamingo flower. But, it likewise has other nicknames like tailflower and laceleaf.

Also, it’s also worth noting that there are over 1,000 different species of anthuriums around. So, don’t be surprised to see a few that don’t resemble what you’re familiar with.

That said, these plants are known for their beautiful bright colors and unique looking shapes. You’re likely familiar with their red and yellow colors since they’re often used in cut-flower arrangements.

Better yet, they can bloom at any time of the year lasting as long as 2 months.

What many people don’t know is that there are actually some species better known for their foliage rather than their blooms. Unfortunately, they’re often overshadowed by their more showy counterparts. As such, you’ll usually find them in specialty nurseries.

Anthuriums usually grow up to only 12 to 18 inches tall. Thus, they’re fairly compact making them good houseplant options. This makes them perfect in tall pots on tabletops.

Anthurium Plant Care

Anthurium Light Requirements

Anthuriums enjoy bright, indirect light. And, they don’t like direct sunlight exposure. Putting them in a location where they receive this kind of intensity for hours a day can cause their leaves to get scorched.

Although, it would be a good idea to give them that during the winter months since the sun’s intensity significantly diminishes during that time of the year.

That said, you also do need to keep them from getting too little light. That’s because, low light conditions will slow down their flower production. It will also prevent them from growing as they normally should.

Anthurium Temperature & Humidity

Since they hail from the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, they enjoy warm and humid climates.

As such, providing them with an environment that’s similar to what they’re used to allows them to feel at home. Thus, grow optimally.

This makes them thrive in zones 10 and higher regions. But, you can likewise keep them as houseplants if you live in cooler climate areas. Or, take them out during the warmer months and bring them back indoors once the temperatures start dropping.

In general, they prefer the thermostat is set to between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. They also do better when the night time temperature doesn’t decrease too much compared to that in the daytime.

However, once the mercury starts to go below 60 degrees, you’ll start to notice your plant feel uncomfortable. The longer and lower the temperature, the more it will suffer.

Similarly, it likes humid conditions.

Thus, if your home’s air is fairly dry, a quick fix would be to put the plant’s container over some pebbles in a water tray. The evaporation from the water below will increase the humidity above it.

You can likewise set up a humidifier if you have a few plants that need this similar environment.

Watering Anthurium

Like most houseplants, anthuriums need more water during their growing season (spring and summer). Thus, make sure that the soil is kept moist during this time.

As always, be careful not to give it too much to drink. It’s very susceptible to root rot if it stays in wet conditions for long periods of time.

Once the cooler months of fall and winter come around, you can scale back watering. But, never allow the soil to completely dry out.

Once the soil feels dry to the touch, it’s time to give it some watering. Allowing your anthurium to dry out will result in slow growth.

But, the real problem is that it’s not easy to get the root ball moist again. To do so, you’ll need to soak the pot in water for about an hour to try and rehydrate it.

Soil

Anthuriums like loose potting soil that’s rich in organic matter. This allows it to drain excess moisture fairly well while retaining nutrients for the plant to use.

Thus, you can use potting soil mixed with perlite or orchid soil. Both of which work well to promote aeration by keeping it loose.

If you prefer to plant your anthuriums straight into the ground, do choose a spot where the soil drains well and doesn’t get compacted.

Fertilizing

Anthuriums don’t need to be fed a lot.

All they need is an application of high phosphorus fertilizer once every 3 to 4 months diluted to a quarter of the indicated strength.

You can use both liquid and pellet formulations.

Anthurium Propagation

Anthuriums have a lifespan of 5 years and longer. As such, with proper care and the right conditions, you should be able to enjoy their beauty for a long time.

However, you can likewise propagate them by division if you want to add more plants or keep them around you indefinitely.

The best time to divide these plants is when you’re repotting them. After all, you’ll be taking them out of their containers anyway. So, why not take advantage of the situation.

While this is often done when the plant has outgrown its pot, you can likewise do so when it starts getting too big.

Dividing it allows you to keep its size manageable. And, in the process let all the plants produced after be healthier with better flowering potential.

Here’s how to do it.

Take the rootball out of the pot.
Separate the roots if they’re all bundled together.
Find offshoots that you can separate.
Put each of them in a new pot and replant them.

How many you end up dividing them into depends on how many you want and how many are available. Thus, you can end up with two or five of them.

Repotting Anthurium

Anthuriums aren’t the fastest growers. As such, you won’t need to repot them too often. In all likelihood, you’ll only do so when they’ve outgrown their pot or you want to refresh the potting mix.

Since they do well when slightly underpotted, it becomes even less of an issue.

That said, when you do repot them, do use good quality potting soil.

Also, position them high such that their crown is just above the soil line.

Toxicity

While they’re amazing houseplants, it’s important to keep your anthuriums away from curious kids and pets. Their leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals which is toxic to humans and animals.

Thus, ingesting or even chewing them can result in skin irritation as well as other unpleasant effects.