What substrate for Anthurium?
Anthuriums are a genus of plants in the family of Araceae . Most anthuriums grow in tropical rainforests in Central and South America. Anthuriums are epiphytic, hemiepiphytic, terrestrial or even lithophytic plants. But the majority of them are epiphytes at some point in their life cycle.
Definitions:
- Epiphyte: plant that grows on other plants, and uses them as a support.
- Hemiepiphyte: plant which lives as an epiphyte during only part of its biological cycle.
- Terrestrial: plant that lives in the ground
- Lithophyte: plant that grows on mineral surfaces (rocks, stones, etc.)
This means that the majority of Anthuriums in their natural habitat do not live with much substrate around their roots. The latter will still be able to recover nutrients from the trees coming from the canopy and its inhabitants, but they rarely grow in the forest floor. What you should remember from this short description is that Anthuriums grow in very humid forests where the average annual temperature is 24°C, clinging to tree trunks.
To successfully cultivate them, I try to get as close as possible to these conditions. So to maintain ambient heat and humidity, most of my Anthuriums grow in my indoor greenhouse.
But let’s get to the substance!
SUBSTRATE
Usually I use for my Anthurium the sphagnum moss . And until recently, I grew them exclusively in sphagnum moss. I either use NZ sphagnum moss (Spagmoss brand), or sphagnum moss from Chile . A little additional information, I grow all my plants in plastic pots.
But more recently, following the installation of a new indoor greenhouse where the humidity is very high (> 90%), I add perlite to the sphagnum moss so that my substrate dries more quickly. This allows me to water my plants between once a week and 2 weeks.
So, I put in my mix:
- 8 parts hydrated sphagnum moss
- 2 parts perlite
My Anthurium, both big and small, seem to really like this mixture. If your sphagnum moss dries too slowly, you can add parts of draining agents to the mixture (perlite and pine bark) and pierce your plastic pots to allow better air circulation. To drill holes in my pots, I simply use a drill.
I hope you liked this post! I would like to point out that this does not take away from the fact that many people are successful in their cultivation in soil or in passive hydroponics with Anthurium. Besides, I cultivate other species in different substrates (for example monstera and philodendron in chunky mix).
References
Mónica M. Carlsen and Thomas B. Croat, (2007). Taxonomic revision of anthurium section semazophyllium Schott (Araceae). Harvard Papers in Botany, Vol. 12, No. 1 (June 2007), pp. 173-234 (62 pages)