Anthurium Insigne: Ultimate Grow & Care Guide

Anthurium insigne is a famed Anthurium variety known for gigantic and spearhead leaves.

Huge leaves have a downside; they need more sunlight, humidity, and other supplementary care, which you need to be mindful of!

Anthurium Insigne: Plant Overview

The shape of Insigne leaves enables the plant to adorn many names, like ‘Anthurium Trilobum,’ hinting at the lobe-like extensions on the foliage.

But, apart from the names, the plant has other interesting features hiding under its leaves.

Anthurium Insigne: Ultimate Grow & Care Guide

Laceleaves like Anthurium Insigne have exceptional foliage that requires tropical care.

So, you must duplicate the requirements of a tropical forest to make the plant feel at its home. 

1. Light and Temperature

Light and Temperature work in sync, as increasing the light intensity increases the temperature while less light lowers it.

Direct sunlight for a long time can severely burn and discolor the leaves. The tips and margins can become brown and crispy.

Blazing sun can surge the temperature around the plants, resulting in brownish-black blemishes on the leaves due to severe dehydration.

Low sunshine can fade the leaf colors, turning them yellow and droopy and making them look leggy. The leaves can also fall off from the plants due to lower temperatures.

An east-facing window is a proper place to keep Anthuriums in spring and summer mornings with little shading during the day.

In winter, you can place the plant away from cold, drafty windows and locate it near an eastern window all the time.

Additionally, use frost blankets for covering the outdoor Anthuriums to protect them from frost damage. 

Anthurium Insigne likes to rest over winter at 50°F-59°F for 1.5 months to store the energy for blooming in spring again!

2. Watering and Humidity

The leaves of Anthurium Insigne like high humidity and adequate watering.

In the fall and winter, you can check the soil for dryness and water accordingly by holding the watering schedules for a few days.

Nevertheless, you must avoid sloppy soil at all costs.

Soggy soil can cause root rot, where the roots turn black and pulpy. The potting soil may also start giving a fishy smell.

Less water can dry the soil and turn the leaves yellow with crispy tips and brown edges. In later stages, the leaves may curl to preserve moisture and drop from the plant.

Falling of leaves can also be seen in very high humidity, where the lower stems and leaf surface may receive black spots (an outcome of fungal infection).

A good watering habit is to keep the potted Anthurium on a water tray for 15-20 minutes.

To maintain the moisture levels, use a humidifier or group Anthuriums with other plants to preserve humidity. 

To overcome dry spells, mist Anthuriums in summer or dry winter mornings every few days.

Anthuriums can also thrive in well-lit bathrooms, but mind the spacings for its large leaves!

3. Soil and Fertilizer

Anthurium Insigne needs heavy fertilizer blended in good soil to upkeep its large size and maintain root growth.

Lack of fertilizer can result in smaller leaves, fewer blooms, stunted plant growth, and changes in the leaf colors.

So, stop feeding the plant in fall and winter to prevent the accumulation of fertilizer salts on topsoil and fend off fertilizer burns.

A well-draining soil can also help to wash away the spare salts during watering. So, always water the soil before fertilizing the plant.

Likewise, use organic and balanced liquid fertilizer, diluted to two-thirds of strength, during the growing seasons.

You can prepare a homemade potting mix by blending garden soil, sand, moss, or organic perlite, and compost in a 2:1:1:1 ratio.

But garden soil may bring in diseases and pests for your Anthurium. Instead, rely on these commercial potting mixes and fertilizers.

Anthurium Dressleri also has huge leaves and requires similar tropical conditions, like Anthurium Insigne, to grow.

4. Potting and Repotting 

Repotting is crucial and stressful for tropical plants with delicate roots. Without repotting, plants can suffocate due to root-bounding.

You can use any planters (terracotta or plastic) as long as it has ample drain holes at the bottom or sides to offer aeration for the roots.

Anthuriums are slow-growing plants and only take up growth for 5-6 months during their growing season.

In fall and winter, the plant slows down and almost stops growing.

The best time to bet on successful repotting is from early spring to mid-summer. It also helps the plant to overcome the repotting stress quickly.

If the plant is desperate for repotting, roots may poke out from the drainage holes, the growth dulls down, and water drains from the soil faster than normal.

Water Anthurium Insigne 1-2 days before repotting to make the roots more flexible later.

To repot, gently uproot the plant and free the root ball from soil clumps. Take a new pot, place the plant in it, and gradually fill the soil from the sides up to an inch below the brim.

Water gently to moist the surface and locate the plant near an east-facing window. 

5. Sparse Pruning

Tropical plants generally don’t need pruning as they can retain their green leaves for the whole year.

