Are you a plant lover and looking for a beautiful long-leafed plant? Cheers to one of the most gorgeous Anthurium, the Anthurium warocqueanum plant.
This tropical perennial plant is a native of Central and Western Colombia. Moreover, it was named to honor the botanist M.Warcoque. Popularly known as the Queen Anthurium, its leaves can get as long as 4 feet on maturity.
Furthermore, the dark-green velvety leaves with silvery lines are stiff like cardboard. This epiphytic plant is suitable for both outdoor and indoor ornamentation. Additionally, you can grow it in hanging baskets, pots, or containers. Still with us? Let us share a summarized guide about the tropical perennial Warocqueanum plant.
Anthurium warocqueanum Classification
Family: Araceae.
Genus: Anthurium.
Species: A. warocqueanum.
Genus Anthurium:
This American native genus is the largest one amongst its family. It comprises about 1000 unique flowering plants. Moreover, it was introduced back in 1829. The genus includes both terrestrial and epiphytic growers. Lace-leafs, tail-flowers, and flamingo flowers are the common names used for all the members.
Features of the Anthurium warocqueanum Plant
Size:
How long my Queen Anthurium can grow? The size of the plant depends upon the growing space and environment. In open space, it can get about 4 to 6 feet long. However, about 1 meter is a common average height for indoor plants.
Leaves:
- The color and size of the leaves are variable for each plant. They can be deep-green or brighter with different sizes. The long length of these leaves is the specialty of the plant.
- The average size of a middle-aged leaf is about 5 to 8 inches. However, in mature plants, they may get as tall as 4 feet.
- The abaxial sides show vein-web in white to silvery-grey shade. This vein pattern gets prominent and beautiful with the growth of the leaves.
Flowers:
- Rarely though, the plant blooms with typical Aroid flowers in the growing season.
- A modified leaf makes the spathe. This spathe covers the fleshy spadix underneath, forming the inflorescence. Numerous tiny real flowers are attached to the spadix.
Toxicity:
Just like all other siblings, this one too is toxic for us and animals. High concentrations of calcium oxalate crystals in the foliage make them unsafe. Make sure kids and pets stay away from the plant.
Anthurium warocqueanum Care
This plant folk will love to have your attention and effort. Perfect for experienced growers, we generally don’t recommend this Anthurium for beginners.
Quick Guide:
Water: Average.
Sunlight: Partial Shade.
Humidity: Average to high.
Fertilizer: In spring and summer.
Let us have a closer look;
Water Requirement
These natives of tropical rainforests like moist soil. Water the substrate thoroughly to drench and wait for it to get dry. This plant is quite sensitive to both over and under-watering. Letting the plant get dry out completely is as harmful as over-watering it.
The frequency of watering is variable according to the temperature, sunlight, and weather. Plants placed in bright light and warmer places need more water. Watering the plant about once a week is an estimated frequency for spring and summer. However, you may need to water more at the peak of hotter days.
The water requirement of the Anthurium warocqueanum plant decreases with the cold temperature. So, your plant can survive well without water for about two to three weeks in fall and winter. Over-watering is highly unsuitable for Anthuriums. Plants staying in wet and soggy soil can get issues like fungus, rot, and pest attacks. Thus, never water unless the upper layer gets dry.
Light Requirement
Bright to medium indirect sunlight is ideal for your Queen. In indoor plantation, plenty of bright indirect light is required to keep the plant happy.
Direct exposure to the bright sun can scorch out the velvety leaves. Thus, you must select a suitable place to keep the plant healthy.
Temperature Requirement
The ideal temperature range for the Anthurium family stands between 60 to 70 °F. These delicate peeps can not stand cold and frost. A temperature below 55 °F can freeze and even kill the plant.
Outdoor plants need your special attention here. Shift them indoor to some warm temperature before it gets cold in the autumn season.
Substrate Requirement
In the natural habitat, these epiphytes grow on moss and leaf litter along the branches. You can grow them in a loose and breathable growing mix, providing plenty of aeration. The growing medium should be well-draining and moisture-retaining at the same time. The ideal PH stands between 6.6 to 7.5.
A quick-draining and loose Aroid mix is a nice option. Moreover, you can use pure sphagnum moss or its equal mixture with coarse bark.
Humidity Requirement
Anthuriums are known for loving humidity. A moisture level of 70 to 80% is ideal to keep those long velvety leaves happy.
In dry weather, it is better to follow measures for providing adequate moisture. Frequent misting is the easiest way to combat dryness. However, the foliage should not stay wet for long. Also, ensure good ventilation to avoid sogginess, fungus, and pest attacks.
Another option is to group a few plants. This will enhance the overall moisture level around them. Moreover, you can consider using a room humidifier around the plant.
Using a pebble-water tray is another common method. Just fill a shallow tray with water and a few pebbles. The water level should be lower than the top of the pebbles. This is to avoid its absorption in the soil through drainage holes.
Fertilizer Requirement
Warocqueanum plants are food lovers. They will love to gulp the extra nutrition in form of fertilizers. Use a balanced houseplant fertilizer once or twice a month in spring and summer.
Over-fertilization can scorch out or even kill the plant. Thus, always use a moderate concentration. Using half of the stated dose is a good idea.
