Anthuriums in the home: care, propagation, transplanting

Not every flower is capable of blooming buds almost all year round, not bad to tolerate penumbra and enjoy high ornamental value. Florists love the anthurium not only for this, but also for the ability to choose from a variety of varieties the one that best fits into the interior of the apartment.

Botanical description

All anthuriums are inhabitants of the tropics, but their living conditions are different, which could not but affect the life forms of plants:

1. In rainforests it is an epiphyte or semi-epiphyte, attaching to trees with its aerial roots and receiving moisture from the air;

2. Anthuriums that live in rocks are lithophytes;

3. Savannah dwellers have a reduced stem, narrow and thick leaf plates with short petioles, their peculiarity is the airy root sockets, whose ends point upwards.

4. Anthuriums with, a variety of leaf shapes and unusual flowers are common in culture:

5. Inflorescence is a cob of various shapes and colors, depending on the variety;

6. Small flowers are rhombus or square shaped, located on the inflorescence is very dense, forming a series of spirals;

7. Each inflorescence has a wing-shaped veil, it is dense leathery, can be white or brightly colored.

Belongs to the anthurium family of aroids and is allocated to a separate genus with a large number of species.

Types and varieties

Some varieties of anthurium have beautifully colored leaves, others are fascinated by the bright color of the cover, but they have one thing in common – they are all very decorative.

Anthurium scherzerianum

The subterranean or above-ground stem is shortened. The continuation of the long petioles are oblong green – glossy on the outside and matt on the underside pubescent leaves, pointed at the end. They are 15 cm long and about 5 cm wide. The size of the flower stalk is twice the length of the petiole. The yellow, orange or reddish cob, slightly spiraled 10 cm long, has an egg-shaped downward bent cover up to 5 cm wide and 15 cm long. Its coloration may be white, red, orange, or bicolor. Areal – Costa Rica.

Anthurium Crystal

num)

Heart-shaped leaves with long petioles in the crystal anthurium are more decorative than the cob on a tall – up to 25 cm stalk of greenish-yellow or purple color. They have a velvety texture, dark green color with contrasting white veins with a silvery or crystal sheen. Leaf plates are large, about 20 cm wide and slightly longer. Against their background, the small greenish coverlet and the cob are lost. The decoration of the plant is the purple fruits. Its habitat is the humid forests of Panama and Colombia on the slopes of the mountains.

Anthurium magnificum

Like the above species, it is cultivated as an ornamental leafy plant. The inflorescence of the majestic anthurium is not very impressive and looks like a plantain, but the heart-shaped velvety leaves with sharp tips, dark green and sometimes purple surprise with their size – up to 40 centimeters in diameter. They are all crisscrossed with light green and sometimes olive streaks, forming a contrasting pattern that emphasizes the original leaf shape. The flower grows quickly.

Anthurium scandens

It is an epiphytic liana, reaching a height of one meter. The oval leaves are leathery, deep green with black dots on the underside. The cob is lettuce, the veil is pale green. The flowering stem is short, it is not erect, but hangs down from the shoot. After flowering, the plant sets berries of white to purple color.

Anthurium pentaphyllum (Anthurium pentaphyllum)

It is also a liana. Its peculiarity is the long leaf plates with a palmate arrangement.

Anthurium Baker (Anthurium bakeri)

This epiphyte is native to the rainforests of Colombia and Guatemala. Its stems are short, but its leaves can reach a length of 55 cm and a width of less than 9 cm. They are strap-shaped, a rich green color, with red-brown dots clearly visible on the underside. Its inflorescences are located below the foliage tip; the cob is creamy white; the veil is light yellow-green with a purple edge. Its size is small – 5×2.5 cm. After blooming the cob is covered with red berries.

But most often in the room grow varieties of Anthurium andre (Anthurium andraeanum). They are epiphytes with short stems and aerial spines. On long stalks are large, green, oblong, heart-shaped leaves. It can grow up to 40 cm long and up to 20 cm wide. As an adult it reaches a meter in height.

