Package of Practices for Growing Anthurium
Package of Practices for Growing Anthurium
Botanical Name : Anthurium andrenum
Family: Araceae
Anthurium are tropical plants of great beauty and grown either for the showy cut flowers or for their unusually attractive foliage. They are very popular with flower arrangers because of the bold effect and lasting qualities of flowers when cut. These contribute to the elegance and attractiveness which are the prerequisites for a quality design. Provided they are given the right greenhouse conditions they are easy enough to grow.
The name Anthurium is derived form the Greek anthos, flower, and oura, tail, referring to the spadix.
Morphology and Classification:
Anthurium is perennial plants with creeping, climbing, assurgent or arborescent stems. Leaves variable, evergreen, net-veined, with a prominent mid nerve and lateral nerves, and a well-defined nerve at or near the margin.
The genus Anthurium belongs to the family araceae.
It seems to fall naturally into two sections or groups’ foliage and flowering.
Cultivars Varieties:
The popular cultivars grown throughout the world both for but flowers and in pots are abe (bright pink), Avo-jose (white), Haga white, Nova Aurora (red), Ozaki (red), Red Elf, Rico (rose) Sun Burst (bright orange), Sarina (white and rose)( and Uniwai (white).
Propagation:
Anthurium are generally propagated through seed, division and cutting. In recant years, micro propagation is also being employed for commercial production of planting material.
Vegetative Propagation:
Division:
Anthurium can easily be propagated by division of offshoots with aerial roots from the main stem. Plants obtained through this method flower early comparison with those form cuttings or other methods.
Cutting:
Anthurium is also propagated by terminal cuttings rooted under intermittent mist.
Micro Propagation:
While tissue culture technique, Anthurium are multiplied very rapidly and flower production has been reported to be higher than those form seedlings.
Media and Climate:
The media for growing Anthurium, whether in pot or bed, should be light, well drained and rich in organic matter.
A medium containing peat + pinebark + perlite (2:2:1) gave 98.8 per cent top grade flowers.
Cultivation:
Anthurium require warm greenhouse with shading form direct sunshine and a humid condition. The optimum temperature for growth is 18-21OC and the minimum temperature should not be less than 10-13OC for a short period. Bright but filtered light is essential for abundant flowering.
Manuring and Fertilization:
Anthurium need adequate amount of nutrients for their proper growth and flowering. Among the major elements, application of nitrogen, potassium and calcium markedly improve the yield and quality of flowers.
Watering:
Anthurium requires generous watering. However, the right amount of water and proper intervals between successive applications of water are determined by several factors.
Harvesting:
Anthuriums are generally harvested when the spadix is almost fully developed. Flowers picked too early wilt quickly. Development of true flowers on spadix is also used as a criterion for determining the harvest stage.
Post Harvest Handling and Packaging:
The flower stems are placed in lukewarm water (28OC) after the harvest and allowed to stand overnight prior to shipment. They should properly be graded according to the colour, stem length and sizes of spathes and spadicces.
Storage:
Anthurium can easily be stored at 13OC for 2-3 weeks and will last 2-4 weeks in an arrangement.