Anthurium is a flowering houseplant in the arum family, Araceae, grown for glossy heart shaped leaves and long lasting red, pink or white blooms. The anthurium sold in the UAE is almost always Anthurium andraeanum, the flamingo flower. This guide covers how long blooms last, what brings new ones, and watering, light and common problems.
How long anthurium blooms last
An anthurium bloom lasts 6 to 12 weeks. In bright indirect light at 20 to 24C, expect the upper end. On a hot sill, under strong sun or in a room above 28C, expect nearer 6 weeks. The colour holds until the final fortnight.
The coloured part isn't a petal. It's a spathe, a modified leaf wrapped around a central spike called the spadix, and the true flowers are the tiny bumps packed along the spadix. That's why the display lasts so much longer than an ordinary flower.
An ageing bloom gives clear signs. The spathe fades or turns green from the edges, and the spadix darkens and dries. Cut the stalk at its base where it leaves the plant once the spathe is more green than coloured.
A healthy plant carries two to four blooms at once, each at a different stage, so it can appear to flower continuously even though each bloom has a limited life.
What triggers anthurium to rebloom
Anthurium reblooms by making new leaves, because each new leaf carries a flower bud at its base. Light is the trigger. Enough bright, indirect light keeps the plant producing leaves steadily, and each leaf brings a flower bud that opens over the weeks that follow.
That link explains the most common complaint. An anthurium kept in a dim corner grows a leaf every couple of months and flowers rarely. The same plant moved closer to a bright window pushes out new leaves every three to four weeks and flowers almost all year.
Two secondary triggers help. First, a feed with a higher phosphorus number than nitrogen number, given monthly from October to May, supports bud development. Second, a cooler, slightly drier spell of about six weeks at 16 to 18C, which UAE winter nights by an open window can provide in January, prompts a flush of buds afterwards.
No new leaves means no new flowers. Fix the light first.
Watering anthurium
Water an anthurium once the bark mix has dried a third of the way down, then water slowly until it trickles out of the base. The roots are thick and fleshy, adapted to growing on tree bark in the wild, and rot quickly in dense, constantly wet mix.
A 14 cm anthurium in a chunky aroid mix, meaning potting mix with orchid bark and perlite, needs a drink at 7 to 10 day intervals in a cooled room. In a standard peat mix, stretch that to 10 to 14 days.
Balcony plants are different. An anthurium moved outside between November and March dries faster in the breeze and needs checking every four or five days, though it has to come back indoors before May heat arrives.
Aerial roots growing up from the stem above the mix are normal. Mist them or tuck them into the surface of the mix. They're a sign of a plant looking for moisture in the air.
Light for anthurium
Anthurium needs bright, indirect light for flowering: a spot with an open view of the sky but no sun landing on the leaves. Below that, it survives as a foliage plant. Direct midday or afternoon UAE sun yellows and burns the leaves in hours.
For how heat outdoors and cooled air indoors limit where any plant can stand in a UAE flat, see the UAE plant care guide. For anthurium specifically, an east window with morning sun filtered by a sheer curtain gives the most flowers.
Common anthurium problems
The five common anthurium problems are no flowers, yellow leaves, brown leaf spots, brown spathe tips and small new leaves. Four of the five trace back to light or watering. Brown spathe tips are the exception, pointing to dry air around the bloom.
- No flowers means too little light and too few new leaves.
- Yellow lower leaves mean mix that stays wet too long.
- Brown patches on leaves mean sun reaching the plant through glass.
- Brown tips on the spathe mean very dry air from a nearby AC outlet.
- Small new leaves mean the plant has been rootbound for over a year.
Anyone after a plant that flowers indoors year round without a garden will find it in the anthurium range, where red and pink forms suit bright rooms that stay out of direct sun.
FAQ
Water, light and trouble are the three areas anthurium owners ask about, and each answer changes once cooled rooms and a hot summer are in the picture. The replies below keep to those conditions.
How do you water an anthurium?
Let that upper third dry out first, and tip away whatever collects in the cachepot. In a cooled room with an airy bark based mix, that works out at 7 to 10 day gaps for a medium plant. Dense peat mix holds water longer and needs a gap of 10 to 14 days.
How much light does an anthurium need?
Anthurium needs bright indirect light to flower, with no direct sun on the leaves. An east window with a sheer curtain is ideal in UAE homes. In lower light the plant stays green and healthy but produces few leaves and so few blooms.
Why won't an anthurium flower?
An anthurium that won't flower isn't making enough new leaves, since every bloom grows from the base of a new leaf. Move it into brighter indirect light first. A phosphorus leaning feed from October to May and a cool winter spell add more buds.
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