The name anthurium comes from the Latin words anthos (flower) and oura (tail). Apparently, this name is derived from the protruding tail of the inflorescence. Thus, it can simply be called a tailed flower. And this is indeed how the anthurium is sometimes called by foreign flora lovers.
Often the names “rooster comb” and most romantically “flamingo flower” are found.
Origin anthurium veitchii
The anthurium veitchii is native to the tropics of Central and South America. If you find it in Southeast Asia or other tropical areas of the planet, it will be the result of introduction, the plant got there relatively recently.
In natural conditions, the anthurium is usually an epiphyte, that is, it grows in the branches of trees. There are also terrestrial forms, lianas and herbaceous shrubs.
Flowering anthurium veitchii
Naturally, the greatest attraction and originality of the plant is given by its unique unforgettable inflorescences. The anthurium veitchii is called a long bloomer, its blooms are extremely long and can be repeated twice a year if the king anthurium veitchii plant is given extra light in the winter.
Even a cut inflorescence lasts 2-3 weeks, and on the anthurium veitchii plant it lasts up to 2-3 months or more.
Like all aroids, the inflorescence of the anthurium is a cob with a veil. What we take for a anthurium veitchii flower is the bract, the veil, which can be, as already mentioned above, in a variety of colors, including mottled. And the “tail” is the cob, which is where the female and male flowers are formed. André forms flowers of both sexes in one inflorescence.
However, nature has provided for the male and female flowers to mature at different times to avoid self-pollination of the anthurium veitchii plant. The female flowers first mature at the base of the cob, at which point they need to be cross-pollinated with pollen from another king anthurium veitchii plant that has already produced male flowers.
Later on, the first plant will also produce male flowers, but the female ones have usually already blossomed by this time. Therefore, it is only possible to pollinate a flower at home when several inflorescences have blossomed and they do not develop at the same time. Even better if you have several king anthurium veitchii plants at once.
King anthurium veitchii care
Propagation anthurium veitchii
Most often the anthurium is propagated vegetatively. You can divide an overgrown plant when repotting, or you can separate a small scion from the mother king anthurium veitchii plant.
You can even do this without taking the king anthurium veitchii plant out of the pot, but the soil must be dry. If the offshoot has roots, then sprinkle the cut with charcoal, dry it for 1-2 hours in the shade, and then plant the offshoot immediately in the soil.
For the first 2 days it should not be watered, preferably only humidify the air around the scion. Then you can cautiously start watering. However, even if there are no roots, the seedling can easily be rooted by placing it in damp sphagnum.
Seedlings very often bloom the same year.
If the adult plant is very elongated and has formed a bare trunk, you can cut off the top with two or three leaves and use it as a cuttings. A stump 3-5 inches high is left from the mature plant on which new buds will later awaken.
Very often on the bare trunk and on the cuttings there are already the beginnings of roots, in this case the rooting of the cuttings will go very quickly.
However, even without roots the cuttings take root quite easily. It is best placed in sphagnum or in a mixture of sphagnum, charcoal and bark, the substrate is moistened.
The king anthurium veitchii cuttings need to be fixed, covered with a bag and placed in a bright place. The substrate is periodically moistened, but it should not be too wet.
In summer, sometimes cuttings are easily rooted in plain water. You can also try to root the rest of the bare stem. It is best to root at high temperatures of about +24-26°C.
Sometimes the seed method of propagation is used. However, keep in mind that this method of propagation may not retain the varietal traits. It is also quite difficult to obtain seeds. If pollination has taken place, the fruit will later develop on the cob, but it is a long process, which can take 9 months or more.
The ripe fruits are first manually removed from the pulp, and then the seeds are placed in water for complete purification. Seeds lose germination very quickly, even after 2 weeks it decreases significantly, so if you buy them in the store, there is no guarantee that they have not lost the ability to germinate.
Fresh seeds are placed on the surface of a substrate of leaf soil, peat and sand, without submerging. Cover the vessel with glass or polyethylene (but will require periodic ventilation).
At a temperature of +24-28 ° C sprouts should appear in a week, and 1.5-2 months later develop a real leaf. After another 2-2.5 months the seedlings can be seeded. Sprouts grown from seeds will not flower until the 3rd-4th year.
Lighting king anthurium veitchii
The king anthurium veitchii is one of the few beautifully flowering plants that is relatively shade tolerant. It cannot be placed on a southern window, perhaps only at some distance. Eastern and even northeastern windows will be optimal.
The western side will also do, but care should be taken to ensure that the plant does not suffer from excessive light, which leads to yellowing leaves and shortened petioles.
Excellent growth can be achieved with artificial light. However, if we want to ensure flowering throughout the year, extra light is needed in winter.
Watering
When watering an king anthurium veitchii, it is important to use moderation. Under-watering is very harmful, just as over-watering is very harmful.
However, in the opinion of most flower growers, overwatering is more dangerous for the king anthurium veitchii plant and can quickly cause rotting of the root system and death.
Therefore, it is advisable to drain the water from the tray after watering. Between waterings, the soil should dry out.
It is also necessary to pay special attention to the quality of water for irrigation.
In the first place, it should not be hard. Soften water by adding 2-3 drops of lemon juice per liter or one-half liter of aspirin. However, completely get rid of hardness in this way will not work.
The best option is to freeze water in the freezer. Water should be frozen in half and drain the unfrozen remainder, which will contain all unnecessary salts.
Fertilizing king anthurium veitchii
During growth and flowering, the anthurium should be fertilized about 2-3 times a month, alternating mineral and organic feedings. If the plant continues to grow in the winter due to additional light, fertilization is not stopped.
Otherwise, do not fertilize, providing a dormant period.