The cob – up to 10 cm long, sometimes a little longer, it comes in white, cream or yellowish, rarely red. The main decoration of the flower is a large and bright heart-shaped coverlet. It has a leathery texture, often tufted, and a distinct metallic sheen. The color is white, pink, all shades of red, sometimes with the inclusion of another color.On the basis of anthurium André, many hybrid varieties with a stunning color of the coverlet have been created:

1. Pink ‘Vivaro Pink’, ‘Lentini Pink’ and ‘Pink Champion’;

2. red ‘Saxo’, ‘Vitara’, ‘Minnesota’, ‘Rubino’ – with dark leaves and white cob;

3. no less decorative are “Vivaro Peach” with irregularly colored peach cover and dark cherry anthurium “Black Love”;

4. The light lemon Princess Alexia Mint and the snow white Acropo

5. s”.

Interspecific hybrids can also be found in culture.

For the flower to show the peak of its ornamentality, it must be properly cared for.

Care Essentials

Anthuriums – epiphytes and semi-epiphytes, they feel best in greenhouse conditions, which are close to natural: high humidity and constant temperature is maintained automatically. To make the flower feel as good in the apartment, you will have to put in a lot of effort.

Lighting

In this respect it is very difficult to please an anthurium. On the one hand it is contraindicated to direct sunlight – the leaves get burns, on the other hand – without enough light there will be no lush and bright flowering. Therefore, stay in the constant penumbra of the flower can not, except for ornamental deciduous species.

It feels best on window sills oriented to the east or west, on the south window needs shading from direct sunlight at noon. The optimal place for the flower – a meter from the window facing south. In winter when there is not enough light, install a phyto lamp to extend the daylight hours to 12 hours. Do it only for those plants that continue to bloom.

Temperature

For the anthurium, it is important toNot only comfortable temperature values, but also their stability:

1. In summer – 20-25 degrees;

2. In winter – 18-20, the minimum, which without damage the flower can withstand – 15 degrees;

3. Only Scherzer anthurium hybrids need cool overwintering at 12 – 16 degrees.

The most unfavorable combination – dry air and high temperature. In this case, it must be reduced.

Temperature fluctuations are detrimental to the anthurium. They can be caused by a draft, an open window, heat from heating devices or keeping in the kitchen, where a gas stove turned on will certainly create a temperature difference. Stagnant air also harms anthurium, it creates conditions for the development of fungal diseases.

Air humidity

Its comfortable value for the flower is 85-95%. It is possible to achieve such humidity in different ways:

1. Put a humidifier next to it;

2. Spray with warm soft water several times during the day, without getting on the flowers;

3. Cover the stem of the plant with damp sphagnum moss and spray it regularly – the aerial roots must be preserved as much as possible – they supply the plant with oxygen;

4. Place the pot on a tray with moist peat moss or wet pebbles, its diameter should be larger than that of the pot, at the bottom – constantly a small amount of water, the roots with it should not come into contact;

5. Put a container with a flower in another pot of a slightly larger diameter, their partitions fill with moistened material, such as moss;

6. Wash the leaves with a sponge dampened with warm water if they get dusty;

7. Give your plant a warm shower in the summer.

You don’t have to choose one or the other. To prevent the anthurium from turning its leaves into a tube because of dry air, you need to act comprehensively.

Watering

Water the anthurium regularly and abundantly. The signal for moistening is drying of the upper layer of soil, but never of the whole root ball. Usually in summer plants are watered two or three times a week, in winter – once.You can also be guided by another principle:

1. Water in winter if the ground lump has dried out by half;

2. in summer – one third.

The less light and cooler the temperature, the more you need to dry the root ball between waterings.

Drain the sump half an hour after watering. Overfill the soil can not – the roots very easily rot. The water must be at room temperature and salt-free; if necessary, soften it by adding a few citric acid crystals, or boil it.

Watering – from above, around the circumference of the pot. If an anthurium is grown on a substrate made up of a mixture of moss, bark and coconut fiber and planted in a basket, it is immersed in water completely and taken out when the substrate is saturated with moisture.

