"Anthurium"

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About Anthurium

The Anthurium is also known as Painted Tongue, Flamingo Flower (Flamingo Lily) or Tail Flower. Anthurium is pronounced 'An-thu-ri-um'.

Anthuriums are grown for their brightly colored flower spathes and their ornamental leaves. The red, heart-shaped "flower" of Anthuriums is really a spathe, or waxy, modified leaf flaring out from the base of a fleshy spike (spadix) where the tiny real flowers grow.

Anthuriums come in many forms and colors. Anthurium andreanum has the largest most colorful spathes. It produces orange-red spathes with a red-tipped yellow spadix at irregular intervals. Large, heart-shaped, dark green leaves are produced on long stalks.

There are more than 800 species of Anthurium found in the New World tropical regions from Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay; some species are also native to the West Indies, but not Hawaii. Anthurium andreanum is native to the wet forests on the slopes of the Andes [1200 to 3900 ft (400 to 1300 m)] in southwest Colombia and northwest Ecuador where it grows suspended on other plants. It was discovered in Columbia in 1876 by Edouard Andre, a french botanist.

Anthurium andreanum was introduced into Hawaii in 1889 by Samuel Damon (the finance minister). The cut flower industry started in backyards where the plants were grown under trees. Today it is a thriving industry with millions of flowers produced each year. The Anthurium flowers are exported by aircraft, packed in wet newspaper in boxes. The growers soak the flowerheads facedown in water so that they last longer.

The maturity of Anthurium flowers is shown by the proportion of open flowers on the spadix, the upright tail-like part in the center of the colorful spathe. In immature Anthuriums, the spadix is smooth. Flowers start opening at the base of the spadix and this proceeds upwards; a spadix with open flowers feels noticeably rough.

It is best to buy flowers when the spadix has about three quarters of the miniature flowers open. Anthuriums which are less mature give a reduced vase life. On maturity the spadix changes color from a yellowish-off-white to white.

Available colors are green, vibrant red, pink, and white to whitish pink.

What to Do When You Receive Your Anthurium Flowers

1. Unpack your flowers immediately and carefully. Take great care to avoid bruising or tearing the bracts. Creasing or folding the heart-shaped spathe will injure it and cause it to blacken.

Immerse the whole flower bract and stem upside down in fresh lukewarm water at 70 to 80 degrees F (21-26 deg. C) for 30 minutes to an hour. This is especially important if your flowers are found to be wilted on unpacking.

2. Use a clean vase. Fill it with clean, warm water at room temperature. You can add a floral preservative solution if you want to, following the instructions provided. Flower food has no significant benefit to Anthurium flowers.

3. Cut off all the leaves on the stem that would be below the water level in the vase. Otherwise these will rot, pollute the water and shorten the life of your Anthuriums. Also remove any damaged leaves or flowers.

4. Cut off about 1 inch (2.5cm) from the bottom of the flower stems, with the stems under water. Make the cut at an angle so that the flower stems do not rest flat on the bottom of the vase.

By doing this you help your Anthurium flowers to maintain water uptake. Air bubbles and debris tends to collect in the bases of the stems, and water flow in the stems is greatly restricted if this is not removed. The cut should be at an angle and not flat across. You do not want your flower stems resting flat on the bottom of the vase since this will also restrict water uptake.

5. Arrange your flowers in the vase so that they are attractively displayed.

6. In Anthurium care it is important for you to keep them in a cool place and out of direct sunlight. Avoid draughts which will dehydrate your flowers. Keep them away from direct contact with air-conditioning and heating vents. They do not like very hot or cold areas. In a hot place in the direct sun the Anthurium flowers will soon die. Avoid standing the vase on electrical appliances because they give off heat.

