Description of the anthurium flower, rules for caring for male happiness at home

Anthurium is a highly decorative indoor plant, which, according to legend, brings wealth and prosperity to men, due to the phallic shape of the flower cob. Growing an anthurium flower (Male Happiness) is not difficult, but care at home involves creating a microclimate close to natural tropical conditions. The flower is extremely in demand as a living decorative element, as it fits into any interior style.

Basic information about anthurium

Anthurium is a tropical perennial belonging to the extensive Araceae family. The genus Anthurium is the most numerous in this family, including over 900 species. Basically, all anthuriums are herbaceous species that are complete or partial epiphytes, that is, they, like orchids, do not live on the ground, but on the trunks and branches of trees. The natural range covers tropical and subtropical forests of Central and South America.

The name of the plant is Greek: “Anthos" means "flower", "Oura"translated as "tail". Obviously, the name is associated with the shape of the flower, representing a spadix surrounded by a spathe.

Anthurium looks like a bush; depending on the type, it reaches a height of 50-90 cm. The plant grows slowly. The flower is able to perfectly purify the air space.

The leaves are dense, with a leathery matte or glossy coating. Their shape and size vary depending on the species. There are round, elongated, heart-shaped, spade-shaped, lanceolate and other leaf plates. The color is most often rich green, but there are varieties with variegated foliage. The leaves are held on long petioles, which are attached to low shoots. Aerial roots extend from the shoots.

The main decorative effect of anthurium is its luxurious flowering. Tiny flowers are collected in yellow or red inflorescences-cobs, reaching a length of 5-30 cm. The spadix is ​​wrapped in a dense spathe with pronounced veins and a waxy coating. The color of the bedspread is always bright, but depending on the variety it can be different: red, pink, yellow, white, green, etc.

With good care, anthurium blooms almost all year round, interrupted briefly for several winter weeks. One wave of flowering can last up to a month.The optimal time for flowering of “Male Happiness” in our climatic conditions is July and August, when it is hottest. Anthurium flowers become a wonderful element of bouquets; after cutting, they do not fade for a long time and can remain attractive for up to a month.

Characteristics of the anthurium plant

To avoid problems with growing anthurium indoors, it is recommended to remember the main characteristics associated with the care and development of the plant.

Requirements for the conditions of keeping anthurium

Since anthurium is a plant from tropical rainforests, this must be taken into account when caring, especially when choosing a watering and moistening regime. At home, “Male Happiness” is cultivated both as a flowering and as an ornamental foliage crop.

Anthurium care at home

Optimal soil should have a light structure, moisture capacity, and breathability. The ideal substrate composition is: leaf soil + turf + peat + sphagnum in the ratio 4:4:2:1. Another suitable soil mixture option: leaf soil + coniferous soil + peat + sand in a ratio of 2:2:2:1. There must be a drainage layer about 5 cm thick at the bottom of the pot.

In any of the compositions you must add a little crushed pine bark and coal chips. The additive will prevent waterlogging of the soil, which is detrimental to aerial roots.

The optimal summer air temperature is +22-25°C. In winter, the room temperature should not be allowed to drop below +15°C, but in general the optimal winter temperature is +18-20°C. With a lack of heat, the plant weakens, the leaves become covered with rotten spots.

Despite their light-loving nature, anthuriums cannot tolerate direct solar ultraviolet radiation. During the summer months, the plant should be in light shade. And in the winter months, when there is a shortage of lighting in our latitude, the flower can be placed on the eastern or southern windowsill. But you shouldn’t use phytolamps and direct their light directly at the flower.

Anthurium needs abundant watering all year round. However, stagnation of moisture inside the pot is unacceptable, which is why the drainage layer must be so thick. When the potting soil becomes waterlogged, the plant's roots quickly rot.

In addition to abundant watering, high air humidity is extremely important. In tropical forests, the plant lives at a humidity of 80-90%. In room conditions, such an indicator is almost impossible to achieve, especially with heating radiators turned on in winter. Therefore, you have to spray “Male Happiness” every day, making sure to moisturize the aerial roots.

Rules for caring for anthurium

In order for anthurium to delight with flowering, it must be properly cared for according to the seasons of the year. Despite the fact that the plant does not have a dormant period, it is necessary to limit watering in winter. In the spring, when the room temperature rises above +22°C, watering increases, after which you can expect the release of flower stalks. Water adult plants over 3 years old after the soil lump in the pot dries to a depth of 3 cm.Water young flowers more often so that the soil, even on the surface, always remains slightly moist.

How quickly the soil dries out depends on the age of the plant, temperature and humidity level in the room.

It is recommended to water the anthurium in a mixed way: pour part of the water from above, the other part into the pan. When watering, try not to touch the leaves and flowers. Spray the flower with a spray bottle, also periodically give the plant a shower, wash off dust and dirt from the leaves.

Anthurium should be fed from early spring to mid-autumn once every 2 weeks. Use liquid complexes for indoor decorative flowering plants. From time to time, you can replace root application of fertilizer with foliar application. Spraying with fertilizer is recommended once every 10 days. There is no need to feed the flower during the winter months.

To be able to produce seeds, anthurium must be pollinated. In nature, this task is performed by insects, but in indoor conditions you have to transfer pollen with a cotton swab. Plants need to be cross-pollinated once a week.

Anthurium transplantation and propagation methods

After purchasing “Male Happiness” you need to replant it immediately, even if the plant blooms. Store-bought soil is transportable and is not suitable for long-term cultivation of plants; the roots in it will quickly rot. Next, young plants must be replanted annually at the end of February or March, and adults - once every 2 years.There is no need to select a new pot that is too large; it is enough that the diameter is 1.5-2 cm larger than the previous one: anthurium blooms profusely when its roots are a little crowded.

Here are the instructions for transplanting anthurium:

1. Pour drainage into the pot in the form of large or medium expanded clay.
2. Sprinkle the drainage layer with soil. Water it generously.
3. Carefully remove the plant from the previous pot. Shake the soil off the roots.
4. Carefully inspect the roots. Cut off the shrunken and rotten ones. Treat the cut areas with crushed activated carbon or a pharmaceutical antiseptic, such as Chlorhexidine.
5. Insert the plant into the new pot. Cover the roots evenly with the prepared soil.
6. Water the plant 2-3 hours after transplanting.

“Male Happiness” can be propagated by seed and vegetative methods. The first option is difficult and requires a lot of time and skill. Therefore, anthurium seeds are propagated mainly by breeders involved in varietal diversity.

For ordinary gardeners, the easiest way is cuttings. In this way, you can root a leaf with a petiole of 3 cm, the upper part of a mature shoot about 12 cm long, or a piece of a shoot with aerial roots. The cuttings are simply placed in a moist substrate or in water and wait for the roots to appear. An anthurium grown by cuttings should bloom within a year.

Plants that have reached 3 years of age can be propagated by lateral layering. The procedure is carried out in early spring and coincides with a planned transplant.