I have a total of 4 Anthurium regale. 3 were sent to me by a friend who imported them directly from Ecuador. The other one I got locally from Tropiflora in Sarasota FL.

The 3 from Ecuador were absolutely HUGE. They were all cut sections of stems about 6-8 inches long, well rooted, with one leaf apiece. The stems are larger in diameter than a hotdog. This makes me worry (a little, anyway...the plant will probably outlive me) about its ultimate size. I have seen the "famous" Dr Darian photos with the monster leaves, if mine get that big I'll dance a real happy dance and they can eat the greenhouse for all I care. The leaves on the Ecuador plants were all at least 8 inches long and at least 5-6 inches wide.

The one I got locally was very small, but had 3 leaves. It came to me in sphagnum moss, and I left it in that, I put it in a fenestrated plastic basket originally designed for growing aquatic plants in. I do keep the moss moist. This plant had 3 leaves but none were over 3-4 inches long and about 2-3 inches wide. Since I got it (about a month or so ago) it has put out another leaf. It seems happy.

I planted the 3 from Ecuador directly into the ground inside my greenhouse. They are extremely happy. One suffered a broken leaf in shipment from my friend's, but has since replaced that leaf with a new one that is about 10 inches long and 8 inches wide. The other 2 still have their original sort of beat up leaves, but are also putting out new growth.

I don't have these in utter and complete darkness, or in standing water. I have them planted in an area that is shaded but still gets quite a bit of filtered sun. They are in a space between a HUGE dwarf climbing monstera, a huge canopy of Green Jade Vine and a 20 ft tall Etlingera elatior torch ginger. There are some Pinanga palms and Joey Palms and a very small Licuala orbicularis palm in there with them and an alocasia guttata Imperialis. They seem very happy with their situation. My greenhouse is very humid though. I think that the thing about the standing water really means don't let them dry out between watering, and don't let the humidity drop. Vista CA where Dr Darian grows his in a greenhouse and sent his to Tropiflora from has very low relative humidity compared to this plants natural habitat...its possible that in CA these humidity increasing measures are crucial, but here in FL they don't seem to be.

I think that this plant may be extremely slow growing. There is not a whole lot of literature about it that I have been able to find. I am treating it kinda of like every other shade plant I have. I have been fertilizing it lightly every week with 20-20-20.

Attached is a photo of the one that just grew the new leaf. Its in the middle. The one to the right is one with an old beat up leaf.

{{gwi:386263}}

Awesome pics bihai , they look very happy . Have you seen the old cover of an Aroideana , with a leaf as big as a man ? I think this is a Anth. regale as well . I will see if i can find the pic. in my files and start a thread in the jungle about this ..

Please don't mention my name in the Jungle, as you know, I am no longer a participant.
My question about A. regale is, is it a self-contained kinda plant that will make a more or less "bush" form, or is it a vining creeping type? This is the data I need and can;t seem to find. I want to know how to fill in tis area around it without cramping its style.

with leaves so big , its gotta have some support .
I would put a post for t to climb on. Though this might take a long time . Many large leaf Anths I've seen have fallen over if not given anything to climb on .
There are only a few small plants here in Aus.
Didnt know you had left the jungle

Oooooooooo... Bihai ! Those plants are *GORGEOUS* !!! :-)

I have an Anthurium corrugatum, which is also from Ecuador, that I'll send you. I understand the A. corrugatum should thrive under the same conditions as your A. regale.

Was it equal parts peat (pit) moss, pumice rock and mmmmm ... something else for the A. regale with 80-90% humidity?

Hi Aroideana! :-)

C3D ("she who shall not be named/mentioned" LOL!!!!! )

Yours look great Bihai. Mine is a little more rough looking from the transport from Calif. a few months ago but it is currently putting out a new leaf. From what I understand these like a little more warmth than say...A. waroq., but I wouldnt get it too hot. My Greenhouse tends to stay on the very warm size with high nighttime temps but the A. regale (and most other high elevation aroids) in the GH stay under benches or near the ground with almost full shade.