Hygiene and shaping king anthurium veitchii
When growing an anthurium, it is important to remove the blooms in a timely manner.
You can also periodically bathe it under the shower at least once a week, it is useful to wipe the leaves with a damp sponge on both sides. Some king anthurium veitchii flower growers ensure the shine of the leaves by wiping them with milk mixed with water (1:3).
Humidity king anthurium veitchii
Nowadays, there is a huge variety of varieties with different colors of inflorescences: white, yellow, pink, green, red and even speckled.
High air humidity is very important when growing an anthurium. It is best to spray the plant with water at a temperature of 2-3 degrees above room temperature.
You need to be very careful when spraying during flowering because if the water gets on the flowers, black spots will form on them. Therefore, you can put a plastic bag on the inflorescences or moisten the surrounding area so that moisture does not get on them.
Even better to grow an anthurium in a tray with damp clay pebbles, and the base of the stems and air roots are well encased with damp moss.
During the heating season, some ornamental-leaved varieties suffer from a lack of moisture. They may even “tear” their young leaves when unfolded.
Therefore, it is necessary to apply all methods to increase moisture levels, best of all to place the vase near the room fountain. It is also worth remembering that you can not spray plants with a velvety leaf surface.
Temperature king anthurium veitchii
King anthurium veitchiiis a heat-loving tropicalist, the optimal temperature for its cultivation is +22-24 ° C. It does not like drafts and sudden temperature changes.
However, if the plant is absolutely healthy, some florists recommend providing cooler nighttime maintenance (at about +18°C) to stimulate flowering.
In winter, the temperature should not fall below +15°C. In winter, it is even advisable to put foam plastic under the pot if it is on a cold window sill.
Soil king anthurium veitchii
Potting mix e for the anthurium should be as light and acidic as possible (pH 5.5-6.0). The fact is that the roots of the king anthurium veitchii, like orchids, are covered with a special layer – velamen, which easily absorbs moisture, but with its excess in heavy soil can easily be subjected to rotting.
As a substrate, you can use a mixture of top peat, leaf soil, sand, pine bark in a ratio of 2:2:1:1.
As a substrate, you can also use some neutral store substrate and add to it about a third of the soil for azaleas. To acidify it, it is very useful to add sphagnum to the soil.
Also, very often pieces of pine bark of about 0.5 inches and pieces of charcoal are added to the substrate. For more friability, it is useful to use perlite. It is better not to use vermiculite in pots with a diameter greater than 3 inches.
It is very important to form a sufficiently strong layer of playdate drainage. To increase humidity, the neck of the plant can be wrapped with damp sphagnum.
Some flower growers for the anthurium use directly the soil taken in the pine forest.
To do this, you need to move aside the litter and take the top 2-3 inches of soil. After adding black peat, such soil can be used for the king anthurium veitchii plant.
King anthurium veitchii can also be grown in a substrate that resembles soil for orchids. Such a substrate is obtained by mixing bark, semi-decomposed peat and sphagnum.
The only drawback is the low amount of nutrients in such a substrate and the need for frequent feeding.
Anthurium can also be grown on hydroponics. This method is attractive because, as a rule, the roots of the plant do not rot in expanded clay, with this method it is difficult to flood it.
In addition, expanded clay is a reusable material, it can be used very often after transplanting the anthurium.
Transplanting king anthurium veitchii
The anthurium does not need very frequent transplanting, because it does not grow that fast, usually it is transplanted about once every 3-4 years. As it grows, you can transplant the king anthurium veitchii plant into a pot of larger diameter even several times during the year. It is useful to replace the top 0.5-0.7 inches of soil sometimes during the year.
Do not king anthurium veitchii plant the plant in a pot of too large a diameter. Firstly, the plant will not flower until its roots have taken up the entire volume of the pot.
Secondly, it can get sour before it’s full, and the compounds it produces will have a negative impact on the flower’s growth.
When planting, do not deepen the plant, and if it is unstable, then tie it to a support. If the trunk is bare, it can be planted deeper, but the bare part should be covered with sphagnum. Then the king anthurium veitchii plant can develop adventitious roots.
King anthurium veitchii difficulties
Although the anthurium is generally undemanding, when growing it, you can nevertheless encounter a number of problems. Difficulties of the first kind are related to improper lighting of the king anthurium veitchii plant.
If there is not enough light the cuttings are stretched out and the leaves become darker, if there is too much light the cuttings shrink and the leaves become yellow or brownish (sometimes they are yellow in the center with brown, dry edges).
As a rule, if there is not enough light, the anthurium blooms worse Dry, as if paper spots on the lightened leaves are a symptom of sunburn.
The appearance of black and brown spots on the leaves most often indicates excessive watering.
The appearance of spots can also be due to improperly selected too dense and heavy substrate. In this case, the king anthurium veitchii plant needs replanting.
Leaves can also curl from too bright light, and from insufficient air humidity, and from improper lighting (either too much or not enough). Leaf tips most often turn yellow from cold, drafts, constant overwatering of the soil and dry air.
Leaves partly turn black from excessive water hardness and excessive calcium salts in the soil. Phytosporosis may develop if overwatered in a warm room.
One of the most common pests of anthurium can be called powdery mildew, which appears as a white cotton-like plaque in the leaf axils.
A sign of the appearance of the spider mite is the appearance of a dusty plaque and then yellow specks on the leaves.
Anthurium can be attacked by the scale, which looks like brown scales on cuttings and the lower surface of leaves. Another possible pest is whitefly, as well as thrips. Fungal and bacterial infections can sometimes appear on the leaves.
King anthurium veitchii toxicity
It should be remembered that the anthurium, like all aroids, is poisonous. Its leaves can cause mouth sores.
Therefore, you should be careful with this plant in the house where there are small children and animals.
