Useful information

Anthurium in nature and at home

Genus anthurium(Anthurium), according to various estimates, it contains up to 500, possibly 900 (or even 1500!) species and is part of the extensive and very popular among indoor flower lovers Aroid family (this includes plants such as alocasia, philodendrons, monstera, syngoniums, scindapsus, zamioculcas, dieffenbachia , aglaonema, spathiphyllum, anubias, cryptocoryne, taro, etc.). All types of anthuriums are appreciated by amateurs for their beautiful leathery, shiny, sometimes just huge, leaves. In home collections there are decorative leaf species: Crystal Anthurium(Anthurium crystallinum), Hooker's Anthurium(Anthurium hookeri), Anthurium Veitch(Anthurium veitchii)... Some grow like vines, such as Anthurium climbing(Anthurium scandens), and are used for vertical gardening. However, the most popular are two types, which have a bright and expressive leaf covering the inflorescence (bedspread). These types include Anthurium Andre(Anthurium andreanum) and Scherzer's anthurium(Anthurium scherzerianum).

More about the diversity and biological features of anthuriums - in the description of the genus Anthurium.

Anthurium Andre (Anthurium andreanum)Anthurium sherzerianum

All known anthurium species come from the tropics of Central and South America. Most are epiphytes or semi-epiphytes (they grow partially or completely on trees), some grow on stones (lithophytes), while others have adapted to live on the wet banks of fast streams for part of the year, but are not, however, truly aquatic plants.

Most loved is Anthurium Andre, a plant with a shortened stem and many closely spaced, leathery, heart-shaped leaves on long petioles arranged in a spiral. Numerous aerial roots extend from the stem. Small flowers are collected in an inflorescence in the form of an ear, from above the ear is covered with a modified leaf (sometimes it is mistaken for a flower), which in nature serves to attract insects. This plant is native to northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Like most anthuriums, it is rather an epiphytic species that grows in moist forests under the shade of trees on a very loose litter of fallen leaves.

Anthurium Andre ArizonaAnthurium Andre Fantasy Love

On the basis of the natural species of anthurium Andre, hybrid varieties have been obtained, which are widely grown as indoor plants and for cutting. The variety of varieties is truly enormous. The selection is based on the shape of the leaves, the size of the plant itself, but mainly according to the size, shape and color of the bedspread. The most common varieties are Alabama, Dakota, Arizona, Fantasy Love, True Love, Champion series of varieties, compact varieties of Baby series and others.Photos of varieties are presented on the page Anthurium Andre.

Scherzer's Anthurium

For mass cultivation, cell culture technology is used, when a sample of the meristemic tissue is taken from the mother plant and cloned many times. This species has been cultivated since the 19th century, today it is an industrial potting and cutting crop. You can read more about this on the page Anthurium.

Another view with an elegant veil is Scherzer's Anthurium, also called the Flamingo Flower. Its natural habitat is Guatemala and Costa Rica. In appearance, it is very similar to Andre's anthurium, but the leaves are more elongated, the coverlet is usually more rounded, not so glossy, sometimes slightly twisted. And the main difference is the shape of the inflorescence: in Andre's anthurium, the ear is straight, in Scherzer's anthurium it is spiral-bent. Currently, many commercial cultivars have been obtained with different colors of bedspreads, including even variegated ones.

Anthurium Andre and its numerous hybrids are quite unpretentious in indoor conditions, Scherzer's anthurium is even less pretentious, forgiving more mistakes in care.

Soil, planting and replanting. The basis of success for the cultivation of most anthuriums is a properly selected soil. It is almost impossible to accustom anthurium to real soil.In nature, it grows on loose leaf litter with the remnants of decayed or burnt wood. Prefers frequent root wetting combined with good oxygen access. Optimal for it will be soil for orchids (peat, sphagnum, bark, coal) with the addition of high peat, leaf humus and perlite. Instead of pure high-moor peat, you can take any purchased soil based on it (there are also soils based on lowland peat on sale - they are not suitable for growing anthuriums). The prepared mixture must be sterilized before planting.

