Anthurium Insigne is a plant with gigantic leaves you have been missing all your life. It will not fail to capture the attention of anyone who enters your home or nursery.
Growing it yourself can be a challenge, especially for those with little Anthurium experience. Our guide will help you go through this challenge like a total breeze.
What Is Anthurium Insigne?
Anthurium Insigne is a tropical plant with a short stem from which several large leaves grow. It has shiny, tri-lobed leaves that can grow as tall as 10 to 22 inches. As a native of the tropics, it has very high humidity demands.
Anthurium Insigne Care
The plant care for this Anthurium requires a filtered or dappled bright light and 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. It needs humidity above 80 percent and is fertilized every two weeks during spring and summer. When the soil is dry two inches from the top, only then is it time to water it.
– Water Requirements
As soon as the top two inches of the soil dry up, water this ginormous plant with copious water. How long the soil takes to dry will, in turn, depend on the season, temperature, and size of the pot.
It is considered a best practice to check the soil every other day to see if it’s time to water. You can use your finger or a wooden skewer for this. This way, you will be able to maintain the delicate balance between over and underwatering.
Distilled water suits Anthuriums the best because it is the safest. When using this water, you will not have to worry about salt accumulation in the soil or mineral toxicity. You may also collect rainwater and use it instead. Rainwater is also pretty safe and natural for the plant.
If tap water is your only available option, then at least filter or boil it before use. Store it in a bucket and leave it exposed to air for one whole night. This is to get rid of chlorine that is unfortunately always present in tap water.
Anthuriums are reverse watered when you allow their soil to soak water from the bottom instead of the top. This practice helps the roots to grow faster in a downward direction. Consequently, your plant gets anchored within the soil better, check and confirm that the top two inches of your soil have dried.
Start by finding a container large enough to put an Insigne plant pot inside. Ask someone to help you lift the pot and place it within the container. Fill the container halfway with distilled, filtered, or rainwater.
Allow the soil some time to absorb this water from the bottom upwards. Remove the pot from the container when the soil surface begins to glisten with moisture and feels moist to the touch. Place it instead on a water collecting saucer. When this saucer gets filled with drained water, remove it right away.
– Light Requirements
This Anthurium does not like direct sunlight at all. It needs only dappled, filtered, or indirect bright light during the day to survive and grow.
Considering its large size, it makes sense why Insigne Anthurium is mostly grown outdoors. You should always provide it with a shade from direct sunlight if you choose to do so too. If there is a garden outdoors, then a larger tree will provide the best shade.
You can use a sun-blocking screen or a parasol on the terrace. This plant will receive only indirect light when placed along a north-facing wall.
Suppose you plan on moving this plant indoors to outdoors; never do it suddenly. Try briefly exposing the plant to outside light for a short time. Increase the timing of exposure until you are confident that the plant will survive the brighter conditions all day long.
Inside the house, your plant is usually safe from sunburn caused by direct sunlight. You will have to worry more about low light indoors.
See that you keep it inside the brightest room of your house. The most suitable is a room lit brightly by eastern, western, or northern windows. If there is a southern-facing window in the room, move the Insegne pot at least three feet away from it.
In case of little light indoors, don’t panic. You can install a few LED grow lights above this plant, which will keep growing better than ever. Better yet, there is little chance of sunburn with artificial lights.
– Soil Requirements
An Anthurium grows only in a well-aerated and quick-draining soil mixture that retains water. The chunkier the soil, the better. Its roots refuse to grow in soil that is clumped together.
You can make the perfect Anthurium soil by using an equal quantity of water draining and water-retaining ingredients.
Take one part of a loose orchid potting mixture bought from a store. It usually comprises bark, clumps of charcoal, and rock pieces.
Take one part of organic soil that is rich in humus. You can add an equal quantity of sphagnum moss to it. Not only do these two ingredients contribute nutrients to the soil, but they also act as sponges to absorb water from the soil for later use.
Add in an equal quantity of perlite and mix in well. Perlite tends to float around and gets into the airways during mixing. It’s safe to wear protective goggles when working with perlite.
