Anthurium Warocqueanum Care

About:

Anthurium Warocqueanum, also known as the Queen Anthurium, is an epiphytic aroid native to Colombia. It has large, suede-like, leaves that are deep emerald green in color with an intricate pattern of bright light green veins. The leaves can grow 4-6 feet long.

Family: 

Araceae

Light Requirements: 

I would consider these guys moderate to semi-shade. If they're in a spot too dark, their growth will slow and they'll get a bit leggy, but if they're in a spot too bright they'll suffer light bleaching (lighter color, speckled appearance.) I would aim for the middle ground and adjust if you notice it going one way or the other.

I actually grow mine in pretty low-light, maybe 50-80 PPFD (µmol/m²/s) which seems to be the sweet-spot in the tents to keep them nice and dark and not too leggy. 

Temperature & Humidity: 

65 - 75° F (18.5 - 24° C) / 60% + Humidity.
Queen Anthurium actually prefer temps a bit on the cooler side compared to a lot of other tropical plants. High humidity is definitely a plus (my shop plants are grown at around 80%) but they CAN be acclimated down to lower, more household-ish, humidity, though in those conditions I would expect slower growth. When acclimating, I usually recommend bring plants down 10% at a time to avoid shocking them.

My personal plant lives in my house in upstate New York where our humidity is generally between -100 and 10 (or 20-50% depending on the time of year) and she's doing just fine. Acclimation was a bear, she dropped a couple (all) her leaves, but she bounced back nicely and is now largely unbothered. 

Watering: 

Keep soil evenly moist but not waterlogged. These gals are actually pretty sensitive to both over and under-watering. If you're giving it either too much or not enough you'll start to notice small yellow or brown spots around the leaf margins. I'd recommend keeping a close eye until you get a sense of her own, annoyingly specific, watering preferences.

Grow Media:

Very chunky mix - Chunkier the better, topped with moss. I use this Anthurium Mix and it has almost no dense or "wet" ingredients, I think about 1 part in 10 of coco coir, the rest is all bark, husks, pumice and etc. This allows you to water more frequently (which they like) without leaving them in a damp, dense, media (which they do not like.)

They also do well in Pon, though I prefer Pon XL, a chunkier Pon. I actually don't recommend LECA... while I've found they tolerate it well (and even thrive in it) when they're young, they start to have issues with it as they size up. Large Queen just don't seem to like their feet SITTING in water, which is harder to avoid in a reservoir set up, but does usually become an issue regardless. 

Growth Rate:

Growth rate for these guys really depends a lot on your humidity. They can get on fairly well in normal household conditions (if properly acclimated) but their growth will be slower than in a higher humidity environment.

Propagation: 

On a scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (most difficult) I'd say... 2? Though again, it depends on your level of experience and supplies you have on hand. I'd suggest a prop box / cloche / humidity dome (high humidity is the goal.)

I just throw a stem section (chonk) in some perlite with a reservoir, or if it's got established roots I'll put it right into a mix, and then pop a humidity dome over it and wait for the magic to happen. 

Toxicity: 

Toxic to pets and humans.

Additional Information: 

I've found Warocqueanums to be pretty sensitive to fertilizers. If using a standard NPK I'd recommend feeding less frequently at a lower concentration ("weekly, weakly") to avoid issues.

If you have any questions, or some advice of your own to offer, please feel free to comment below. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!