BTW, Michael you could send me the link to The Jungle...I was a poster several years ago when it first started but for the life of me I cannot find the URL anymore and nothing comes up from searches.
Michael M.

You couldn't have been a poster in the Jungle several years ago, before it left its old URL it had only been in existance for a little over a year.

Unfortunately there's not a whole lot I can do about the summertime temp in the greenhouse. I don;t have benches or anything like that to stash an A. regale under. Everything is dirt floor direct plant. I set the step controller to try to keep things about 85 and that's the best I can do here in sunny FL. They ARE in the absolute shadiest place in the greenhouse, though, and in about 100 years when the Licuala orbicularis and Joey Palms actually grow, there will be more shade in that spot. Of course I will be dust by then LOL.

Bihai,

I don't think yours needs to be stuffed under a bench anyway...they look like they are doing great. Right now because mine is so small, I have it in a kitchen window. Our back porch roof provides shade, but it gets alot of light there and it has actually grown since we bought it.

Martina

Martina,
keep me posted about how yours does. We should trade notes from time to time. ANother of my Ecuador plants has unfurled a new leaf, that's 2 out of 3 definitely established and actively growing. The Tropiflora plant has also put out another new leaf. I left the Tropiflora plant in sphagnum, since they said it could stay there "indefinitely", just to see the difference between the growth rate in it and the others plants planted in soil. That may not be a fair experiment though, since they started life from much different places in development.

Bihai, wasnt it called Spectres Jungle? Seems like its been a few years but this past year has been LONG for me so it could have been only a year or so. I used to post under the name Monsteraman, but I started having trouble logging in so I stopped posting (kind of like the troubles Ive been having logging in here).
Michael

From the info I can find on tropicos at MoBot , most plants were collected in Peru at very low altitudes , from 250m to approx 900m asl.
One collection in Columbia at over 1000m . Great habitat shhot of ity growing on a steep roadside bank. Also close op of mature stem , and no ariel roots , so no support needed , it seems.

Thanks aroidiana!
Yes it was Spectres Jungle, Michael

Hi Androidgardener.

I looked up the information I have received about the A. regale and:

The requirements of Anthuriums regale and (corrugatum) are that they need a humidity of 70%-80%, light 40%, the soil type can be a mix of peat moss, pumice rock and moss.

Anthurium regale will get tall and the leaves will get about 30 inches in diameter and will be an up right.

Hope your plant thrives for you!

C3D (Teeb. Teeb. Teeb.)

Hi, Not to derail this thread but I have an Anthurium care question. I bought a good sized A. Titanum at a local garden club sale in March. I don't know much at all about this plant. I gather it likes shade which I have it in. Its doing good but since this is my first anthurium I am looking for a few hints at care. I have it in the pot it came with which appears to have pumice stones in it. Also curious about what I should do about winter. Can I bring it in the house to overwinter and at what temps would I want to do that. Thanks in advance.

jaxfl dude, I can't find anything about an Anthurium titanum. Are you sure you don't have Amorphophallus titanum? If you do, you need a whole lot more information about culture than is appropriate in this thread, but if you do a search on this site you will probably learn enough to get started at least. Those initials can be misleading! Did it come with just the initial or did it actually say 'Anthurium titanum'?

Bihai
I also have seedlings of J.altifrons and L.obicularis.
I wouldn't coumt on any shade for at least a decade lol.
There is a pic of altifrons in the RPH at Fairchild. 14 years between planting and pic. When i was there before Andrew they had a mature speciman .Wish i'd asked how long it took to get to that size. lol
Mine is putting out a new frond which is about a third larger than the last one so I guess it's okay.
Are you using any type of funcicide on these palms.??
These are the slowest growing plants I've ever encountered.

gary

Well, supposing I live another 46 years to the ripe old age of 92, may be I will have a chance of seeing some of this stuff come to fruition. My L. orbicularis plants are only about 8 ibches tall. They HAD about 5-6 leaves, but they lopped them off to ship them, go figure...there was plenty of room in the box, don't know why they felt they had to cut them back.

