Anthurium: transplant for the benefit

Anthurium is a tropical visitor, who has firmly established himself on the windowsills of city apartments. With proper care, he becomes a real decoration of any collection, delighting the owner with a glossy heart-shaped foliage and bizarre wax flowers. But often everything happens the other way around: an exotic handsome man loses his colors, turns pale, becomes oppressed, and eventually dies altogether. The unlucky florist blames the inhospitable nature of Dutch plants for all, although, as a rule, mistakes in care are the cause of such failures.

In garden centers and flower shops, plants live in a so-called transportation ground - a peat substratum, which is not intended for long-term use. Anthurium is not an exception. Transplantation after the purchase of any culture is simply necessary, but it must be carried out wisely. First, it is necessary to wait a couple of weeks for the plant to adapt to the new conditions. Secondly, we need to find out what kind of soil the newbie "loves". This is a very important stage on which the fate of the plant depends - whether it will flourish, pleasing the owner, or wither and go to the trash. In this matter, do not rely on the advice of girlfriends or flower forums, because this, to put it mildly, is not the most reliable sources. You just need to imagine how the plant lives in nature.

And in nature, the genus Anthurium is represented by epiphytic or semi-epiphytic, less often terrestrial species inhabiting the tropical and humid subtropical forests of the New World. And this means that the plants live in dense woods and have air roots, through which they extract water and nutrients dissolved in it. They settle in the fallen bark, filled with soil particles and rotted foliage, forks of old trees, on fallen trunks and in other loose substrates with good aeration and water permeability.

Now it is clear in which soil anthurium needs. The transplant should be carried out taking into account the peculiarities of natural growth, otherwise the plant is doomed. So, to make the tropical visitor feel at home, you need to plant it in a mixture that most closely resembles a tropical forest litter. The substrate must be loose, light, coarse-grained, well aerated and water-permeable, with a slightly acidic reaction medium (pH not higher than 6). It can be made independently, using coarse fibrous peat, chopped pine bark, chopped moss and turf (proportion 1: 1: 1: 2). Many growers take as a basis the soil for bromeliads or orchids, diluting it with leaf or turf ground. Fit components such as coconut fiber, vermiculite, charcoal, expanded clay, ground pumice - they will make the substrate more loose, increase its moisture capacity and air permeability, which anthurium needs so much.

Transplanting this plant also provides for a good layer of drainage, since stagnant water at the roots for all members of the genus is disastrous. The pot should be high, which is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the anthurium root system. In a wide pot, the probability of souring unused soil is high. This also applies to an overly large container.

Now directly about the question of how to transplant an anturium. It is very easy to do this. First, you need to pour a layer of drainage (1/3 of the height) into the new pot, and spread a small layer of the previously prepared substrate over it. Then it is necessary to remove the plant from the old flowerpot, set it exactly in a new container, and fill the vacant space with soil. At the same time, it is necessary to treat very carefully the young leaves and fragile roots. In the end, you need to water the anthurium. A transplant performed correctly, stimulates intensive growth of the plant and favorably affects its flowering.

Recently acquired specimens are transplanted after a period of adaptation (about 2 weeks), and the rest - in the spring, at the beginning of the growing season. Young plants need an annual procedure, and adults need only once every 2-3 years. At the same time, the trunk should be slightly buried each time, so that the substrate covers new air roots. If you comply with all the rules, the result will be a spectacular and healthful anthurium. A transplant, in fact, is not such a complicated procedure if you understand the nature of the plant and feel what it needs.