Care of Your Anthurium Flowers

1. Check the water level frequently and top up the vase with lukewarm water to avoid chilling the flowers.

2. Spray a mist of clean, warm water daily over the flowers to keep up the humidity.

3. Regularly remove damaged, or dying flowers and foliage. This helps your flowers last longer.

4. Every 4 or 5 days remove your flowers from the vase. And cut off about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) from the bottom of the flower stems under water and at an angle . Be careful not to mash them - you need a clean sharp cut. This will maintain good water uptake. A blocked uptake in water supply caused by bacterial contamination of the stem bases can shorten vase life.

5. It is a good idea to re-submerge your Anthurium flower heads in lukewarm water every three days. Leave for about 30 minutes. This helps to prolong their life.

6. Anthuriums are very sensitive to low temperatures. Avoid keeping them lower than 55 degrees F (12 deg.C) to avoid the possibility of a chill, which causes the flower to darken. Temperatures below 50 degrees F (10 deg. C) will induce purpling, browning, and then die-back.

Flower Life

Your Anthurium flowers will have a long life when properly handled. The end of their vase life is usually the result of inability to draw up water, and is associated with loss of glossiness and then blueing of the spathe. If you apply wax, then this can extend their vase life considerably. Depending on the variety and season and the amount of care they are given, they can retain their straight-from-the-tropics freshness for up to 45 days.

Care of Your Anthurium Pot Plant

Place your plant in an area with good, bright, diffused light, but not full sun. With a low light intensity you will not get so many flowers. Too much sun will bleach the centers of the leaves and may produce brown leaf tips. Keep your Anthurium pot plant away from heat ducts, ventilator grills and drafts. Avoid heat sources, such as a TV set, which will dry it out too much.

Don't let the temperature go below 55 deg. F (12 deg.C) or above 90 deg. F (33 deg. C).

Keep the soil evenly moist (but not soggy) by checking plants daily, and watering with room temperature water when necessary. Frequently spray a mist of clean, warm water over your plant to keep up the humidity. The more humid the atmosphere the better. Severe drying will cause leaf yellowing and loss, and will delay flower production. In the winter it should be watered only moderately and exposed to the weaker direct sunlight.

Feed with a slow release fertilizer as per instructions, or use a liquid plant food every second time you water your plant. Keep the leaves clean of dust by gently wiping with a damp cloth.

Keep an eye open for pests - aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, thrips, and whitefly. These can be controlled by carefully wiping leaves with a damp cloth. If you decide to use a commercial pest control product be sure to follow all label directions. We would however advise against this indoors!

If you give your Anthurium care and look after it well it should look fine for a year or more.

Repotting

Repot your plant early in the year, when new roots start to grow. Use a 6 to 7 inch (15-16.25 cm) pot filled half way with crocks. Anthuriums need a well-aerated, organic type potting mixture. A suitable soil mixture is 3 parts orchid peat, 1 part leaf mold and 1 part sphagnum moss, with a scattering of coarse sand, crushed charcoal and broken brick. Place the roots high up in the pot so that the compost is mounded above the rim of the pot.

Each year roots are produced at a higher level on your Anthurium, which raises the whole plant high above the rim of the pot. Pack a layer of moss or peat around the bare stems, keep this moist, and the young roots will penetrate it, and the plant stem can be cut off level with the rim of your pot and repotted.

Propagation

Your plants can be propagated by dividing the roots in the spring and potting the separated pieces. Keep warm in an enclosed glass case with high humidity for a few weeks.

Seeds can also be sown, as soon as they have ripened, in shallow earthenware pans filled with chopped sphagnum moss, charcoal and sand. Scatter the seeds in the moss, cover the pan with a piece of glass or plastic and place in a warm propagating area.

Types of Anthurium

Anthurium andreanum is the main species grown. It is an evergreen perennial growing to 24-30 inches tall (60-75 cm).

The crystal Anthurium (Anthurium crystallinum) produces large heart-shaped, velvety green leaves with contrasting silvery-white veins. The flowers consist of red-purple spathes with a green spadix.

Anthurium scandens produces greenish spathes followed by shiny white fruits, resembling berries, throughout most of the year. It climbs somewhat.

Anthurium scherzerianum has spathes approaching the size and color of Anthurium andreanum.

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