vegetative

new varieties
matters

University of Florida

Anthuriums
Reinvented
This specialty crop, with its brilliant whites and reds,
‘Baby Red’
has potential to become the next big plant for the holidays.

By Rick Schoellhorn

S
omewhere between the explo- THE NEW ANTHURIUM
sion of the foliage industry in At first glance, the biggest changes with this
Culture Quickie:
the 70s and the changing of the crop seem to be that the newer cultivars have How to handle finished
interiorscape market, many of smaller, and a lot more, flowers than the older anthuriums to maximize
us lost touch with what was forms, which is true in some respects and not color and sales.
happening in the world of foliage. I have the whole story in others. The true advances
Avoid high light. While anthuriums need bright,
recently been working on renovating our con- are in early-flowering cultivars, so we can now
indirect light (2,000-2,500 foot-candles) to continue
servatory/teaching collection here on cam- have 4-inch pots of anthurium in full flower.
flowering, you can overdo it with direct sun.
pus in Gainesville and, in the process, redis- However, the flowers are not necessarily small-
Anthuriums are slow-growing and scorched foliage
covering some of the standards of the foliage er; the new hybrids just begin flowering so
is not quickly replaced. Also, high light will quickly
industry. In the process, I’ve found out how much earlier that you’d think they were dwarf
bleach foliage and reduce quality.
many of the interior plant cultivars I learned or smaller flowers. If you grow these plants out
Keep watering to a minimum. While anthuriums are
about 10 years ago are no longer in produc- in larger containers, their flowers get larger as
related to philodendrons, they like to be kept on the
tion. It shouldn’t surprise me that the foliage the plant gets larger, up to a certain point.
dry side and never allowed to become soggy.
industry’s changes have been keeping pace I was recently touring NGM Enterprises in
Keep plants warm. While anthuriums are more toler-
with the bedding plant market, but it’s a lot Apopka, Fla., a nursery specializing in anthuri-
ant of cool temperatures than you might think, they will
like visiting friends and seeing how much um as finished product from 4- to 10-inch. While
grow faster and produce more flowers under warm
their children have grown; changes always I was there, I noticed that a lot of the cultivars I
temperatures. While the crop can withstand down to
seem to happen faster in other people’s hous- had assumed were small-flowered had beauti-
38º F without damage, they do best between 68º F
es than they do in your own. ful, large flowers when grown out in larger con-
nights and 86º F days, with high relative humidity.
Anthuriums are one of the crops where a lot tainers. If you are looking for some impressive
Don’t overfertilize. Anthuriums do not need a lot
of changes have taken place in the last 10 specimen flowering material, you should really
of fertilizer; do not assume that by putting on the
years. Breeding has really changed the face of check out the larger container sizes.
feed you can push more flowers; it often has the
this crop, but also, there are a lot of misconcep- Anthurium flowers are typical of plants in the
opposite effect. Watch soluble salt levels (optimum
tions floating around out there that have limit- family Araceae. Members of this family have a
is below 1.0 mmhos) and rinse root ball with clear
ed the adoption and use of this wonderful distinctive flower structure composed of two
water to control salt accumulation.
flower. Anthuriums remain one of the crops main parts: The spathe is a modified leaf (this is
that most Northern nurseries bring in as pre- the brightly colored portion of the flower), and
finished or finished, but the sparsely flowered the spadix is the column-like spike of the true
forms of years ago are long since replaced by flower parts. The color range of the spathe has
earlier and heavier-flowering varieties. There been expanded from the red, pink and orange
have also been massive changes in the number tones of the past into deep burgundy, rich purple,
of colors available, as well as the growth habits coral, clear pink and bi-color forms. All of these
and sizes available. A lot of the breeding colors are presented as thick, rich, waxy blooms
advances have been made by one of the from 1-11 inches across. The average flower lasts
University of Florida’s own breeders, Dr. Jake up to 10 weeks, and anthuriums also make excel-
Henny, at the Mid-Florida Research Center. I lent cut flowers. ‘Ramona’ is a hybrid from K.P.
mention his name to give him credit for some Holland/Foremost Co. that has a crested spadix,
really excellent cultivars, but also to yank his so each flower is slightly different. The “witch’s
chain a little as I am sure he would prefer I not broom” effect really adds a lot of interest to this ‘Cleopatra’
go on about him too much! Smile Jake! flower.