Nutrition

Fertilizing is done starting in March and ending in September, and sometimes – if flowering is already over and August once every 14 days. Any soluble compound fertilizer for orchids and beautifully flowering plants (not containing lime) would do. For the crystal and majestic anthurium, choose fertilizer mixtures for ornamental foliage crops. Since the plant is negative to a high concentration of salts in the root zone, when preparing the solution, make it 2 times weaker than the rate on the package. The anthurium responds well to weekly leaf feedings with the same fertilizer solution.

When the shoots grow, the tropical exot needs more nitrogen, with the appearance of buds – phosphorus and potassium.

The flower responds well to organic fertilizers. You can use concentrates of manure or poultry manure, which are sold in the store, but the solution is diluted 2-3 times the norm according to the instructions.

Transplanting

It is carried out for the following reasons:

1. The flower has just been bought and is in transporting soil;

2. root system filled the entire volume of the pot;

3. The soil for the previous planting was selected incorrectly;

4. The roots are sick or rotting.

In all these cases, the soil must be changed, and sometimes pick up a pot of larger volume.

Young plants need annual transplanting, for adults – once every 3-4 years. Usually, the anthurium is transplanted if the roots showed in the drainage hole, it means that the pot is completely filled with them. Best time – February-August, during flowering – with caution, optimally – when the plant resumes growth. For old flowers, simply replace the top layer of soil with a new one, doing without replanting.

Soil

The main condition for successful growth of a semi-epiphyte is good aeration of the soil. Therefore, it is made as loose as possible, given that the soil reaction should be slightly acidic.Planting Compositions:

1. 1 part each of leaf, peat and coniferous earth (can be replaced by clean needles), 0.5 part each of vermiculite and coarse sand, additives – charcoal, coconut fiber, pine bark, all in small quantities;

2. 1 part – soil for azalea from the store, as much perlite or vermiculite, coconut fiber and pine bark

3. 1 part each of peat and coarse earth from under deciduous trees, 3 parts each of pine bark (can be replaced by chopped sphagnum moss) and perlite;

4. Two parts each of 1 to 3 cm pieces of pumice stone and 2 to 5 cm pieces of pine bark, 1 part of fibrous peat and half-prepared horse manure.

Rough particles in the ground should be about 15%. The younger the plant, the shallower they should be. If the substrate has a lot of coarse particles, water more often. All ingredients for its preparation decontaminate.

The pot

In a clay pot, the temperature of the soil fluctuates more – it overheats in summer and cools in winter, so it is better to choose a container of plastic. Its height is 24-32 cm, the width is a little more. For better aeration, you can make holes in the walls. If the pot is chosen too voluminous, and it should be slightly larger than before, the plant will not flower until it has mastered all the soil in it.

Algorithm of transplanting

To change unsuitable soil and replanting due to the disease, soil from the roots is removed and washed with water. Proceed carefully, as they are fragile. At the same time, the revision of the root system is carried out, diseased parts are removed, covering the cuts with ground charcoal or ground cinnamon. Healthy roots are light. Decayed roots turn dark.

Transplanting stages:

1. The plant is watered;

2. At the bottom of a new container put drainage – keramsite or shingles mixed with sand, for adult plants – a quarter of the height of the pot, for young – a little less;

3. Cover it with a layer of soil;

4. The bush is carefully removed from the pot and transferred to a new container, slightly submerging the stem so that the young roots at its base were in contact with the soil;

5. Fill the voids near the walls with the prepared substrate.

After planting, the anthurium needs special care for a few weeks:

1. Shading from bright light;

2. In frequent spraying;

3. In a gentle and quite sparing watering.

Feed the transplanted plants can not be before a month.

Propagate

There are several ways to multiply an anthurium:

1. Seed sowing;

2. Rooting cuttings, leaves and lateral shoots;

3. Shrub division.

But all but the last involves considerable difficulty.