– Temperature Requirements
With temperatures ranging between 55 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, Insigne is a moderately warm growing plant. It will easily survive summers outside in a garden. However, during winters, you will have to make a home for it indoors.
Do you think maintaining the temperature inside the house is easy? Think again! Many Anthurium owners leave this plant in a room chilled by air conditioning and end up killing it. Choose a room that is kept warm even in the summers.
Some of our tried and tested temperature tips that will greatly help you, for example if there is space in your kitchen, then there is no better indoor spot for this plant.
When growing it next to a window, you better keep it close at night. Furthermore, cold drafts of air will cause leaves to droop down and the plant to suffer from growth retardation. It might take some time for the plant to return to normal.
– Humidity Requirements
Insigne has very high humidity needs of more than 80 percent. This makes it a tough plant to grow at home, just like Anthurium draconopterum and Anthurium ivanportillae.
This plant does the best in a greenhouse setting. You can put the rest of your humidity-loving plants along with it. Outdoors, even frequent misting, might not be enough to keep up with its high demands.
Inside the house, using a humidifier is your only option when it comes to providing such levels of moisture in the air. However, this can make it uncomfortable for you and your family or coworkers, and you will ultimately have to move the poor plant to an unused room.
A lot of reasonable options are available when it comes to buying a humidifier. It is also not that expensive to have running 24/7. We suggest you buy a humidifier that comes with an in-built air moisture sensor.
It will then automatically shut down when 80 percent levels are reached. Similarly, it will turn back up when these levels start dropping again. This will relieve you from having to check on your plant constantly.
– Fertilizing Requirements
Naturally, your plant needs a steady supply of nutrients to keep its large leaves happy. The soil we made is also quite rich in organic nutrient-rich ingredients.
As a schedule, fertilize every two weeks during spring and summer time. Please stop feeding during the non-growing time during fall and winter. A slow-release fertilizer can just be buried into the soil and keeps working for three to four months in a stretch.
However, liquid fertilizer is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to provide nutrients to any plant. No matter how mild its concentration, you should double-dilute it before use. Always water the plant immediately before feeding. Every month, deep water the plant to flush out toxins that ultimately build up within the soil over time.
– Pruning Requiremenets
This plant can go on for a significant period of time and does not require a lot of pruning because of its short stem with rather slow growth. Every year at the start of spring, trim off any branch that seems to be affecting the shape of the plant badly.
If any leaf seems to be getting yellow, brown, or wilted, pruning it off will improve the plant’s aesthetics. The second time you must prune this plant will be after spring when the boom ends. Cut off the flowers and place them in a vase where they will live for another week.
Propagation
For such expensive and rare plants, it is only natural to try and propagate them at home. Trust us; it is super straightforward and worth the effort.
Timing is of prime importance when it comes to propagating any plant. Always carry out this endeavor during spring or early summer time.
Just by following the simple steps listed below, you will be able to grow a new plant from stem cutting propagation in just two short months.
Begging by keeping your instrument clean and ready before taking the stem cutting. You can use rubbing alcohol or a disinfectant solution for this purpose. Now, select which stem or branch you are going to take the cutting from. It should be healthy, young, and pest free. Five to six inches is the length of the cutting needs to be.
At least one leaf node needs to be included within it. If your cutting contains aerial roots, then a successful propagation is anything but guaranteed. After which, cut one inch below the leaf node with an oblique incision using a sharp instrument.
Now it’s time to take a transparent glass or plastic jar and fill it with distilled water. Submerge the stem cutting in water and cover the jar to increase humidity up to 80 percent. Every day for an hour or two, lift the jar cover to let air into the cutting.
Keep changing the distilled water in the jar every week. You will see new roots sprouting from the cut end after three weeks. When these roots grow two to three inches long, it is time to transplant them into a pot.
Fill a pot with the same soil mix as the parent plant. Moisten this soil before gently inserting your rooted cut end inside. Don’t worry, the first two weeks, ensure that humidity around your young plant is maintained at the required high levels. Please make sure that you keep it in bright indirect conditions of light and warm temperatures.
