Every tropical-plant-loving gardener lives to create a wonderful mosaic or ornamental aroids or members of the Araceae family. The Anthurium angamarcanum is a natural choice for such a collection because it’s slam dunk exotic.
Collectors grow Anthurium angamarcanum for the velvety sheen and exaggerated length of the leaf blades. The veins are silvery and prominent. This foliage wonder can grow leaves up to 2 feet (60 cms) in length under the right care conditions.
They get large but they are neither invasive not too expansive. This makes Anthurium angamarcanum care requirements ideal for potting and indoor growing.
Just grow Anthurium angamarcanum away from high traffic paths in your home to keep the thin leaves safe and watch it flourish to its fullest glory.
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Detailed Anthurium angamarcanum plant care guide
Anthurium angamarcanum care requires the recreation of Ecuadorian rainforest conditions in your home garden. Their needs are pretty straightforward. Warm temperatures upwards of 60°F (15°C), muggy humid air, plenty of filtered light and rich organic aerated soil. They are root bound and don’t need a lot of soil substrate.
Soil
If you have experience growing rainforest epiphytes you’ll find it quite easy to grow Anthurium angamarcanum. These types of plants basically grow in the cracks in big trees drawing nutrients from air, rainwater and dead leaves and animal droppings that collect around their roots.
To make a delicious substrate for your Anthurium, assemble any of the following ingredients: sterile garden compost, leaf mulch, peat moss, coco-peat etc.
For chunkiness you can mix in bark, brick bits, coco-shell chips, gravel, perlite etc. The roots wrap themselves around these chunks overtime. I would avoid sand.
To add a bit of extra zing to this course mixture you could add any animal droppings manure that you can easily find.
Cow dung, rabbit droppings, goat droppings are all shelf ready items that you can easily buy from your local gardening store. Add a handful of this to your potting mix.
What you get is a rich, loose, breathable substrate that is great to grow Anthurium angamarcanum.
Watering
Watering can be a tricky part of Anthurium angamarcanum care especially if you don’t get the soil right. The Ecuadorian rainforests are quite wet but the roots of these plants don’t get to sit in water for long.
If the potting mix and the planter you’ve used drain excellently well then yes, you can water regularly during the spring-summer period (March to September). Let the topsoil dry out between waterings.
One great Anthurium angamarcanum care hack to use harvested rainwater or water from your fish tank or garden pond. There are trace minerals in rainwater that are great for the plant. Fish droppings are a nutrient feast for Anthuriums.
Light
Anthurium angamarcanum care requires constant bright indirect light to thrive indoors, although they will tolerate less light during dormancy in winter months.
In the forests they grow under the canopy of trees.
Even though it’s bright, it’s also well shaded. They are sensitive to direct sun and easily burn, so be careful to shield them from direct rays especially in the afternoons.
On pro-tip to grow Anthurium angamarcanum is to keep it behind a sheer curtain or a screen by your east-facing window.
Since this is a green leaf Anthurium it needs constant exposure to lights to produce all that chlorophyll.
Low light leads to slow growth colour loss. Growlights are an effective Anthurium angamarcanum care hack for winter growing.
Temperature
Warm temperatures are ideal for Anthurium angamarcanum care because ultimately they are tropical evergreens.
The bare minimum temperature needed to grow Anthurium angamarcanum is 55°F (13°C) below which they will die.
You should ideally grow Anthurium angamarcanum in ambient temperatures ranging from 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C).
In the northern zones they should be brought indoors for outwintering. If you want to grow Anthuriums angamarcanu in a greenhouse, it should be heated and well-ventilated avoiding draughty windows, and extreme temperature fluctuations.
Additionally, keep the big leaves out of the way of heaters, fans, and air conditioners because these dry out and damage the plant.
Humidity
Anthurium angamarcanum is a sucker for high air humidity. In the native environs these plants are exposed to constant evaporation of water and the weather is nearly at 100% humidity levels.
High humidity levels between 70% to 80% works ideally to grow Anthurium angamarcanum.
