Anthurium Villenaorum is a rare type of velvety anthurium plant. It is a little more expensive than normal anthurium plants.
But it is easy to grow and care for.
It needs high humidity, less water, and moist soil for 365 days a year. I will explain how you can water Anthurium Villenaorum without making the soil soggy.
Light needs are the same as other houseplants (indirect bright light). Indoor temperature is not a problem for this plant.
But protect it from sudden temperature fluctuation and cold winds.
Because it is a small to medium size plant with delicate leaves and a small root ball. It is prone to some diseases and pest infestations.
In this article, you will also learn how to deal with common Anthurium Villenaorum diseases & pests and how to prevent them.
Propagation of Anthurium Villenaorum required patience and 90% of the growers easily propagate it in water and soil.
Now let’s start the journey and find out every detail about Anthurium Villenaorum care and maintenance:
About the Anthurium Villenaorum?
Peru and Ecuador are their natural birthplaces. Nowadays it is common in many parts of North America.
The easy-growing nature of Villenaorum makes it the best plant for homes and offices. Also, the velvety bright leaves make it a natural piece of decoration.
The best part is it does not need direct sunlight, indirect bright light is enough for it. This means you can grow it in any part of your home and office.
Under ideal conditions, it grows from 1 to 1.5 meters tall with a total spread of fewer than 1.5 meters.
As the plant matures the leaves also grow their size between 25 to 30 inches. This large size of leaves is very impressive for a medium size plant.
Anthurium Villenaorum leaves are green in color with white lines also called veins.
You can see flowers during spring and summer. But they are not as beautiful as their leaves. I personally do not like its flowers and trim them when they grow.
This way I save lots of its energy and push my Anthurium Villenaorum to produce more large size leaves.
You May Also Like: How to Identify and Fix Anthurium Root Rot in Easy Steps?
Anthurium Villenaorum Care Guide
Light Needs of Anthurium Villenaorum
To know about its light needs let’s check its natural growing places. There it grows under the shade of large trees.
This clears that it is not very fond of direct sunlight. In fact, direct sun rays are harmful to the plant.
Now you have only one option which is placing your Anthurium Villenaorum in partial shade. A place where direct sunlight cannot touch your plant.
It can be a south-facing window or a few feet away from a sunny window.
It needs medium bright light for 4 to 5 hours per day for its good health and strong growth.
If your plant is not producing white veins or it produces fewer veins than normal. This means your plant needs more light.
In this case, change its place and expose it to brighter light.
On the other hand, if Anthurium leaves are turning yellow or have brown tips. But the soil has enough moisture in it.
This indicates that the light is too bright and your plant is uncomfortable in it. Move it to a less bright place and it will heal itself.
Note: Indirect bright place = Healthy thriving plant
Potting Soil
With Anthurium Villenaorum you are free to choose a potting soil or soilless growing medium. Just make sure the growing medium is well-draining and rich in nutrients.
Also, make sure that it is easy to absorb nutrients from the growing medium.
I use orchid mix, perlite, and peat in equal parts to make the best soil for my growing Villenaorum Anthurium.
This mixture is fast-draining, lightweight, and supports its structure.
The second option is using commercially made potting soil that has perlite and other fast-draining materials.
You can buy such potting mediums at a good price from Amazon.
Watering Villenaorum Anthurium
Avoid overwatering the plant if you don’t want to face root rot and leaf rot-like diseases. These fungus diseases are the result of excessive use of water.
Wet soil is the best place for fungus-causing bacteria.
Also, avoid underwatering situations this will leads to yellow, brown, and crispy leaves of Anthurium Villenaorum.
You should follow the balanced watering technique.
In this method, we check the soil moisture level before watering plants. To do so use a soil moisture meter and find out the exact soil moisture percentage.
On finding the top 2 inches dry, immediately give some water to your thirsty Villenaorum anthuriums.
But if the soil has a sufficient amount of moisture, then don’t water and recheck after 24 hours.
For watering, use filtered water that you use for drinking. This water is easy for roots to absorb and also does not contain heavy minerals.
Correct Temperature
Being native to tropical regions Anthurium Villenaorum needs a warm place to grow. Therefore, maintain the indoor temperature between 60 to 85 degrees F.
Close to 60 degrees F will slow the growth of this plant. Therefore, maintain the temperature between the ideal range.
Whereas below 60-degree F is too cold for this soft leaf plant. It will go into dormancy and will not produce any growth.
Also, protect your plant from cold winds and do not place it near the main door entrance. Don’t try to give it warmth by placing it close to heating vents.
This will make it dehydrated and you will end up with yellow and brown leaves.
The temperature monitoring device is an easy solution to this problem.
Set the appropriate value and it will alert you by triggering an alarm when the temperature drops below the set value.
Humidity
You cannot mimic the rainforest-like humidity in your home and office. The ideal range of humidity is between 65% to 75%.
But this range is hard to maintain and is also not good for humans.
The good news is this plant can tolerate low to moderate humidity. Maintain the humidity between 45 % to 65 %.
In this range, your plant will not produce large leaves and flowers. But will grow healthy and thrive like crazy.
To increase room humidity, you can use the pebble tray technique. This method is useful to increase 7% to 10 % humidity.