Problems
When growing such a glorious plant, some problems will inevitably ensue. In this section, learn what to do if your houseplant is overwatered, suffering from salt burns, or pest attacks.
– Overwatering
Let us get our facts straight: No plant likes to be overwatered. Overwatered leads to plump, swollen, and mushy leaves. The leaves develop yellow spots, or they might even turn completely yellow.
Bacterial and fungal rot is the worst consequence of overwatering. This can destroy a plant within a few short weeks.
It would be best if you took care that the water drainage of your pot and soil are not compromised. Don’t skip checking if the soil is dry before watering the plant each time.
– Salt Burns
The accumulation of too many salts and minerals in the soil over time becomes a big problem. These salts interfere with water uptake by the roots, leading to dehydration. You Anthurium will start exhibiting classic symptoms of dehydration in the form of wilting, brown, and shrunken leaves.
The plant, over time, also takes up salts. They will precipitate and form a shiny white layer on the surface and edges of the leaves. This will cause proper chemical burns to the leaves, producing yellow spots.
Salt accumulation is a common problem seen with plants that need regular fertilizing. Mostly they are byproducts of fertilizer breakdown. Using hard water that contains calcium and magnesium in large quantities also causes this problem.
As an immediate treatment, you must flush the soil with a lot of water. Better take your pot outside and use a hose to water the soil. Keep watering until the water goes through the soil and comes out of the drainage hole about four times.
Most salts will dissolve and flush away with water during this process. Flushing is something you must do every fortnight regardless of whether your soil has salt toxicity. Another solid piece of advice we would give is to stop using hard tap water altogether. That would be the best-case scenario if you can afford distilled water. At the very least, use filtered water.
– Aphids
Aphids are houseplant pests you need to be wary of. They are sap feeders and cause your plant to become weak and short. They also serve as vectors to several viruses that cause harmful plant diseases.
They walk and eat all over the leaves of your Anthurium, releasing a sticky substance called honeydew behind. Honeydew traps molds and leads to sooty mold development.
Use injected water from a shower head or a hose to dislodge aphids from the plant. Wash the undersides of the leaves with special care. Use DIY natural methods to treat the plant after that. One method is mixing a teaspoon of baking soda in one gallon of water and a tablespoon of soap.
However, the second method is to mix a teaspoon of neem oil instead of baking soda. Both of these mixtures can be safely used to kill aphids and their larvae on a weekly basis for one whole month.
– Mealybugs
Mealybugs are just as common and problematic as aphids when it comes to Anthuriums. They, too, produce honeydew and feed on your plant’s life source. They are white-colored and move slowly, making them easier to spot and kill.
A prolonged infestation of mealybugs will stop the growth and flowering of the plant. You will have a sick plant with yellowing leaves. Just like with aphids, remove as many mealybugs as you can using a jet of water. You can also try picking them off one by one by hand.
Start spraying with a neem oil or baking soda insecticidal spray every week. Soak a cotton roll with neem oil and use it to wipe honeydew off the leaves. As soon as you identify any plant with a pest infestation, you must isolate it from the other plants. Keep it someplace distant unless you are 100 percent sure that all the pests are gone.
FAQ
What kind of pots does Anthuriums Insigne like?
Anthuriums Insigne prefers well-draining pots with good airflow and moderate moisture levels for optimal growth.
How do I make my Anthurium Insigne leaves shiny?
To enhance Anthurium Insigne leaf shine, wipe gently with a damp cloth or apply a natural leaf shine spray occasionally.
Is it normal for my Anthurium Insigne to shed its leaves?
Anthurium Insigne may shed older leaves as part of their natural growth cycle, but if excessive leaf loss occurs, it’s important to evaluate care conditions.
Conclusion
Before signing off, here is a very brief recapitulation of what we covered in this guide:
- This Anthurium also likes bright light that is indirect or dappled.
- You must provide more than 80 percent humidity at all costs.
- Fertilizing is important every two weeks during the growing season only.
- Stem cutting propagation with a few aerial roots will give spectacular results.
Are you worried about the demanding nature of this unique Anthurium? With the tips mentioned above and hacks, you will be able to grow a healthy plant like a seasoned expert.
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