If you choose spots like the kitchen window where boiling pots keep the air humid that’s a great way to grow Anthurium angamarcanum.
Another Anthurium angamarcanum care hack is to grow it in your bathroom provided you have a well-lit window or growlights in there.
Fertilizer
Anthurium angamarcanum care needs little else in terms of feed, once the potting mix is well enriched with organic manure as explained above.
You can however use a well-balanced fertilizer to improve the growth if for some reason your plant has been very slow or dull.
My go to fertilizer is fish emulsion well diluted and administered once a month.
The reason I prefer organic feeds over chemical fertilizers, particularly for epiphytes like Anthurium is because they are slow-release.
However, a balanced orchid fertilizer in the bi-monthly Anthurium angamarcanum care schedule isn’t a bad idea.
Potential salt build-up from chemical fertilizers can destroy your plant.
So, if you choose to use chemicals, make sure to flush the entire root ball with thorough and deep watering. Only choose top quality fertilizers.
Propagation
The propagation methods for Anthurium angamarcanum are pretty straight forward but the results may not always be consistent.
The simplest way is to separate plantlets from the roots as and when they appear, but you need to depend on nature’s family planning.
Root separation is the most reliable method to propagate Anthurium angamarcanum but be warned that the bushy look of your plant may be temporarily damaged.
Many professional nurserymen save the seeds from the berries on the spadix to germinate them, but the environment has to be very precise otherwise the seeds simply rot away. I wouldn’t recommend this route for homegrowers.
Growth
Anthurium angamarcanum is a slow grower. Their growth pattern is self-heading but they don’t take up lateral space because of the longitudinal leaf shape.
The leaf blades are long sometimes growing to a 60 cm (24 inches) in proper greenhouse environments. Otherwise they’re fairly compact and are suitable for indoor growing.
Patio in summers and greenhouse in winters is the ideal way for those who live in the colder zones.
Anthurium angamarcanum care doesn’t involve much pruning – just periodical deadheading of dry leaves and inflorescences is good enough.
Potting
First of all, know that your Anthuriums love it root bound. You can grow Anthurium angamarcanum to quite a size before it needs repotting. They need repotting only after the roots are seen growing out of the drain holes.
I am a huge fan of netted pots for growing Anthurium angamarcanum. I keep the netted pot within a liner pot of the same size.
If I see that the roots are suffocating I just lower the entire netted pot into a slightly bigger netted pot. It’s a very simple exercise and doesn’t disturb the plant at all.
Even if you choose to get rid of the first one, that’s fine too.
It’s a lot easier to dislodge the roots if you can see them. If there’s peat or sphagnum in your old mix be sure to remove it and reduce the chances of fungal root infections.
If you’re using regular pots, try to use ceramic or terracotta pots that help with drainage and give the plant a stable base.
Anthurium angamarcanum propagation: Step by step guide
Propagate Anthurium angamarcanum by root division
This is a reliable method but I would recommend it only if your Anthurium angamarcanum is strong and mature, i.e. at least a year old.
- Wait until the start of summers to remove the entire plant from its planter.
- Gently remove the soil around the root system until you see the thick stem at the centre.
- This subsoil stem needs to be cut into two halves – top half with the leaves and a few roots and the bottom half which just be stump with the remaining roots.
- Make sure both divisions have a few roots.
- Rest them for a day for the cut to callous before you plant the two halves in individual pots.
- For the bottom half, make sure the stump is visible above the soil mix.
- Keep the soil slightly moist but maintain high humidity with a plastic bag with holes.
- Feed them with very dilute good quality fertilizer until the plant picks up and stabilizes.
Propagate Anthurium angamarcanum through plantlets
You’re at the mercy of nature as far as this method is concerned. In mature plants you may sometimes see young plantlets at the roots.
These are attached to the stem from the bottom. At the start of the growing season you can separate the plantlet just like the root division method.
This is a reliable method but I would recommend it if your Anthurium angamarcanum plantlets are slightly big with at least a couple of leaves.
