Anthurium Dressleri: Ultimate Grow & Care Guide

Easy to care Anthurium Dressleri are in demand for their stunning dark green foliage in the shape of a heart.

But plants show signs like wilting, drooping, and yellowing if you fail to provide the basic requirements.

If you want to learn about the basic care of Anthurium, you are at the right place. 

Plant Overview: Anthurium Dressleri

Did you know that Anthurium dressleri was first discovered by Dr. Robert Dressler in the dense jungle of Panama?

Check out the table below to learn more about Anthurium Dressleri.

Where to Buy Anthurium Dressleri?

Getting Anthurium Dressleri plants at a nursery nearby is difficult, so I suggest you go through the following places. 

Anthurium Dressleri: Complete Care Guide

You can also help yourself with the table below to learn briefly about the growth requirements of Anthurium dressleri.

1. Sunlight and Temperature 

You can place Anthurium dressleri indoors with at least 6 hours of bright indirect sunlight and a temperature of 22-30°C.

But, avoid letting the temperature lower than 10°C  (50°F). This will hamper the growth of the plant overall.

Exposure to improper temperature leads to slumpy leaves, a shortage in foliage production, and leaf drop.

But, if the plant is getting imbalances in lighting, you may find the symptoms mentioned below.

Tips for Providing Light & Temperature Properly 

• Place the plant closer to a window covered by translucent curtains to protect the Anthurium dressleri from direct sunlight and high temperature in summer.
• Move the plant closer to the east-facing window in winter mornings so that your plant receives adequate sunlight.
• You can rotate the plant once a week so its foliage can get enough sunlight throughout the day.
• If you grow Anthurium in greenhouses, place a thermostat to adjust the temperature during summer and winter.

Furthermore, you can also place the plants in grow lights during winter, which gives the plant 6-7 hours of extra light.

2. Watering & Humidity

Water your Anthurium dressleri once a week during spring or summer and once every two weeks during winter or rainy months when the first 1 to 3 inches of soil dries.

And ambient humidity level for Anthurium dressleri is around 50-60%.

Avoid hard tap water with total dissolved solid levels of 100 ppm, which can decline the growth of seedlings and adult plants.

Using rain, distilled, or reverse osmosis water for Anthurium plants is recommended.

However, overwatering and underwatering the plants may cause them to develop specific symptoms. 

Moreover, wilting and paling of leaf colors are signs of high humidity, or you can observe dark spots on leaves.

Tips to Provide Proper Water & Humidity

• If the plant has undergone overwater, hold off the watering for a few days until the soil becomes completely dry.
• Change the foul-smelling soil and repot your Anthurium.
• Ensure your pot has drainage holes at the bottom, and stop watering the plant when the water falls through the drainage holes.
• Consider watering your potted Anthurium plant with the bottom-up approach by placing the planter on a saucer filled with water for a day.
• You can use an indoor humidifier and humidity tray or mist the plants daily to regulate the moisture around plants.

3. Soil & Fertilization

Anthurium dressleri requires porous organic soil with good water retention and drainage, having acidic pH levels between 5 and 6.

Usually, using 10-10-10 NPK once in 4 to 6 weeks will be sufficient for Anthurium dressleri during spring and summer.

If you cannot DIY your potting mix recipe, try any of the following mixes that are commercially available.

• Anthurium Plant Potting Soil Mix
• Premium Tropical Soil Mix

You can also use organic fertilizers such as boiled chicken or pulverized fish bones. Bones contain phosphorous that will aid your Anthurium in flowering seasons.

However, yellowing, drooping, and leaf wilting are some under-fertilization symptoms.

Tips for Proper Soil & Fertilization

• Make sure to water your plant a day before fertilizing.
• You can increase the ratio to 10-30-20 in the blooming seasons to encourage flowers.
• Avoid letting fertilizers touch leaves, roots, stems, or any other parts of the plant. 
• Wood chips, perlite, coarse sand, or pumice are all good for creating a suitable substrate for Anthurium to root.

4. Scant Pruning

Generally, Anthurium dressleri demands pruning once every 2 to 3 years at max.

However, your Anthurium may need cuts to remove dead or yellowing leaves and wilted flowers more often.

Some common pests that may attack your Anthurium include scale insects, thrips, mealy bugs, mites, nematodes, and fungus gnats.

Use sterilized secateurs to make a pruning cut at the base of the flowering stem to remove dead or wilted flowers.

Although pruning seems easier, you need to keep specific ideas in mind!

• If you are pruning to address the shape of your plant, keep at least four leaves attached.
• Furthermore, pruning a branch above a flowering bud can preserve the bud, and later you can get beautiful blooms.
• Prune from a bottom-up approach, starting from lower diseased or discolored leaves.
• Use bactericides that contain high amounts of copper, such as Monterey Disease Control.
• Fungicides such as Bonide are effective for a wide range of infections.
• Neem oil works satisfactorily for aphids which can suffocate them.

5. Biennial Repotting

You can repot your Anthurium once every 2 to 3 years or when roots protrude from the pot.

Anthurium may double its size within 2-3 years. So, make sure to get a larger pot during their first repotting.

To plant a baby Anthurium, use 6 inches (diameter) × 6.2 inches (height) container.

For first repotting after 2-3 years, you can use a 10 to 12 inches (diameter) × 10 inches (height) pot.

Make sure you observe the below-mentioned signs.

