Originally a native of Columbia, the Anthurium lends itself the world over to being a very popular cut flower for its long lasting qualities. The Anthurium, belonging to the Araceae family is a genus of tropical plants with large and waxy flowers on long stems and large heart shaped leaves extensively hybridized by plant breeders in the USA and Europe.

This easy to grow plant is used both as a pot plant and as a cut flower, with blooms lasting over many weeks. On an average, an Anthurium plant can produce 6 inflorescences during a year. Each flower is followed by a leaf in its growth pattern with either a flower or a leaf appearing each month.

Anthuriums are shade loving plants, when grown in commercial quantities they are ideally grown under shade cloth that will block 70- 80% of light. On average, a shade house with a planting density of 25,000 plants per acre will produce 150,000 inflorescences during a year.

Propagation

Vegetative propagation of Anthuriums is the most practiced method. Hybridization is usually by seed to create new varieties. Seed propagation is not recommended for commercial propagation. Vegetative propagation will also maintain the true characteristics of the mother plant for uniformity.

Temperature and light

Anthurium being a tropical plant, can tolerate a range of temperatures from 14°C to 35°C. The optimal day temperature is 22-25°C and a night temperature is 18-20°C. The optimum light intensity is about 20,000 Lux.

Growing medium and fertilizer

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya’s recommended growth medium will comprise of:  

Leaf mould         2 parts
Cattle manure     1 part
Course Sand       2 parts

A fertilizer mixture of N: P: K in the proportion of 6:14:7 is ideally recommended for this leaf mould based medium.

Although Anthuriums are moisture loving plants, they won’t tolerate “wet feet”. Good drainage and root aeration is required along with a high atmospheric day time humidity of 70 per cent which is ideal for vigorous growth.      

Anthuriums are best fertilized with a water based fertilizer applied at the roots where it will be readily absorbed rather than on the leaves as a foliar spray. This is because the leaves are thickly covered with a waxy layer that gives the leaves and flowers a glossy appearance. Furthermore, it also helps in keeping the flowers unblemished and clean.

Pests & Diseases

While Anthuriums can tolerate mild attacks of pests and diseases, it is susceptible to bacterial blight; fungal diseases such as anthracnose, tomato spotted wilt virus and root rot which can be caused by any one of the following fungi: Calonectria, Crotalariae, Fusarium, Phytophthora, Pyhtium or Rhizoctonia.

Other pests that attack Anthuriums are Aleurotulus anthuricola (Anthurium white flies), Anthurium thrips, mites, nematodes and Xylosandrus compactus (black twig borer).

Market trends

According to a market survey done by the University of Hawaii (Halloran and Kuehnle, 1998) for the benefit of growers of cut-flowers to determine which traits florists most desire, it was established that the standard heart was the most desired "flower shape". In second place came the obake which are bicolored spathes usually in green and another colour. For example, a red obake would have a spathe of green and red. For the convenience of packing a reclining spadix is sought when grading the flowers.

Bright red was the most popular colour, as determined by this survey and the least popular was orange. Generally, the spathe size greatly varies among cultivars and age of plants within most cultivars. A medium sized spathe which is 4.5" (11.4 cm) long x 4" (10.2 cm) wide is the most preferred size recorded.

Another very important factor looked for in the commercial production of Anthuriums is the duration of vase life. A minimum 10 or 15 days was an essential requirement for an acceptable vase life sought by 88 per cent of the respondents to the survey.

The major world markets are the USA and Japan.

By Sylvia Page

(Images were sourced from the internet)