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emiliasgarden

What's wrong with my A. warocqueanum?

emiliasgarden
15 years ago

Hello! I have been cultivating an Anthurium warocqueanum for several years, but something must be wrong. I really do not have a clue on what it may be.

When i ordered my warocqueanum i ordered together with it an Anthurium veitchii, both had the same size. But now, after the years my veithcii has grown well, while my warocqueanum has not. Both plants haven been cultivated in the same site with the same conditions. Bellow are some pics that maybe can help:

My Anthurium warocqueanum:

{{gwi:385813}}

My Anthurium veitchii base:

{{gwi:385814}}

Both plants side by side:

{{gwi:385815}}

I cultivate them and all my Anthurium plants in a greenhouse that only has roof, i mean is not a closed with walls greenhouse. I am in Puerto Rico where is warm and very humid year-round. And both have been cultivated in the same medium, as the well as the rest of my Anthurium plants. Any advice or thoughts about what is going on and how can i make my plant to grow well?

Thank you,

Jorge Joel...

Emilia's Garden

Comments (14)

  • chris_e_uk
    15 years ago

    I too grow both of these plants and many more Anthurium in a heated greenhouse because i live in the UK which is relatively cool, too cool for Anthurium except the hot summer months and the Warocqueanum i have found to be one of the more difficult species to grow.
    Judging by thelook of the warocqueanum in your picture i would say that the plant probably has some sort of defect and it maybe worth your while investing in another.

    Anthurium Warocqueanum can be very fussy growers, when the plant starts putting out a new leaf, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TOUCH THE GROWING LEAF OR MOVE THE PLANT AT ALL. This can, and usually does, cause the leaf to stop growing. Even gently wiping something off the leaf or moving the plant an inch or two will cause the leaf to stop growing and you will have to wait until the plant produces another. Never ever touch the plant EVEN VERY SLIGHTLY when in growth.
    Good luck...Chris....UK

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hello Chris! Thhank you very much for your help and advices! Ireally appreciate it.

    I will definatedly order a new warocqueanum for my collection. Buy also will keep on trying with this plant. Somehow i have to find the way to make it come back;0)

    Thank you once again,
    Jorge Joel...

  • bihai
    15 years ago

    I'm sorry, but that just sounds like a bunch of hoodoo voodoo to me. Never touch the plant? Come on. I touch mine all the time. I don't find it "fussy" in the least.

    This is a photo of my A. warocqueanum. It is also greenhouse grown, and has been since I bought it. The only difference is, mine is planted directly into the ground, not potted. The temps and humidity in my greenhouse are zone 10+ year round.

    {{gwi:385816}}

    This is a photo of my A. veitchii. It is also planted in the ground. This is actually last years photo, the leaves here were about 2 feet long, they are even bigger now. I have already had to split this plant into more than one and plant some somewhere else. It outgrew its alloted space in about 6 months.

    My advice to you, personally, which you can weigh and take for whatever its worth, is to repot your plant in larger pots with fresh soil, or plant them into the ground. Your veitchii looks way underpotted to me, and your Queen looks like it may need some room to spread roots out. Feed them a balanced fertilizer regularly, like weekly, and give them very bright light.

    Neither of these plants has a real "upright" growth habit, they like to lean and creep a little along the ground. Their root systems spread a lot farther out than you might think. My Queen spreads out on the greenhouse floor under the partial shade of that Pelagadoxa henryana palm tree a good 3-4 feet. You are seeing only the 2 largest leaves it had at the time that photo was done, it has 10+ leaves.

    {{gwi:385817}}

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hello Bihai! Thank you very much for your reply and advices! I am sorry for not replying to this message before, but for some reason i never received the allert of this message in my e-mail... Anyways...

    I did repotted my warocqueanum. I ended up thinking that maybe the problem was that the soil mix i was using was too dense and old. So what i did was to repot it in orchid mix soil, which has very low quantity of soil and a lot of bark and perlite. I have read on and on many descriptions of both species and their natural habitat and found out that they mostly grow epiphytically. So that was what made me decide to use a less dense soil mix. (Sorry for my English).