But, Anthuriums can get leggy, and their leaves may receive damage from aphids, thrips, scales, mealybugs, and mites.

Unfavorable watering and humidity can invite brown spot diseases on the leaves and stems.

Overgrowth, damaged leaves, and spent flowers can pull the essential energy from healthy parts of the plant. So, Anthuriums become lethargic and cannot use the reserved energy to bloom and grow.

Anthurium Insigne requires pruning every now and them to remove the damaged parts, but the best time for annual pruning is in early spring!

If you notice the damaged leaves or spent flowers, remove them at the base of the stem.

Cast the pests manually using q-tips soaked in disinfectants or use weak sprays of water to remove them from the leaf and stem surface.

Likewise, apply fungicides to keep the diseases at bay and dispose of the plant parts safely to prevent the extent of diseases.

Anthurium Insigne: Summarized Care

Anthurium Insigne: All About Growth

Anthurium Insigne shows slow to moderate growth as this aroid grows throughout spring and summer only.

The plant takes a nap in fall and winter. So, you rarely see it showing any growth during the dormant times.

But at maturity, Anthurium Insigne can attain a height of 4-4.5 feet and a spread of 3-3.5 feet.

The captivating trademark of Anthurium Insigne is the large, green-grayish, 3-lobed leaves that arise from the stem.

The leaves are so large and heavy that they appear dangling from the plant.

The plant grows terrestrially or epiphytically (attached to other large trees) to enormous sizes in its natural habitat.

Although Anthurium Insigne can flower in the wild, it rarely shows any flower in a home environment, as these conditions may not concur.

Generally, the plant grows a long flowering stem in summer. The flowering stem consists of a spathe and a spadix.

The spathe is leafy and whitish-green, which helps to protect the spadix and aids in pollination.

Likewise, the spadix is cylindrical and creamy-yellow, bearing bisexual flowers that produce fruits and seeds.

Toxicity of Anthurium Insigne

Almost all the Anthurium species are harmful to pets and humans as they contain calcium oxalate crystals in their parts.

If your pets lick or bite the parts, they may suffer from symptoms like eye, nose, and mouth irritation, hoarse barks or meows, swelling of throat and tongue, vomiting, diarrhea, and difficulties in swallowing.

In humans, the sap from the plant parts on contact can cause skin irritation and rashes.

Although washing the sap with milk can alleviate the irritation, it’s ideal to rush your pets to a vet to suppress the symptoms.

Additionally, keep the plant away from pets and children to prevent any accidents from happening.

You can call any of the numbers to report an emergency.

• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: 888-426-4435
• America’s Poison Center: 1-800-222-1222

Propagation Methods for Anthurium Insigne

Anthurium Insigne grows from the seeds naturally, but they are sensitive to temperature and humidity, making it very hard to bring the right germination conditions.

Stem cuttings and divisions are successful and quick methods for propagating Anthuriums.

Ensure to take the cuttings or divisions from early spring to summer.

1. Propagation via Stem Cuttings

The cuttings with healthy aerial roots have a higher chance of fruitful propagation. 

• First, take a 4-6 inches long healthy stem cutting, having at least one leaf and one node.
• Place the cutting in a rooting hormone solution and cover it with a zip-lock bag from the top.
• Locate the setup near an east-facing window for 7-10 hours daily.
• Change the hormonal solution every 3-4 days.
• After 4-5 weeks, you may find new white roots sprouting from the nodes.
• When the roots grow to about 2 inches long, place the cutting in suitable potting soil about 2 to 4 inches deep.
• Set a humidity at 50%-80% around the cutting and place the rooted cutting near the source of dappled sunshine.
• After a few weeks, the cuttings fix themselves in the soil and grow new leaves.

2. Propagation via Divisions

Stem or root divisions are two ways to propagate Anthurium Insigne.

Either way, the propagation process is the same for both parts. 

• Uproot a healthy Anthurium plant and divide individual stem sections from the clumps.
• Each division must have 2-3 leaves at the top and a small part of the root below.
• Place the divisions about 4 inches deep in well-draining potting soil with a pH between 6 and 7.
• Cover the divisions with a zip-lock bag and place the set up near an east-facing window for 7-10 hours daily.
• Moist the soil whenever it feels dry and set the humidity levels between 50% and 80%.
• Pull or tug the stem divisions weekly to check if the division is growing new roots.
• If the divisions feel firm, continue with the basic care.

You can check this video to get into the details of propagating Anthuriums.

Anthurium Insigne for Sale

Brilliant leaves of Anthurium Insigne captivate people to have their own plant to care for in their personal space.

Consider buying the plant from the following shops.