species and varieties of anthurium have different shapes and sizes of bedspreads and cobs. The cob may be longer or shorter than the bedspread, straight or curled.Anthurium cannot be called a very capricious plant, but just like the herb-tradescantia, it will not grow and bloom. It needs a special approach - special soil, moderate watering, good lighting.
What to plant anthurium in
One of the most important conditions for the successful cultivation of anthuriums is the correct choice of substrate. It should hold the plant well, retain moisture and nutrients, dry out easily and let air through. At the same time, it should not quickly decompose, cake and compact.
Soil for anthurium:
1. Mix sour earth like "Azalea" with peat, expanded clay, sphagnum, pine bark. The finished substrate should be loose, breathable, airy, and moisture-intensive. In such a substrate, the anthurium feels great.
If there is none, then the substrate is "begonia" + sphagnum + perlite. Charcoal can also be added here.
2. Most guidelines recommend a substrate composed of the 1 part of coarse turf, the first part of coarse sand and the 2-3 parts of sheet humus with the addition of pieces of charcoal for growing anthuriums. However, such a substrate is far from optimal and requires annual replacement.
A good substrate is pine bark with a size of pieces from 2 to 5 cm, but it is applicable mainly in greenhouse culture, provided that regular feeding. The best results are obtained by a substrate composed of 2 parts of pumice (pieces measuring from 1 to 3 cm), 2 parts of pine bark (pieces measuring 2-5 cm), 1 parts of coarse fibrous peat and 1 parts of rotted horse manure. Such a substrate is well aerated, sufficiently moisture-intensive and well retains nutrients. For young plants, smaller fractions of its components are used. Good results can also be obtained by using a substrate composed of equal parts of coarse expanded clay (2-3 cm in diameter), coarse peat and pine bark (2-3 cm fraction). Some plant growers use glass wool or slag wool, crushed coconut shells, charcoal and even broken brick to grow anthuriums.
3) Planting in clean moss
4) Transplanted into the substrate for bromeliads and orchids (or 1 part of leaf, 1 part of coniferous, 1 part of peat land and 0.5 part of sand
For Anthurium, I compose the land myself.
I take land for violets or you can other land for indoor flowers or aroid, add a little perlite + vermiculite + pine bark + moss + husks from sunflower seeds.
I transplant as needed. I take the pot not quite wide, but not deep by 2-3 cm more than the previous one.
Anthurium lighting
Anthurium quickly adapts to the conditions of the room, does not like direct sunlight at noon, but requires a lot of light, and morning or evening sun is welcome.
I also met the following information in the literature: Anthuriums are shade-tolerant and can be content with rather meager light conditions.
Growing Anthuriums for more than one year, I can say, yes, they can be content with poor lighting conditions, but then you will get an unattractive appearance and will not see flowers. The cuttings become very long, sticking out in all directions like sticks, the leaves are small, and the flowers are even smaller, if at all.
For Anthurium, any direction of windows except the southern one is suitable, of course, you need to take into account the height of the floor, but if you really want to grow Anthurium on the southern window, then you need to put it next to the window at about 30-50 cm or on the windowsill, but then the window needs to be darkened.
If you have the opposite, northern windows, or there is shading from the street, then in winter the anthurium will be dark, and at high temperatures, this leads to the degeneration of the plant, the loss of an ornamental species. Therefore, with such windows, from September to March, you need to turn on fluorescent lighting.
Watering
Watering during the period of active growth is moderate, but regular, with soft water, i.e., as the upper layer dries. I water and spray with boiled water, sometimes I arrange a shower.
There is an opinion - the soil should be constantly wet.
The most common error is the waterlogging of the substrate, roots quickly rot in the raw substrate of Anthurium, which can lead to plant death. Stagnation of water in the pallet is unacceptable, it must be drained immediately after watering. The golden rule: it's better to almost top up than pour. Worst of all, mushroom mosquitoes (whose larvae gnaw roots) start from constant dampness in the pots, pathogenic fungi and bacteria develop, various spots bloom on the plant.
Air humidity
Anthurium grows well and blooms at high humidity.
It is recommended to spray with water regularly (morning and evening), because anthuriums need very humid air. You can increase the humidity of the air by spreading a layer of sphagnum moss around the leaves, but make sure that it does not create increased dampness of the ground and does not accumulate moisture on the stems. When spraying, use only soft boiled water, otherwise white stains remain on the leaves.