22 GPN December 2002

 vegetative matters
new varieties

Production of anthuriums is somewhat spe-

cialized. First of all, they are a slow crop, taking
somewhere around nine months to produce a
6-inch pot from a 72-cell liner. It is due to this
long production time that most Northern grow-
ers and florists ship-in finished material rather
than growing their own plants. The very clean-
est production facilities are essential through-
out production, as small plants are susceptible
to bacterial and fungal problems. Plants begin
as tissue culture liners and are grown out as 4-
inch material. Plants are shifted to larger con-
tainers as they grow, so that last year’s 4-inch ‘Sarah’ ‘Miami Beauty’
crop may be next year ’s 6- to 8-inch crop,
depending on the vigor of the cultivar. where to buy
Most of the American distribution of tissue
DEBUNKING THE MYTHS culture liners comes from the following
There are a number of misconceptions in the companies, though others undoubtedly
industry about what anthuriums need to per- exist and provide excellent product.
form at their best. While they are tropical and do
Agristarts
need warmth and high humidity to flourish, (407) 889-8055
here are some things they don’t need. www.agristarts.com
Misconception #1. Anthuriums are low-light
plants. The key to continued flowering is bright, Foremost Co.
(800) 421-8986
indirect light. Yes, you want to avoid direct north-
www.foremostco.com
ern sun as it will scorch the foliage, but by the
‘Anouke’
same token, don’t assume the plant needs to be Milestone Agriculture
kept in the dark. Lack of light is the major reason (800) 215-2210
anthuriums stop flowering. www.milestoneag.com
Misconception #2. Anthuriums need lots of Oglesby Plants International
water. Keep these plants on the dry side; they like (800) 762-0022
to dry out between watering. It has a lot to do www.oglesbytc.com
with their thick, fleshy roots needing air and rot- Twyford Laboratories
ting if kept too wet. All in all, it is better to slight- (800) 905-3263
ly under-water than to over-water. Anthuriums www.twyford.com
are not drought-tolerant, so don’t go overboard;
leaf tips may scorch if plants become too dry. It is Check the Web or contact sales
representatives from these companies
also not necessary to repot anthuriums as, in if you are looking for quality pre-finished
most cases, they prefer to be root-bound, and this ‘Red Love’ or finished product producers.
helps to avoid over-watering.
Misconception #3. Anthuriums need a lot Dr. Jake Henny’s breeding program. Also, day items?” The white forms are stately, the
of fertilizer. Anthuriums are actually pretty check out ‘Anouke’ (Rijn/Milestone colored types are vivid, and they last many
light feeders, needing only between 75-200 Agriculture) and ‘Ms. June’ (Agristarts) for rich months instead of weeks. All of this not only
ppm nitrogen as a regular feeding. Try to purple tones. Twyford’s ‘Tropic Fire’ was a tells you this is a good upper-end crop but that
stick with a 1:2:1 ratio fertilizer, and occa- strong red, as is Agristarts’ ‘Miami Beauty’. we can probably expect to see more of this
sionally flush the soil with clear water to Anthuriums for 8- to 10-inch sales. These plant in the future. Just as orchids and
keep the soluble salt level low. are the cultivars for really outstanding, large bromeliads have become commodity crops
flowers and dramatic foliage. While any of the available in most nurseries and mass-market
SIZING ANTHURIUMS above cultivars is likely available in larger outlets, I think you’ll be seeing a lot more
Anthuriums for 4-inch sales. Remember pots, I really was impressed with Milestone anthuriums in the future as well. GPN
that most cultivars begin life as 4-inch pots Agriculture’s ‘Sarah’, with peach- and green-
before being shifted into larger pots. mottled blooms up to 12 inches across;
Therefore, most cultivars can be grown as ‘Cleopatra’ was a magnificent pure white Rick Schoellhorn is assistant professor of flori-
small pots, but certain cultivars flower more with 6-inch blooms and deep green foliage; culture at the University of Florida, Gainesville,
vigorously in small pots than others. There is and ‘Red Love’ was also excellent with high Fla. He can be reached by phone at (352) 392-1831
a new series out from Oglesby called ‘Small contrast between the red and green portions or E-mail at [email protected].
Talk’; bright colors and early flowering allow of the flower. The flowers on these cultivars
it be produced in 4-inch or larger pots. often age back into green tones, so they last
Anthuriums for 6-inch sales. Most current longer on the plant and provide a very long-
cultivars work well in a 6-inch pot, but some lasting tropical color.
produce more flowers and offer more color As I had just begun my annual trip around LearnMore!
than others. Here are a few to look for if you the state of Florida to look at poinsettia crops, I For more information
want 6-inch material. Try ‘Orange Hots’ and couldn’t help but look at the brilliant red related to this article, go to
‘Red Hots’ for a multi-flowered, bright, tropical anthuriums and think the ultimate heresy… www.onhort.com/LM.CFM/gp120203.
effect; these are from the University of Florida’s “Why can’t these plants also be used as holi-

December 2002 GPN 23