Just like the majority of other plants, the growth rate and nutritional requirements decrease in cold. So, stop fertilizing right at the end of the summer.
Pot Requirement
These plants grow with roots venturing down the stems. Growing them in a wooden basket is ideal according to the natural growth pattern. Moreover, you can use clay pots and containers as well. Make sure to see the drainage holes at the base.
Hardiness Growth Zone
The plant is hardy in USDA growth zones 10a and 11.
Anthurium warocqueanum Propagation
You can make another long leaf Queen Anthurium by the following methods;
Propagation by Seed
You can get a bag of Anthurium warocqueanum Seeds easily available in the market. However, the success ratio of seed propagation is not much satisfactory.
Just saw them in the top layer of the soil while keeping it moist. Moreover, the setup should stay at a moderately warm temperature.
Propagation by plant division
This is the most common method for Anthurium propagation. The plant grows baby plants attached with the mother. These plantlets are known as clumps, offsets, or puppies.
Season:
The period between the middle of spring and the middle of summer is ideal for successful propagation.
Method:
- Take a sterilized knife or a pair of scissors to cut the offsets.
- Spot the offsets and cut them. Make sure there are roots attached at the base of these separated plantlets.
- Put some cinnamon powder on the cuts of the baby and the mother plant. This will ensure safety from rotting and pest attacks.
- Place the offsets in the damp growing mixture. You can use pure sphagnum moss for this purpose.
- Place the pot in a warm place with good indirect light.
- These baby plants will get settled as individual plants in about two to three weeks.
- You can simply follow the Anthurium warocqueanum Care and enjoy your new plant.
Anthurium warocqueanum Plant Problems
It is always better to check the plants every week or at least twice a month. This will help you to identify and control any occurring issue. Let us have a look at the common problems you may face while growing this plant baby.
Damage of Foliage
Leaf damage can be a possible result of miss-handling. Moreover, it can be due to keeping the foliage wet for a long. Bacterial infection causing brown spots with yellow hues on the leaves is another result of wet foliage.
- To avoid these issues it is better to handle the plant softly.
- The velvety leaves can face severe damage during shipping. So, the sender should be careful while packing. Moreover, a minor pruning or trimming to get rid of damaged leaves is of no harm.
- Also, keeping them at a well-ventilated place minimizes the risks of infected and soggy foliage.
Brown spots on Foliage
Anthurium warocqueanum leaves getting brown patches that look scorched out are due to overexposure to the sun. Other possible symptoms include insufficient nutrition or under-watering.
- As soon as you notice these spotting, give a closer look at your watering and fertilizing routine. Moreover, observe the light intensity on the foliage.
- If the plant is getting direct sun, it surely is the culprit. In case of sunburn, multiple leaves or a specific sun-facing side of the foliage will start getting brown. Place the plant at some well-lit place without direct exposure.
- If it is not the sun, then consider watering and nutrition. Queen Anthurium likes to stay in moist soil. Moreover, you have to avoid letting it completely dry. Correcting the watering routine will show quick results to recover the health of the foliage.
- Finally, if the above two options are ruled out, consider fertilizing. Use a liquid or a slow-release fertilizer to ensure complete nutrition.
Yellowing of Leaves
Yellowing of leaves can be due to several reasons. These reasons include aging, unsuitable watering, insufficient humidity, or stress.
- The older leaves on the plants naturally turn yellow. This is nothing to be worried about.
- The second most common reason is over-watering. If the leaves getting yellow are not the older ones, suspect over-watering. You can check the roots of your plant. This is quite easy here. As the roots of the epiphytic plants are growing along the stems. Mushy and brown roots ensure that the plant is being over-watered.
Mushy Roots
Now, comes the question, “How to get rid of Mushy roots?” This is a serious issue capable enough to kill your plant. To solve this, you need to remove them. Let us give a summarized guide about it.
- Take a sterilized pair of shears and cut the soft, mushy, and black roots. Now, wash all the healthy roots under a running tap with clean water.
- You also need to change the substrate to get rid of the previous infected one. Moreover, disinfecting the pot is also recommended to ensure complete safety. The pathogens causing the root rot live in the soil and the walls of the pot. To get rid of them completely, you can not skip the process of disinfecting.
- Make sure you sterilize the instrument in the end. This is very important to avoid passing the infection to the next healthy plant.
Pest Problems
Aphids, Mealybugs, thrips, scale, and spider mites are the common pests. Check the foliage closely, especially under the leaves and nodes. Spotting the issues at earlier stages is very helpful to combat them.
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Summary
Anthurium warocqueanum, popularly known as Queen Anthurium is a Colombian native Aroid. The plant gets the spotlight for its long beautiful leaves. The dark-green leaves with a velvety surface and silvery veins are so stiff that they can compete with cardboard. Moreover, good space and environment can grow them as long as 2 to 4 feet on maturity.
You can grow this plant indoors and outdoors in moderate climates. Furthermore, hanging baskets, pots and containers are good options for growing it. Just like other Anthuriums, it needs moderate watering, bright indirect light, and good humidity. Concluding on the toxicity of the plant. So, make sure to keep kids and pets away from your Warocqueanum plant.