Propagation by seed

Seeds can be obtained independently by pollinating the inflorescence, and repeatedly. At this point, the pistils of female flowers should already secrete sweetish secretory liquid in the form of droplets, and male flowers – have matured pollen. The flower should be closely monitored, as these processes are separated in time by four weeks. Flowering is long, such a period is sure to come. Choose a sunny day for pollination. The pollen is transferred from flower to flower with a soft brush; repeat the process for several days for a guaranteed result. If all goes well, the seeds will ripen in about 9 months. Their germination is lost very quickly,so it is sown immediately after harvesting:

1. fruit pulp is kneaded, washed under running water, treated with 0.2% Fondazole solution according to the instructions;

2. place seeds on moistened filter paper placed in a shallow transparent container with a lid or Petri dish, place in heat;

3. when the seeds have germinated, usually after 14 days, they are placed at a distance of 1.5 cm in a container with decontaminated soil, loose and light – made up of peat moss, perlite and peat in equal amounts, the soil is not covered, but a thin layer of perlite – literally a couple of mm, make it sterile, it is important for tiny sprouts

4. Put a polyethylene bag on the container and expose it to diffuse light;

5. Ensure that the top layer of substrate did not dry out, airing daily crops for 10-15 minutes;

6. After 2 months, perform picking, planting seedlings with a distance of 3 cm;

7. As the growth of picking 2 more times, each time increasing the distance between the plants by 2 cm;

8. When the bush grows to a diameter of 5 cm, he will need an individual pot or cup volume of 200 mm.

The next transplant is carried out after the roots fill the entire volume offered to them. With seed propagation, flowering is observed on the fourth year. Plants obtained from seeds do not always repeat the parental characteristics.

Vegetative propagation

All parts of the plant are suitable for propagation.

1. If an anthurium has lateral shoots with their own roots – you can simply dig them up or separate them during transplanting and place them in individual containers.

2. In the second half of May, rooted cuttings cut from a lateral shoot with a heel, it should have 3-4 leaves. After drying the cut for a quarter of an hour, it is treated with a rooting agent and planted in a mixture of perlite and peat, wet moss will also do. After spraying the substrate and cuttings with warm water, it is covered with a jar. If you continue to spray daily and keep the pot with the cuttings at 25-27 degrees, after a month there will be small roots. The plant can be planted permanently.

3. Stems are divided into cuttings 5 to 10 cm long, each of them should have a leaf and air roots, they are rooted in a standard substrate, covered with a glass jar.

4. Propagation by leaf. Cut off the leaf with the heel and keep in soft, or better boiled water with the addition of a tablet of activated charcoal until the roots appear, then planted in a pot. Well stimulates root formation “Ribav-extra”. Such a leaf can be immediately planted in moist substrate, rolled up into a tube and secured with a rubber band to minimize moisture loss. The cuttings are covered with a jar. If a new sprout appears next to it, rooting has occurred.

When an adult plant needs to be rejuvenated, bare the top of the stem, air roots are wrapped in moss, after they have sprouted through it, the stem is cut off and together with a lump of moss is planted in a new place.

Overwintering

This is when the flower buds of the next season are laid.

The prerequisites for a successful wintering:

1. Humidity of 80-85%;

2. The temperature is 16-18 degrees, for Scherzer Anthurium hybrids – 12-16 degrees;

3. reduce watering, starting in September.

For early flowering, the temperature slowly begins to increase as early as January, bringing it to the summer values – 20-25 degrees, use extra light, gradually increasing the duration of daylight hours.

Flowering

Each flower lasts more than a month on the plant. Long it stands and in a cut, if it is already fully formed. Under good conditions the buds blossom from February to November. What to do after flowering:

1. the flower itself is removed, so that the plant does not waste energy in the formation of berries, unless seed reproduction is planned;

2. cover is left, it gradually turns green and will eventually turn into a leaf.

3. If the plant is cared for fully, it is mature enough, it has already taken the roots of the whole pot, but flowers still do not appear, despite the right period for it, it is stimulated:

4. in the spring, water with a temperature of 40-50 degrees is used for watering, it must be soft;

5. some flower growers go even further – once every 7 days pour water at 60 degrees into the pallet, let it cool, and then drain it.

Such a “bath” makes the flower wake up.