• Roots pushing up and extending on the soil surface (root bound).
• Roots protrude out from the drainage holes of the pot.
• Faster drainage of water without forming any stagnant conditions.
• Wilting of plant and stunted growth.

Steps To Repot Your Anthurium Dressleri

• Before repotting, prepare and add fresh potting mix to a new container.
• Use your fingers to free your Anthurium with soil clumps in the root ball.
• Place the Anthurium plant in its new pot, cover its root ball with soil, and work your way, filling the soil all around the gaps.
• Finally, water the potting mix lightly to dampen it.

Take special care and use a rubber spatula to loosen the soil around the container’s edge while transplanting.

Anthurium Dressleri: All About the Growth Rate

Anthurium dressleri boasts purplish, large, and velvety foliage 20 to 40 cm long and 11.5 to 30 cm wide.

Judging from its leaf size, the plant grows no lesser than 65 to 70 cm in length and about 4 cm in diameter.

Although the plant appears large, reaching that mature height takes nearly 50 years.

However, Anthurium dressleri takes the cake for its unusual pale yellow to yellowish-green spadix flower and white or greenish-white spathe.

Similarly, the blooming season lasts year-round, and blooms stay for 2 to 3 months.

Toxic Traits of Anthurium Dressleri

Anthurium dressleri is toxic to both humans and pets.

Your pets may experience diarrhea, swelling in the tongue and lips, pupil dilation, and airway obstruction within 2 hours of ingestion.

In humans, signs and symptoms may vary depending on the amount of the plant part ingested.

If you accidentally consume the plant parts, you may experience a painful burning sensation in your mouth with blisters and swelling.

However, you can try a few things to alleviate the symptoms in your pets.

• Rinsing the mouth with clean water to remove as many oxalate crystals as possible.
• If the symptoms are severe, consult your veterinarian or provide your pets with an appropriate pain reliever or antihistamine.
• Feeding milk to your pets may also help to reduce symptoms. Calcium in the milk helps bind with oxalate in the plant parts.

Nevertheless, you can also rely on the following links to contact the emergency helpline for you and your pets.

• American Association of Poison Control Center (AAPCC) – (800) 222-1222
• ASPCA Poison Center – (800) 426-4435

Propagating Methods for Anthurium Dressleri

A general way of propagating Anthurium dressleri is using cuttings from stems and aerial roots.

It’s also possible to propagate your Anthurium via seeds, but they are hard to get hands-on unless you already have a blooming plant.

Before propagating your Anthurium, arrange a Garden knife, Gardening gloves, Potting mix, LECA, Rooting hormone, Humidifier, and Disinfectants.

1. Propagation via Aerial Roots

Take a look at these steps to propagate your Anthurium from aerial roots.

• You can take sections of aerial roots by borrowing some from leggy roots poking from the pot while transplanting.
• Remove the infected roots, and take cuttings from healthy parts.
• Place the split portions 1-2 inches deep into the same blend of the potting mix as the parent plant was growing.
• Add little water to dampen the soil, and then water regularly later as you do for the adult plants.
• Your cuttings will develop new shoots and leaves within four to six weeks.

2. Propagation via Stem Cuttings

Propagating using stem cuttings requires less effort than aerial roots since you don’t have to uproot the plant from the main pot.

A. Propagation in Soil Medium 

However, take some tips from below to have a successful propagation process.

• Cut a healthy stem portion in 6 inches using a clean knife.
• After cutting the sections, dip the cut side of the stem into the rooting hormone before planting.
• Use the same potting mix in which the mother plant grew to propagate new cuttings.
• Water the soil lightly to dampen it and mist the cutting once a week.

If the cuttings produce new leaves within four to six weeks, they have formed new roots.

B. Propagation in Water

Take a look below to understand the process.

• Use filtered, chlorine-free water in a transparent jar.
• You can directly add a tiny amount of rooting hormone powder into the water.
• Add the stem cuttings with a few roots to the jar and place them under indirect, bright sunlight.

But, certain risks in hydroponics are vital to look through.

• Constantly prevent the growth of algae inside the jar. Over time, algae may amass and eat up all the oxygen in the water.
• While cleaning, change the water to provide cuttings with a fresh supply of oxygen-rich water every time.
• Consider adding a fresh supply of rooting hormone whenever you refill the water. 

You can also check the video below to learn about propagating Anthurium in water. 

3. Propagation via Seeds

Here are the proven steps for germinating Anthurium from seeds.

• Collect the ripe berries (orange to yellow) that contain seeds and separate the seeds from the pulp.
• You can also dry the plant at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
• Sow the seeds in the same potting mix where the mother plant grew at a depth of 1/8 inch.
• Before sowing, lightly moisten the potting mix with water.

It may take at least 2-3 years from germination for the Anthurium plant to reach adulthood and bloom for the first time.

Nutrient Deficiency in Anthurium dressleri

Your Anthurium dressleri may face problems and show signs if you do not feed it enough nutrients.

To prevent damage from nutrient deficiencies, use nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, calcium, and sulfur fertilizer.

Follow the video to guide yourself about removing pesky bugs from your Anthurium.

Preventive Measures

Some of the preventable measures are given below.

• Remember to clean the pruning and propagating tools with diluted bleach.
• Sterilize freshly harvested seeds using 1-5% sodium hypochlorite solution (NaOCl) for 1 minute before sowing.
• Maintain aeration in the greenhouse and indoors to prevent spores from spreading and their settlement on leaves or stems.
• Install thermostats and hygrometers to control temperature and humidity levels indoors.