A plant humidifier is a strong solution to a low humidity environment.
Do not mist water on its leaves. They are velvety and water drops on them invite bacterial infections.
Fertilizing Anthurium Villenaorum
Spring and summer are the active growing season of Villenaorum Anthuriums. If you are using a soilless growing medium, you must give it a fertilizer boost.
Use general purpose balanced houseplant fertilizer.
I also use balanced fertilizer to boost the health of my anthuriums.
Read the instructions on the bottle carefully before diluting the liquid solution.
To prevent overfertilizing you should only fertilize this plant in its active growing season. Stop it in the winter season because it is the dormancy period of plants.
They do not grow in the cold season and don’t need many nutrients.
Toxicity
Anthurium Villenaorum is toxic to pets and humans. The ingestion of its leaves, stems or sap causes toxic effects.
Therefore, you should wear garden gloves while working on your plant, especially at the time of pruning.
Excessive drooling, stomach pain, and vomiting are a few early signs of its toxicity.
If you feel that your pet or kids are showing toxic signs, immediately rush to the nearest hospital or call the poison control center.
Pruning
You don’t need to do frequent pruning to maintain your Anthurium Villenaorum. It is a moderate-growing medium size plant.
Pruning is necessary for vining plants.
Villenaorum will only have one leaf per stem. To keep it healthy and vibrant you need to cut and remove the yellow parts of the leaves and other dead parts of the plant.
For pruning, use sterilized tools and disinfect them again before storing them.
Pruning helps your plant to get rid of dead and damaged parts and it also encourages new growth of leaves and stems.
Repotting
Villenaorum needs repotting every 2 years. Because the potting soil gets depleted over time and you need to change it for the good health of your growing plant.
Secondly, as the plant gets matured it also grows its root ball. The current pot becomes small for the roots.
Small pots put negative pressure on plant roots and make them unable to function properly.
For repotting, spring and summer is the best time, and use 2 inches large pot than the current pot. Also, use fresh potting soil.
You may need to repot it right after a year if you are using a small pot.
Therefore, you must aware of the repotting signs like:
- Visible roots over the topsoil
- Roots coming out through the bottom hole of the plant pot
- The current pot cannot support the plant size and structure.
Anthurium Villenaorum Propagation
You have two options for Villenaorum Anthurium propagation. The first is dividing a section of the plant with roots and the second is cutting the healthy stem and propagating it.
In both methods, you can use soil or water as per your choice.
Stem Cutting Method:
- Locate a healthy stem with one leaf on it and cut it from the base.
- Take a glass of water and place it in.
- Place the glass at a warm temperature away from direct sunlight.
- Change the water once it gets unclear.
- Within a few days, you will see tiny white roots developing at the cut of the stem.
- Once these roots grow 1-inch tall transfer them to the potting soil.
Division Method:
- In this technique, you divide the root ball into two sections.
- One is a large part of the mother plant and the second is a single stem with few roots for propagation.
- Take this section and plant it in the potting soil.
- You can also use water instead of soil and repeat the above steps. But I prefer using potting soil because it is an easy way of propagation.
- After planting it in the soil using a spray bottle to mist water over the soil to keep it moist.
- Place it in indirect bright light.
- In the first 3 to 4 days your stem section will look weak and droopy.
- But if you keep the soil moist it will stand firm in less than 10 days.
- At this point follow the regular care and enjoy another Anthurium Villenaorum plant.
Anthurium Villenaorum Diseases
Root rot
It is a common disease that infects many anthuriums. The main cause of this problem is the use of extra water for watering it.
The extra water makes the soil wet for a long time and this invites root fungus bacteria.
This bacterium slowly eats the root ball and your plant becomes weak and dead in a few days.
To fix this problem you need to repot your plant after cutting the infected roots.
To prevent it you must learn the right watering technique.
If your Anthurium Villenaorum potting soil is wet and has yellow-turning leaves. Then it is definitely root rot.
Immediately repot it in new soil after cutting the infected and damaged roots.
Bacterial disease
The bacterial disease can infect the leaves or stems or the entire plant. There are different types of bacteria that are enemies of houseplants.
The wise idea is to prevent such conditions.
Spray neem oil on your plant once in 20 days to keep it protected from all types of microbial and fungus diseases.
Pest Infestations
Sap-sucking pests are common enemies of Anthurium Villenaorum. Aphids, mealybugs, and thrips are common insects.
Inspect your plant regularly while watering it. Check the undersides of the leaves for pest infestations.
Once you are confirmed that your plant is attacked by these pests.
Then grab the rubbing alcohol and wipe the leaves one by one. This will kill them instantly.
If pests are present in large numbers, then rinse your plant with insecticidal soap and kill them right away.
Keep your treated plant separate until it shows healthy growth signs.
Do not use commercial pesticides on anthurium plants. These chemicals are not good for human health and also harmful to houseplants.
Wear a mask and gloves while treating your plant with rubbing alcohol and soap.
Conclusion
Generally, it is easy to grow and maintain Anthurium Villenaorum. But sometimes pests and diseases disturb the health cycle of your plant.
Everything is mentioned above you just follow the treatments and prevention plans.
Expose your Villenaorum to indirect bright light, give it moderate water. Increase the room humidity to give it extra comfort.