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Common problems for Anthurium angamarcanum
Yellowish (chlorotic) water-soaked clusters along the leaf margins
This is a classic sign of Bacterial Blight which affects Anthurium by penetrating through the pores along the leaf margins.
The infection can also enter through cuts or torn leaves.
Prune off the affected leaves with sterile sheers.
They spread due to water on the leaves. So the first care tip is to keep the leaves dry. Lower the humidity and improve air circulation around the plant. Don’t water from the top or drench the leaves.
Sudden yellowing or wilting even if the plant is well watered
Check the roots immediately. If they have died back or appear squishy then the cause is fungal infection that spreads due to waterlogged soil. This is often due to the use of nonsterile soil substrate.
The common types of fungal infections are Rhizoctonia Root Rot or Phytophthora infections. It is difficult to save an affected plant if the root systems are fully gone.
It can be prevented by using only perfectly sterile soil components. Change the soil every two years completely. Old peat and sphagnum moss are susceptible to fungus.
According to the University of Florida, almost every disease affecting anthuriums is closely linked to overwatering and excess humidity. You must grow Anthurium angamarcanum in relatively dry environments compared to other tropicals.
Common Pests
Anthurium angamarcanum is fairly pest resistant but can sometimes get sucking pests like aphids, spider mites, and mealybugs.
These sap-sucking pests feed on plant nutrients and discrete sticky honeydew, which attracts other insects.
Pests can be treated by spraying your plant with a regular insecticidal soap once a week.
You can also dab these insects with a cotton ball dipped in isopropyl alcohol (the substance in hand sanitizers). Remove the dead insects from the plant using a damp cloth.
Regular wiping of the leaves with a damp cloth is a very reliable preventive for pest problems.
Tips for growing Anthurium angamarcanum
- Grow Anthurium angamarcanum in bright filtered light.
- These are warmth lovers and can’t tolerate the slightest frost. You need to outwinter them inside a greenhouse.
- The roots love moisture but hate water logging.
- The best way to manage moisture is through the soil mix. Use a sterile, organic, and chunky mix.
- Don’t splash water on the leaves often. Wipe them dry after watering.
- Maintain high humidity by huddling up the plant with other plants to create a micro humidity zone
- Grow Anthurium angamarcanum in a netted pot where the roots get to breathe. This helps in disease prevention.
- Regularly check that the roots are cream coloured with a pink tinge. That’s a sign of health.
- They are not heavy feeders. Stick to organic soil supplements like fish emulsion.
FAQ about Anthurium angamarcanum
Do Anthurium angamarcanum plants have blooms?
Anthurium angamarcanum does get monocot blooms with a very thin green spathe. They are largely unremarkable so they don’t make much of a talking point. In fact many growers cut off the blooms as soon as they appear. In the wild, the blooms produce seeds for propagation.
Is Anthurium angamarcanum a good indoor plant?
Anthuriums are included in NASA’s list of air-purifying species. Their big leaves absorb ammonia, formaldehyde, toluene, and xylene, so they are a great addition for any indoor environment.
Is Anthurium angamarcanum toxic for pets?
The plant contains oxalic crystals that can irritate the mouth, intestinal tract, and throat if swallowed. Even the sap can cause allergic reactions.
Should Anthurium angamarcanum be misted?
Maintaining a high humidity level is desired. You can mist your plants daily but ensure that the leaves do not stay too wet for too long otherwise the plant becomes susceptible to bacterial infections.
Conclusion
The velvety, exotic foliage varieties of Anthuriums such as Angamarcanum, Anthurium crystallinum and Anthurium pallidiflorum are growing to become big favourites amongst aroid collectors.
In fact, Anthuriums are fast replacing Monsteras and Philodendrons as the next big Instagram hit.
Several gardening enthusiasts love to own them but worry that they are difficult plants. Well, we have you covered.
We have detailed care guides on several exotic Anthuriums that will help you grow and multiply your collection successfully.
Happy gardening!
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.