Such a soil has a slightly acidic reaction, which fully meets the needs of the plant. In a heavy and dense substrate that remains wet for a long time, the roots of anthurium begin to choke, quickly become affected by rot and, as a result, brown spots appear on the leaves... In this case, you should urgently transplant the anthurium into a suitable fresh substrate, examine the roots, cut out all patients, sprinkle with crushed coal. Healthy roots of anthurium are thick, light yellow, slightly velvety. With the disease, the roots turn brown, sometimes thin, and acquire an unpleasant putrid odor. It is advisable to treat the leaves and roots of diseased plants with a systemic fungicide (Fundazol, Oksikhom, Ridomil-Gold). Even a simple replacement of the soil will lead to the recovery of the plant, the restoration of its decorative effect, since with good aeration of the soil, pathogens lose their ability to reproduce.

Spots on the leaves of anthurium from waterlogging of the soilSpots on the leaves of anthurium from waterlogging of the soil

In severe cases, with the loss of a large number of roots and leaves, it will be necessary plant resuscitation... The remains of healthy roots should be wrapped in moist sphagnum, remove all affected areas of the leaves, treat with fungicides, and place the plant in a greenhouse with high air humidity, placing it in a warm place in diffused light (preferably under phyto- or luminescent lamps). As the roots and leaves begin to grow, transplant the plant into soil from bark, sphagnum, peat, coal (soil for orchids), then into soil with an even higher content of peat. If there are no healthy roots left, the remainder of the stem can be rooted in a glass of water, after adding an activated carbon tablet there. It should be borne in mind that the newly growing roots will be able to adapt to the water, and the old roots in the water are more likely to rot.

Anthurium is transplanted as needed, when the roots fill the entire volume of the pot, usually once a year with the correct selection of the pot size. After purchasing anthurium, it should be transplanted into a new pot after about 2 weeks, without waiting for the end of flowering, since the roots of such plants are already tightly attached to the walls of the pot. The new pot is taken a little more spacious, a finger should enter between the root ball and the walls of the new pot, but not more. Too much increase in volume can lead to excessive moisture, acidification of the soil free from roots, and as a result, root diseases, which will also prevent anthurium from blooming.

Anthurium should be transplanted only by the transshipment method, without destroying the coma and without damaging healthy roots. At the bottom of the pot, you can pour expanded clay drainage (but not necessarily), then a layer of soil about 3-4 cm, place a lump in the center and add fresh soil along the walls of the pot. Slightly compact and slightly spill the soil, be sure to drain the excess water from the sump. The lump should not be buried; the entire socket should remain approximately at the old level.

Home care and cultivation

In general terms, the conditions for keeping all anthuriums are similar. Growing success depends on adhering to just a few simple maintenance rules based on the natural needs of these tropical plants.

Watering. The soil must be kept evenly moist, neither dry nor wet. Even the top layer should not be allowed to dry out (provided that the mixture is properly composed).Water for irrigation should be at room temperature or 2-3 degrees warmer, be sure to be separated and preferably soft. Watering should only be done from the top, not from the pallet. Do not allow stagnation of water in the sump.

Loss of turgor hanging leaves may be due to insufficient watering. If, after abundant watering, the leaves did not rise within 2 hours (in a warm room), one should suspect disease and root death.

Anthurium AndreAnthurium Andre

Air humidity. Modern varieties of Andre and Scherzer's anthuriums are quite resistant to low air humidity in apartments, however, it is advisable to spray the leaves at least twice a day, preferably with boiled water. Anthurium leaves must be washed periodically under a lukewarm shower.

Decorative-leaved anthuriums (for example, crystal anthurium) are more demanding for high air humidity, they can be successfully grown only in humid greenhouses or special showcases. With insufficient air humidity the edges of the leaves are covered with brown spots.

With excessive moisture and in cool conditions on the leaves of anthuriums, small blisters of green color - it is not an infectious, but a physiological disease that is not dangerous for the plant and nearby plants. You just need to slightly reduce watering and increase the ambient temperature.

With high humidity, anthurium is sometimes affected by bacterial rot, and forms on the leaves large brown weeping spots. In this case, treatment with a pharmaceutical preparation Trichopolom (1 tablet per 2 liters of water - sprinkle and shed the soil) can help. Sometimes they fall from the leaves of anthurium water droplets, this feature, which is called gutation, is distinguished by the entire family of aroids. Thus, the plant gets rid of excess moisture, most often in wet weather after abundant watering.