    I used the same pot, but maybe i should do as you advice and use a bigger pot, as i should do with my veichii.

    I cannot place my plants in the ground, because i do not have ground available. I live in a 2nd flood and my growing area is the huge terrace in front of my apartment. I will move soon to my own house, but... there what i have is another terrace as a growing site. So... i will not have the opportunity to plant them in the ground, but will definatedly use bigger pots.

    Thank you very much for telling me the humidty and the temperatures you have in your greenhouse. Those conditions are the same as mines. I was worried that maybe another cause could be temperatures. But with your experience i see it is not. So definatedly i really think the problem was the soil mix.

    I hope this repotting will solve the problem. I did buy another warocqueanum, but this is not a problem, one can never have enough plants. I will also use your advices with this new plant.

    Thank you once again,
    Jorge Joel...

  • javi_mari
    15 years ago

    Jorge, how has your waroqueanum responded since repotting?
    I live in Tennessee with my wife from San Lorenzo, P.R. I am from Panama and love anthuriums (well, just about any plant! I hope your plant has recovered!
    Saludos,

    Jose

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hola Jose! Well, i lost that one after i repotted it, and also lost the 2nd one i bought. So, my hipotesis is that warocqueanum do not like the hot Caribbean summers. So, i have decided not to try warocqueanum anymore :0(

    Un fuerte y calido abrazo desde Puerto Rico para los dos!
    Jorge Joel...

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    This confirm my thoughts. Thank you Balberth!

    Jorge Joel...

  • javi_mari
    15 years ago

    Sorry to hear that it didn't make it. A. warocqueanum is such a beautiful species.
    What kind of availability for rarer anthurium species is there in PR? We're going there sometime next summer and wouldn't mind looking around.
    Anthuriums can sometimes be tricky. I hope your latest purchase will acclimate and thrive!
    Saludos,
    Jose

  • javi_mari
    15 years ago

    Oh, I didn't recall you mentioning that the new one also died. Que lastima. What other species do you grow?

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hello Jose! Thank you for your thoughts;0)

    About what kind of Anthuriums yo ucna find here in PR... Well, comertially speaking there is not a lot of variety. I mean yo ucna find all those hybrids from and between A. andreanum, A. scherzerianum and A. amnicola in all the colors that you can imagine. But other species are not available too often here.

    Also, you can find in the wild A. scandens, A. graciles and A. creantum, but obviously they are only to see, not to take;0) Thought sometimes you can find them in some nurseries.

    Cheers,
    Jorge Joel...

  • javi_mari
    15 years ago

    Back to warocqueanum: from the Exotic Rainforest site I read where it is found from low altitudes up to 4500ft. You would think that temperature should not be an issue for you in PR, unless the plants you are getting have been propagated from higher elevation plants. I wouldn't give up on growing it. In the past I've cultivated sensitive species such as this one and had very good success in planting them in orchid baskets in a bark/sphagnum/osmunda mix and watering frequently, especially in summer. I read that this species is also found in an area of very high rainfall, so, it being an epiphyte, you have to pull off the trick of keeping it nice and moist but at the same time provide the necessary drainage, something you can achieve with an orchid basket.

  • emiliasgarden
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hello! Thank you for sharing the info!

    Somewhere i read (i do not remeber where) that there were some clones of warocqueanum thet were developed in Hawaii. I guess that these are the ones i should try, since Hawaii's and PR's climates are very similar.

    The ones i tried were from a seller in New England, so i guess those should be more of the cool-night lovers. The 2nd one i ordered was cultivated in a orchid basket and the medium i used was a mix of orchid mix and Sphagnum Moss.

    Anyways, you have been making me think and i want to give it another try. Also, now i think i have better conditions to cultivate this species. I have movedd to a new home and here is cooler and more humid than my old growing site. Though i live in the midle of San Juan City, i live now near the River Rio Piedras and my house is surounded by huge Ficus trees, so it is indeed cooler and more humid.

    Cheers,
    Jorge Joel...

  • doooglas
    14 years ago

    Do you have Acnistus there ? Guititi is what we call it here

    They grow like wild when attached to one.......so does every other epiphyte. Guititi has no equal when it comes to growing epiphytes

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