Anthurium "clone", Anthurium "from seed" what are the differences?

It is common to see the words "clone" or "from chonk", or even "from seed" on Anthurium sales advertisements. But what does this mean, and why is this precision important?

I answer these questions in this article!

There are two main ways to propagate Anthuriums 1) by cuttings and 2) by pollination (I would not speak here of in-vitro culture or TC culture).

Cutting

The cutting method consists of taking part of the mother plant to give a new plant, which will share its genetic heritage. That is to say that your daughter plant will have the same characteristics as the mother plant and will grow into the exact same plant.
This technique makes it possible to multiply plants while preserving their lineage, and to maintain precise characteristics. For example a particular shape of leaf or a color. I recommend choosing Anthurium from cuttings, when you want a "pure" species or have a plant with specific characteristics.

It is common to see the words "clone" or "cutting" or "from chonk" to designate Anthuriums from cuttings.

Pollination

Pollination is a method that fertilizes a flower in the female phase with pollen. If fertilization works, the fertilized flower will then give a number of berries which will each contain 1 or 2 seeds.

This method allows a certain genetic mixing. Pollination can be achieved with:

a) Two Anthuriums of the same species. For example: Dressleri x Dressleri

b) Two Anthurium of different species. For example: Dressleri x Xone

c) The same Anthurium. For example: Dressleri x self.

With the first and third methods, you will therefore obtain Anthurium Dressleri. However, those resulting from an "x-self" cross will tend to be less resistant and grow less quickly than those resulting from the Dressleri x Dressleri cross. We can consider these Anthurium x-self as being inbred. Moreover, if you take a cutting from an anthurium and then carry out pollination between the daughter and mother plants, the Anthuriums created will - in my opinion - be considered x-self, since the two mother plants share the same genetics. I hope you follow me ;)

With the second method, you will obtain Anthurium hybrids . And among these hybrids, you will have inter-individual differences, and you will therefore have specimens with more or less marked characteristics of one parent or the other.

The price

So, the propagation method will influence the price of your plant. Generally, plants from cuttings will be more expensive than plants from pollination. Because the buyer will know exactly what their plant will look like once mature (thanks to photos of the mother plant). On the other hand, plants resulting from pollination will be less expensive but you will have some uncertainty about the aesthetics of the mature plant, because as said above, it may have more or less this or that characteristic of the parents. However, with this method you can have excellent surprises!

I hope this article is useful to you! If you do not know how to propagate an Anthurium that you want to acquire, I advise you to ask the seller before making your purchase.

I made a short video summary on the subject, which you can find here .