4 Things to do after buying a new anthurium
Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby! It’s likely one of the most gorgeous plants you’ve ever seen (especially if it’s a foliage type Anthurium sold for its velevety or irredescent leaves). But how do you keep it looking gorgeous in YOUR home environment? The key is how you “transition” it into your home. Remember, these sensitive plants come from ideal greenhouse-like professional growing conditions, and each professional grows differently! Also remember that plants, like humans, are a bit tired and stressed after traveling (how would you like to be shoved in a cold or hot USPS box and jumbled around for days in the dark), so they need a little pampering upon arrival! Here is what to do:
Pest Check: The first thing you will want to do upon receiving your new Anthurium baby, as you should do with all new plant arrivals, is to check for pests. I recommend doing so with a 45x magnifying glass with a light. Look above and below the leaves. Check out my instagram page; specifically the Pest Control and Pest ID highlights for information on what to do if you find something. Don’t panic and set your plant on fire if you do. You got this.
2. Shipping Recovery: The second thing you want to do is to put it in as high of humidity as you can for a week or two: under a glass cloche, sealed in a large clear storage container, in an IKEA cabinet or in a grow tent where the humidity is ideally from 70-100% humidity upon arrival until it recovers from the shock of being shipped. If you don’t have any of these available, even a dry cleaners bag blown up like a balloon and sealed around the plant will do the trick! Keep it in a warm area, but not too hot! They love temperatures in the 67-82 degree Fahrenheit range. If you did find a pest on your new plant, keeping it isolated in a humidity chamber will serve dual purposes during this shipping recovery phase: humidity will help perk the plant back up and the isolation will help prevent the spread of the pest to other plants while you are treating it.
3. Acclimatization: After a week, you can bring your plant into the environment of choice, keeping in mind that it is easiest to grow ornamental velvety Anthuriums in 60-80% humidity with LOTS of airflow (fans, fans, fans)! Besides growing in a greenhouse, humid home environments (if you live by a large body of water), rooms with humidifiers and fans, grow tents or cabinets (like IKEA Milsbos) with fans for air circulation will make the most ideal indoor environments long term for Anthuriums. If you move your Anthurium directly into 40-50% humidity immediately after its 100% post-shipping relaxation chamber, it will be angry and will likely throw a fit. Slowly and gradually over a few weeks time move it down to this low of humidity if you plan on growing at humidity levels lower than 60% (although I do not recommend you growing a velvety Anthurium below 50% humidity if you can avoid it).
4. Moving Forward: The key to growing Anthuriums successfully indoors is to use a very chunky airy Aroid mix like it is currently in, sphagnum moss, or in a semi-hydroponic setup with pon or Fluval stratum, never let them dry out (water at least every 3-4 days if in a chunky aroid mix), high humidity, air flow, and fertilizer year-round. The more light you give it, the faster it will grow. The less light, the darker the leaves but the slower it will grow.
How you grow it is ultimately up to you and you will figure out what works best for you over time. Anthuriums are insanely gorgeous, but they make you work to achieve and maintain that beauty! If you don’t get it right the first time; try, try again. Or, if you’re as hooked as I am, next time buy two so that you have one as a back up. Have fun and remember to enjoy the journey.
