Anthurium (80 photos): cultivation and care

Anthurium is an excellent home exotic plant. Its main advantage is a rich color palette of buds, from bright red to snow-white, including purple, burgundy, pink tones. There are also varieties with multi-colored and black bracts. This interesting plant has other names, for example, "flamingo flower", "fiery tongue". Sometimes it is called "male happiness", because, according to legend, it brings courage, determination, masculinity to the stronger sex.

The main types of anthurium

Anthurium is an ornamental deciduous plant native to the rainforests of the New World, where it grows as ground grasses and vines. This culture has about 700 species, but 30 pure species and about a hundred hybrids are used for sowing. The classification consists of three main groups:

1. Beautiful flowering - are very popular with flower growers, as they have an inflorescence of unique beauty. A special place is occupied here by such varieties as "Anthurium Scherzer" and "Andre". The first pleases with its red-orange flowering, dark green matte leaves with black patches. "Andre" reaches a height of 1 meter, has an extensive palette of petals from white to crimson-red tones.

2. Species with a short climbing trunk, such as "Crystal Anthurium" and "Majestic Anthurium". It is noteworthy that these plants also have elegant color patterns on the leaves. For example, the foliage of the "Crystal" type has a velvety coating of deep green tone with light veins and a stunning sheen. Similar to him and "Majestic", the diameter of the leaves of which can reach 40 cm with proper care.

3. Decorative and deciduous, whose representative in home flowerpots is Baker's Anthurium. The lower surface of its leaves has a reddish-brown pubescence, and they themselves reach 55 cm in length. In this group, the “Anthurium climbing” species also stands out, which is more like a vine up to 1 m long.

There are many other quite interesting varieties, each of which will perfectly complement the home interior. But, it should be noted that only the creation of favorable conditions will help to achieve bright colors and beautiful flowering of the culture.

Proper care of anthurium

Anthurium is a beautiful houseplant. Originally from the tropics, it is quite demanding on external conditions. With proper care, the culture will delight its owners with bright flowering all year round, even when it is gloomy and cold outside. The main components of a favorable microclimate are optimal humidity, temperature, lighting, as well as timely soil drink with additional top dressing.

Lighting

What can kill anthurium is direct sunlight. At the same time, he needs bright, but diffused lighting. You can create a slight penumbra, as in a very darkened space, growth and flowering activity will slow down. In winter, it is necessary to equip the place of its location with additional electric lighting.

Temperature

Anthurium perfectly adapts to room temperature. He does not need to create additional heating or keep in the cold. In summer, the optimum temperature will be within + 20 ... + 28C, and in winter - from 15 to 18C. When the heating season begins, the anthurium must be removed from the radiators, which significantly dry out the air. It must also be taken into account that sudden changes in temperature can destroy the flower.

Humidity

Since the homeland of Anthurium is the humid forest tropics, it is necessary to create a similar microclimate in the apartment, which humidifiers successfully cope with. To avoid the negative effects of dry air, the flowerpot can be placed on a pallet with wet expanded clay, periodically spraying the air around the flower. In this case, you need to ensure that drops of water do not fall on the leaves. This can lead to the formation of limescale and loss of attractiveness.

Watering

Anthuriums need good watering, and excess moisture or overdrying of the soil can harm them. If water remains in the pan, it must be disposed of. The frequency of soil moisture is determined by the dryness of the top layer. In the hot season, watering is carried out 2-3 times a week, and in winter - 1 time. The flower prefers warm soft water, so it is better to take settled water. From lime water, anthurium leaves may turn yellow.

Fertilizers and top dressing

Some growers, who provide the plant with the most suitable conditions, prefer not to use fertilizer at all. Favorable soil is a mixture of acidic soil with peat, tree bark and expanded clay. But it must be taken into account that no matter how fertile the soil is, over time the supply of necessary nutrients in it is exhausted.

From the beginning of spring to the end of summer (September can also be affected), the anthurium must be fed twice a month with fertilizers, alternating organic and mineral, or a universal composition with a full complex must be purchased. This is especially important for young plants up to six months, which are actively growing. Top dressing begins only when the culture is firmly rooted, so as not to cause a burn of the root system.

Pests and diseases of anthurium

Proper care is the key to a healthy plant life. If yellowing of the foliage is observed, the reasons may be unsuitable climatic conditions, sunburn, or, conversely, freezing, lack of moisture. With too abundant watering, anthurium leaves become covered with brown spots, and if the transplant was not done correctly, they turn black and wither. There are also a number of diseases from which the culture can suffer. The most common are:

- Sooty fungus - affects leaves, stems and shoots, reproduction stops, as the plant is not able to produce new shoots. The affected areas must be removed, and the flower should be treated with potassium soap;

- Soil fungus - is formed when transplanted into infected soil and lack of high-quality drainage. The disease affects the root system. Damaged areas must be removed and anthurium transplanted;

- Gray mold is manifested by a touch of gray throughout the plant. Its appearance can be caused by high humidity, content in unventilated conditions;

- Powdery rot - formed at high humidity and high temperature. The flower has a white bloom, which is cured with fungicidal agents.

To achieve good growth and flowering of the culture, the anthurium must be constantly replanted. At the same time, new fresh soil is added to the pot. Young flowers are transplanted annually, and adults - once every three years. As for the soil, it should be nutritious, light, and breathable. Most often, flower growers use purchased soil.

It is important to choose the right pot - a small and narrow one contributes to lush flowering, and "kids" are more often formed in a large flowerpot. Be sure to put drainage at the bottom. Before you get the anthurium out of the pot, it must be watered abundantly so that the moisture saturates the entire soil well. From the roots of the extracted flower, the remains of the old soil are crushed and transplanted. If at this time the anthurium blooms, it is better to cut the peduncles so that the plant can adapt more easily.

Reproduction at home

Vegetative propagation is most often used by cuttings with aerial roots, whole tops or stem offspring. It can also be propagated by seeds.

You can plant the plant gradually, with each appearance of young shoots. Each of them must have a pair of leaves and at least the same number of rhizomes. If the root system is absent, the shoot should be placed in moist sphagnum moss for one to two weeks before the root appears. After cutting the shoot, it is advisable to treat this area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe anthurium with crushed coal or ground cinnamon in order to avoid the possible appearance of rot or the development of a fungal infection.

Young shoots are planted in prepared moist loose soil so that the growth point remains above the soil level. As moisture evaporates, watering is carried out.

In the same way, reproduction is carried out by basal shoots. With sufficient care, the plant acclimatizes within a month, after which the first leaves appear.

There are varieties of anthurium that have rather long climbing shoots. They can be rooted directly into the ground, pinned and sprinkled with moss.

Division

Another way to increase the number of anthurium specimens is to simply divide it. An adult bush must be removed from the ground and carefully separated into several parts, each of which is placed in a separate pot with soil. The soil must be moistened to accelerate the adaptation of the root system.

A positive characteristic of this method is that mass seedlings can be obtained. Otherwise, such reproduction is not particularly welcomed by florists, since the process is quite long and laborious, involving self-pollination.

Seeds are extracted from the mature fruits of the plant, washed, treated with a 0.1% solution of potassium permanganate. They are sown in a flat container with a small layer of light structured soil or perlite. At the same time, the seeds are laid out and slightly pressed, without sprinkling on top.

The container, covered with a film, should be kept at a temperature of +20 ... + 25C for about two weeks. After opening the first full-fledged leaf, the plant can be stopped. When the size of the outlet reaches 5 cm, the anthurium is transplanted into a separate pot with a volume of up to 200 ml. Flowering can be observed no earlier than a year and a half later.