My J. altifons all have about 3 leaves each, maybe 12-15 inches each. But its gonna be a while.

My Salacca magnifica put out a beautiful leaf, now it has one whole new leaf and several " we cut them off to ship" leaves.

I will take some photos of the palms that look nicest and post them.

Greenelbows Its definatley a Anthurium. I have a pic but for the life of me can't figure out how to post it. Size issues. But here is the link if you can see it from there.
{{gwi:386265}}

or perhaps A. faustmirandea. Wasnt there a discussion about this on Aroid-l?

In response to the question about Anthurium regale and A. corrugatum requiring similar conditions, the answer is "no". A. regale comes from low elevations (typically 1800 m) and will expire rapidly under warm conditions. The trick is that there are some species that superficially resemble A. corrugatum but grow under warm conditions.

Ron

I'm sorry if I have intruded into this Anthurium conversation. How is everyone doing?! :-) CDDD, Bihai, Mike and all? I finally got up from a very long hibernation, did a google search on anthuriums, and land smack right onto this thread.

Yeah, Anthuriums are fun, and I think they would do right in the airconditioned office.

Zeta

Long time no see Zeta! Everything's tops here. I agree. I have a lot of anthuriums as houseplants and they do fine provided they get enough light

I read with great interest the opening statements of this discussion. I must first say Anthurium regale is not enedimic to Ecuador, it is endemic to Peru. It is often thought the plant comes from Ecuador because of a company called Ecuagenera who grow and export the plant. That company is from Ecuador and is an excellent supplier of exotic tropical plants. A. regale does also does not appreciate extremely low light. Our specimen currently has a largest leaf of nearly 30 inches and is in the process of growing a new one. Each leaf t4nds to be 4 to 6 inches larger than the last. I know of one expert grower in California who has one with leaves almost 4 feet which is larger than the texts say. Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden recently told me there is not such thing as "maximum leaf size" on most aroids. The max size depends on the conditions under which the plant is grown. We received our plant from Ecuagenera just over 1 year ago, it had no leaves when it arrived. The plant has added a total of 5 leaves since it was placed in our tropical atrium. Anthurium regale has a need for cool temperatures and high humidity. As a result, most people do not find this plant does well as a house plant or in most greenhouses. Many expert growers grow the plant on a "cool wall" which is actually partially airconditioned. Our atrium is unique since we are in NW Arkansas and the average temp stays in the 70's most of the year with the exception of the hottest part of the summer. A. regale also has a high need for water but does not like to be kept in soggy soil. We use a very fast draining mixture of good potting soil, orchid potting media, peat, and Perlite in roughly equal mixtures. In Peru Anthurium regale is often found along old roadsides and gets at least some sunlight daily, althoough it does not appreciate direct sunlight. In our atrium the plant gets strong filtered light most of the day. I know of few tropicals other than Microsorium thailandicum that will live well in near dark conditions and even that plant does not like to be in extremely low light. Unfortunately there are many "plant experts" out there who give advice based on old wivees tales and not scientific fact. People send me email all the time asking if the advice of some "plant experts" is sound. Let me say, I am not a botanist. I am just a plant nut. I've been growing rare plants for 20 years. I speak to recognized botanists such as Dr. Croat on a regular basis searching for qualified opinions, rather than myths. If you're interested, you can find a photo of our A. regale to verify the size on our website with fairly descent growing instructions listed on the plant's page. Good luck with your growing. This is one specutacular plant if grown well. Steve Lucas

Here is a link that might be useful: The Exotic Rainforest

Just one more comment. I'd love to know who suggested growing Anthurium regale in "standing water". This incredible anthurium IS NOT a water loving aroid. It is a humidity loving cool climate aroid from the western slope of the Peruvian Andes Mountains. It requires very quick draining potting media. If you keep the plants roots wet it will die. That would be a shame for a plant that can easily cost $100 or more! Whoever wrote those instructions has never successfully grown the plant.