Lighting. In nature, anthuriums grow in the shade of large trees, therefore they prefer bright diffused light, direct sunlight can cause leaf burns. After being in too bright light, sunburns appear on the leaves in the form of whitish or brown spotssometimes the sheet gets covered small reddish-brown dots. In such cases, it is necessary to rearrange or shade the plant. With a lack of light, the leaves of anthurium acquire yellowish tint, the plant can stop blooming.

The leaf stalks of anthuriums, like the monster, are equipped with a unique mechanism for these representatives of the aroid family - the knee (geniculum), which allows you to unfold the leaves towards the light source. Immediately after purchase, anthurium leaves usually look up - since in greenhouses the lighting falls from above. In the conditions of an apartment or office, the light falls from the window from the side, so the leaves unfold towards it.

Temperature. It should be remembered that anthuriums are inhabitants of the tropics and are not at all adapted to low temperatures. Already at temperatures below + 10 ° C, extensive brown necrotic spots, after which the leaves quickly dry out. It is especially important to remember this when purchasing a plant in winter - in no case should it be exposed to low temperatures, even for a short time. The optimum temperature will be from +18 to + 25 ° C. In the heat of summer, it is necessary to spray the leaves frequently.

Maintenance in the winter. With a lack of light in winter the plant must be supplemented with fluorescent or phytolamps, creating a 12-14 hour day. If this is not possible, slightly lower the temperature of the content (up to + 180C), reduce watering and thereby send the plant to a forced rest so that it does not stretch out and become depleted.

Anthurium Andre Bianco

Top dressing. Anthuriums, leading a semi-epiphytic or epiphytic lifestyle in nature, are accustomed to experiencing small nutritional needs.Anthuriums should be fed only during active growth, depending on the conditions of detention (provision with light and heat) - all year round or, bypassing the phase of forced winter dormancy - from spring to autumn, reducing the concentration of fertilizers by 4 times from that recommended in the instructions. If the plant does not receive enough light in winter, then it should not be fed. It is extremely important to provide the plant with trace elements. Lack or excess of nutrients often causes various leaf spots and defects.

Under favorable conditions, anthuriums bloom almost all year round. Sometimes re-flowering at home, despite the observance of all the rules in the care, turns out to be not so abundant, and the “flowers” ​​are not as large as when purchased. In greenhouses, when growing anthuriums, gibberellic acid is often used to improve the presentation. It is a plant hormone that regulates cell growth and size, stimulates the growth of inflorescences, and sometimes causes the development of defective double leaves and veils. At home, the plant does not undergo such artificial stimulation, so the number of inflorescences and the size of the leaves (and coverts) is less. Anthurium does not bloom at all if it lacks light or other conditions of detention are not met.

The growth rate of Andre and Scherzer's anthuriums is rather slow, the annual growth is not particularly noticeable. In this case, a natural replacement of leaves occurs: the old lower leaves turn yellow and fall off, young leaves and inflorescences with coverings grow from above. Over time, the bottom is exposed and the plant loses its decorative effect. In such cases, you can carry out rejuvenation plants. The top with five or more internodes is cut off and placed in wet sphagnum or water, where it gives new roots. The bottom of the plant can give lateral shoots, which can later be transplanted.

Multiply anthuriums at home by cuttings or dividing the bush. Anthurium takes root rather quickly, since the rudiments of aerial roots on the stem are already there. The division of the bush is very traumatic for the root system, it should be resorted to only if absolutely necessary, being careful and creating conditions for the early recovery of plants (greenhouses, frequent spraying, the use of Epin and Zircon).

To pests at home, anthuriums are rarely susceptible, but can be affected by spider mites, mealybugs, thrips, aphids.

Read more in the article Houseplant pests and control measures.

In general, many anthuriums are unpretentious at home, it is not difficult to create conditions for their good growth. It should be added that anthuriums are very responsive to good and proper care, quickly recover from stress and continue to delight with their colorful bedspreads - "flowers".

$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found