Diseases and pests

If the anthurium is well cared for, the diseases visit it rarely. It is different if the plant is weakened by transplanting or poor keeping conditions. Among all diseases, fungal infections predominate:

1. stem rot– watery spots on the stem in black, which soon spread to the leaves; for treatment, stop abundant watering, raise the temperature, if it is low, all the affected parts of the flower is removed, sprayed twice with a solution of fungicide at intervals of a week;

2. root rotCan arise from excessive watering, poor drainage in the pot, low temperature; roots darken and soften, leaves are pale, then turn yellow and wither; treatment-reduce watering, transplant the plant in a new substrate with revision of the roots and removing all diseased parts, arrange drainage by all the rules, plants are watered with solutions of fungicides;

3. septoriosismanifested by brown spots of irregular shape with brown or yellow border on the leaves, if you use a magnifying glass, you can see black spots of sporangia on them; if severely affected, remove the leaf completely, reduce humidity and stop spraying water, applying a fungicide solution twice at intervals of a week, conduct an unscheduled fertilization;

4. Fusariosis – leaves on the plant are yellowing and drying out en masse, on the root neck noticeable white plaque with a pink tint; in the initial stage, the ground part is sprayed with a fungicide solution, a pesticide is added to the soil, and after a week the treatment is repeated;

5. powdery mildew– leaves turn yellow and curl, they become smaller, internodes – short, on the underside of the leaf noticeable light gray coating of fungus spores; treatment – treatment with fungicide solutions;

6. Rustmanifested by light spots on the upper side of the leaf, on the underside – noticeable brown bulges – pustules, when the spots merge, the leaf dies; treatment – treatment with fungicide solutions;

7. anthracnoseThe drying of the edges of the leaf laminae appears, treatment with solutions of systemic fungicides is required.

At the same time as taking curative measures, it is mandatory to examine plants for the presence of pests, through the tissue damage made by them, the infection penetrates inside. This is how the anthurium is infected with the bronzerwort virus. Wrinkles and small holes appear on discolored leaves. It is impossible to help the flower in this case.

Pests

Most often on the anthurium can be noticed:

1. aphids– it settles on the underside of the leaves and sucks the sap, an insecticide treatment approved for use indoors will be necessary;

2. spider mite, It is particularly rampant if the air in the room is dry; the pest makes punctures on the leaves, and if large in number, spider webs from their undersides; plants are treated with an insectoacaricide solution according to instructions;

3. Scab– From its secretions, the leaves become sticky, collect the scab with a cotton disk soaked in soap solution.

From the spread of pests a good prevention is a warm shower, which is done once a month during the active growing season.

Problems in cultivation

Anthurium – a flower with a capricious nature, any violations in care turn into problems with development and flowering.

1. If yellow spots appear on the leaves– If they develop chlorosis, they need additional fertilizer with magnesium and iron. It is better to make it by the leaves.

2. Yellow-green bulges on the leavesyellowish ring spots indicate a low temperature and high humidity in the room. If the plant is rarely fed it might not survive in these conditions.

3. Dots and dark spots on the leavesAn anthurium is cold and not getting enough light.

4. If only the tips of the leaves are blackened, The concentration of salts, especially calcium in the soil exceeded the allowable value, it is better to transplant the flower into a new substrate, without changing the volume of the pot.

5. Yellow spots on the leaves and desiccation of the edges– signs of burning. Create diffused light.

6. If the leaves turn yellow and then wither, the flower is cold, and the room temperature needs to be raised. There are other reasons: too much watering, the roots are tight in the pot and require transplanting, poorly selected substrate, lack of light.

7. Leaves turn black because of watering hardIf you use water that is too hot or too cold, you can burn it. Perhaps the roots begin to rot due to the fact that the water from the tray after watering is not removed.

8. If the leaves curl up into a tube– Too much or not enough light, dry air.

9. Black spots on flowers appear, If water gets on them when watering.

10. Thickening and tubercles on the roots– evidence of a nematode. It is impossible to cure the flower.

11. If the plant does not bud, It needs proper overwintering. The anthurium may have been overfed with nitrogen and is therefore growing too much green mass to the detriment of blooming.

Anthurium is a very beautiful plant, but we must remember that it is poisonous, so you have to work with it with caution.