The person who said that it was possible grow it in standing water is Dr. Darian from Vista, CA. He has apparently has many years of experience with growing Anthurium regale, and according to the small article in the Cargo Report from Tropiflora in Sarasota FL, he may be the only known person in recent history to have been able to get his plants to set seed and then grow those seeds into new plants.

I do not know Dr. Darian, or even know about him, he is referred to in the article as a "renowned plantsman and horticulturist". I suppose that if you are interested in his credentials, you could Google him. The plants that Tropiflora offered for sale through their Dec 2005 Cargo Report were seedlings grown from seed by Dr. Darian. He is pictured on the back cover of the Cargo Report with one of the plants he has growing in CA which measure 32" x 46".

The culture data that Dr. Darian supplied to Tropiflora to pass along to those who purchased seedlings was to keep the plant "moist and well shaded". He apparently told Dennis Cathcart that he grows his plants in standing water, but the sheet from Tropiflora that came with my seedling added a sentence like this (this is from memory, not a quote): "Even though Dr. Darian grows some of his plants in standing water, we don't believe that's necessary, it would probably do well with general aroid culture".

My own take on the standing water thing was that perhaps he had been misunderstood and grew his plants on humidity trays...it can be very dry in California after all compared to Florida or the Amazon. I lived in Southern CA for a number of years prior to relocating in FL and the humidity can be extremely low there.

Not to be disrespectful to you, Mr. Lucas, but obviously this gentleman is quite knowledgeable about plants, and obviously he HAS grown Anthurium regale and is quite intimate with it, so your statement that "whoever wrote those instructions has never successfully grown the plant" is apparently untrue.

I received 3 large stem cuttings of A. regale from a friend in Ohio who bought them from Ecuagenera when Ecuagenera was there for an orchid show. I bought a 4th from Tropiflora. The plants I got from Ecuagenera through my friend have done extremely well. You can see them when I first got them in the photo at the beginning of this thread. The descriptions of leaf size are there as well. They have established quite well. They have all started to make aerial roots, sending them down from the stem into the sand they are planted in, presumably to anchor the plant in for the long run when it decides to get really large. They are also now making new leaves. The Tropiflora seedling I have never taken out of the moss it came in, actually I plan to plant it in the ground today in a place I recently cleared for it! It too is doing very well.

I have these planted in an area that gets a lot of bright light. I wouldn't say direct sun, but very very bright greenhouse light. They are in an area that also has a couple of Licuala orbicularis palms, and some Joey Palms. They get watered daily, but the soil is plain old unamended FL sand and drains like a colander. Humidity (according to my gauge in there) stays between 50-100%, average is about 65-70%.

I have to disagree (so far, at least) with the statement that this plant requires cool temps to survive and flourish. The temp in my greenhouse is NEVER below 85-90 in summer, and these plants had absolutely no problem tolerating that, in fact they grew well. Now in November, its generally in the high 70's to 80 in there (it was 82 degrees outdoors for a high here where I live yesterday and the cooling system was on). I personally think that the plant is quite adaptable to a wider range of temps from my personal experience so far.

If my plants were doing poorly, I would be looking for something like the temperature as a reason, but they are doing extremely well, so I think that perhaps there is a very large "learning curve" with this particular plant and that growers in many different settings could conceivable be successful.

I do have to say, though, that if the stem sizes on mature plants are anything like the stem sizes on the Ecuagenera plants I received, this plant will NOT ultimately make a good houseplant unless the area it is grown in is a dedicated plant area, like an attached conservatory etc. This plant promises to be huge over time. I'd be unlikely to pop for buying some of the ones for sale on eBay with an eye to keeping it as a houseplant for the long term. Kind of like the variegated Monstera...its a cute little cutting when you first get it but later on when its covering your living room wall you wonder if you did the right thing.