Anthurium fertilizer
From March to August, feed the plant with fertilizers once every two weeks. At the beginning of vegetation, anthurium is fertilized with a weak solution for ornamental and deciduous plants, after 2-3 feeds, fertilizers for ornamental and flowering plants can be applied (fertica luxa, agricola, uniflor bud, pokon for flowering plants, etc.). Calculate the dose of fertilizer 2 times less than the recommended one.
Propagation of anthurium
Division of adult specimens or separation of rooted lateral shoots. To do this, the bush taken out of the pot must be carefully cut with a knife, cut off the necessary part with a piece of rhizome. Try not to disturb the bulk of the roots. Sprinkle all large sections with crushed coal or sulfur (sold in pet supplies) to close the gate for infection. Water the deposited parts carefully in the first week. Try not to separate bushes and transplants on the hottest summer days.
Seed reproduction is also possible. After cross-pollination (for this you must have two simultaneously flowering plants), the seeds mature within 8 weeks, after which they must be planted immediately, as they quickly lose germination. The soil is light from a mixture of vermiculite and peat in equal parts. Vermiculite can be replaced with coarse sand. The soil can be covered with a thin layer of moss sphagnum, and seeds can be sown into it. Moisten evenly from the spray bottle on top, cover with a film. Regularly ventilate so that mold does not form on the surface of the earth.
Pests and diseases of anthurium
Usually anthuriums are not sick and have little exposure to pests. Most often these are scale insects and mealybugs. Sometimes - ticks. Shields are especially dangerous, which multiply very quickly and require serious efforts to destroy them. Ticks are fought by means called acaricides (Apollo, Vermitek, Nissoran, etc.). With shields, mealybugs and other pests, including soil, the easiest way to deal with systemic insecticides is actara or confidor. Visible pests must be removed with a cotton swab or cotton swab dipped in alcohol.
Also, plants suffer greatly from excessive watering and poor drainage, leading to decay of the root system. Root and stem rot caused by substrate waterlogging and low temperatures, as well as anthracnose. With anthracnose, leaf blades begin to dry out from the edges, and with severe damage, plants are depleted and die. The fight against this disease requires perseverance, and it must be started when the first signs appear. In large collections, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatments with fungicides, preferably systemic (fundazol).
Anthurium FAQ
1. What should you pay attention to when growing Anthurium?
Answer: Anthuriums are kept at a temperature of at least 18 degrees in conditions of high humidity (daily spraying is necessary). Photophilous. The soil temperature cannot be lower than the ambient temperature, so it is better to use not ceramic, but plastic pots. Anthurium consumes a lot of water, so the soil cannot be allowed to dry out. Anthurium Andre tolerates the sun better than Scherzer's anthurium, but it is better to darken, in bright light he feels fine, but without the sun too, and better in a humid atmosphere. Try not to get large drops of water on the flowers when spraying - ugly spots will remain.
Such spots appear from a systematic transfusion, and are very often a sign of infection.2. How to divide anthurium?
Answer: Very careful! When dividing, the roots must be carefully unraveled or cut with a knife. You can spill a little epin or root.
3. The plant requires transplantation, but it is recommended to transplant only in the spring, what to do?
Answer: It is best to do now transshipment into a pot a little more than before, and carefully change the top layer of the soil without exposing the roots, if possible. Good drainage and very loose soil are needed. If there are aerial roots, sprinkle them lightly with the same soil or cover with moist moss .
4. Yellow leaf spots appeared on Anthurium. Why is this happening, from hard water or from overfeeding with fertilizers?
Answer: If the spots are large - evenly over the entire surface of the leaf, and the leaves themselves are either smaller than the previous ones or larger - then these are clear signs of unbalanced fertilization. If the spots are small and visible in the lumen, then perhaps this is a spider mite .
5. Can a flowering anthurium be transplanted?
Answer: Blooming flowers can not be transplanted, but only transshipped, i.e. without damaging the earthen coma, especially if the pot is small. And it is better to put the flower in a bright place.
6. How much roots can be buried when transplanting
Answer: They can and should be buried during a transplant, well, of course, you should not be zealous. The roots should definitely be covered. If you can't bury it, cover them with at least sphagnum. In anthuriums, even aerial roots are recommended to be wrapped in wet sphagnum...
7. Anthurium does not bloom!
Answer: The path to success for anthuriums is this: in order for it to bloom, it must be at a temperature of at least 18 degrees around the clock, it does not like direct sunlight, it needs scattered light. Watering moderate, he really does not like drafts. His pot must be a little bigger than his root system or it won't bloom! And, of course, light fertilizer 1 time a week.