Seen some excellent ones powering away up here in true tropical growing conditions .
Hey you know what an expert is ?
ex , as in a has been ..
spert ..is a drip under pressure ..
hahahaha

Getting the correct information on the subject of Anthurium regale growing in standing water was important enough I decided to just call Dr. Darian. The good doctor and I have had previous conversations regarding this and other anthurium species and he is indeed very knowledgeable. Dr. Darian has had success growing A. regale in Tupperware type storage containers. He allows about 1/2 inch of water to stand in the bottom of the container and places his small A. regale plants (he's got close to a thousand of them and is one of few people who has had plants produce seeds) in their potting media. He often uses only sphagnum moss as a potting media. He told me when it rains heavily sometimes the storage containers will overflow and the plants simply float. The primary reason he uses the small amount of water beneath the plant is to increase the humidity surrounding the plant to as high a level as possible. His largest plant, which has leaves over 4 feet, is watered almost daily. But the reason for the water is not to try to grow A. regale as an aquatic plant, it is to provide very high humidity. He also grows many of his small plants beneath his greenhouse benches in dim light. A major reason for doing that is to keep the dry California air from evaporating all the moisture away from the plant. He told me, in his experience, if the plant is ever allowed to dry out "it is dead". I do not have any reason to doubt Dr. Darian's success. He is likely the master of anthuriums. But others have had success with the plant growing in conditions other than low light. Several growers I am aware of grow A. regale in relatively bright light. The big trick is the humidity. The plant must have humid air to prosper. As a result, this is not a good species to grow as a house plant. Few can provide the humidity the plant needs to prosper in a home unless you give it a humid greenhouse. By the way, when I asked earlier "who" made this suggestion I wanted to know "who" had success with that growing method. Dr. Darian's name was not used in connection with that suggestion. I never intended to offer disrespect to Dr. Darian. Both he and Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden have been very kind to me personally and both offer adivce freely. I check and double check strange suggestions via botanical journals. I simply could not find any reference in any scientific journal to A. regale growing in water. Strange, but apparently it works in Dr. Darien's case. Steve Lucas

Here is a link that might be useful: The Exotic Rainforest

I have just spent several days exchanging emails with collectors who have worked professionally with Anthurium regale in Peru as data and field collectors. The average temperature in the large valley where the rare plant is commonly located is 20 to 28 degrees C. That converts to 68 to 82 degrees F. From that information it would appear the plant prefers cool to mild growing conditions. The average humidity is close to 100% all the time. That would indicate the plant thrives in high humidity. There are no verified collections of this plant anywhere in South America other than Peru. There is one collection noted on TROPICOS for Colombia but that is now under some scrutiny. I do not consider myself an expert on this anthurium. I do spend a great deal of time reading technical journals and corresponding with both botanist and field collectors who have worked with the plant in Peru. I do this in order to provide the best possible conditions for all of the plants in my collection. There are no verified records of collection of this plant anywhere except Peru. We acquired our specimen just over 1 year ago. It was small and had no leaves. Today the plant has 5 large leaves, the largest of which is 29 inches (74cm). A new leaf is now developing and should be fully unfurled and extened in February. As a result, I personally do not consider the plant a slow grower provided you offer it the condtions it prefers. A photo of the plant as it is today can be seen at the link below. I wish you all success in growing large specimens. Steve Lucas

Here is a link that might be useful: The Exotic Rainforest

For those of you interested in Anthurium regale you might be interested to see the development of the spathe and spadix on our plant. I thought I was getting a new leaf, but instead a spathe began to unfurl. I am photographing the progress of the development and posting it on the website for any who are interested. Just go to the main Anthurium regale page and click on the small spathe photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Exotic Rainforest