Red Aglaonema Flower: Meaning & Growing Guide

Aglaonema first appeared in Europe and America in 1885, and after some decades, commercial cultivation started to leverage the houseplant seekers, and Red Aglaonema became popular.

The plant boasts colorful red leaves with thin green margins and a spathe flower that people mistake as a leaf due to inflorescence.

After watching the flower’s appearance, you may wonder if you can keep or remove it. Before making any haste, you need to read the entire article once.

Red Aglaonema Flower: Meaning & Symbolism

In Greek, “Aglos” means light or brightness, and the word “Nema” means spiral thread composed of thin fibers.

Likewise, Red Aglaonemas are tropical plants from Southeast Asia that represent purity, nature and positive energy with evergreen foliage. 

These plants are also considered the Lucky Plant and fortune bringer and are believed to enhance the beauty and well-being of homes.

It is because they live prudently by growing slowly, aren’t demanding, and live to a ripe old age. In Thailand, people believe that a blooming Aglaonema symbolizes good fortune.

How Often Does Red Aglaonema Flower?

Most plant owners often mistake the Red Aglaonema flower for a distorted leaf as the flower is an inflorescence. So, usually, plant owners remove the flowers from the foliage.

A colorful spathe that looks like a curled leaf and a spadix in between make up the blooms similar to Peace Lilies.

Usually, Red Aglaonema needs 1-2 years old to reach maturity and produce flowers.

Red Aglaonema also flowers in response to stress, as when the plant is on the verge of death, it will produce the blossom to form seeds.

It usually takes 8 to 13 days for the spathe to open up fully, and the blooms are often pale white or light green, lasting for a few months.

Red Aglaonema Flower Overview

Red Aglaonema is famous for ornamental tropical foliage plants because of its variegated foliage and compact growth habit.

Although they are tropical plants and grow best in tropical climates, you can still grow them as beautiful indoor plants.

Take a quick look to learn more about Red Aglaonema flowers.

Red Aglaonema Flower Pollination 

Red Aglaonema cannot self-pollinate; therefore, they open-pollinate, meaning it is pollinated by bees, moths, wind, rain, birds, and other insects rather than by themselves.

Following pollination, the seeds are allowed to develop before being gathered. One critical feature of open-pollinated seeds is that they develop true to type.

However, if you don’t wait for the plant to get pollinated, you can perform hand pollination through the following steps.

• Check every morning for newly opened inflorescence, as spathe unfurls at night.
• Brush lightly across the moist, sticky surface of the stigma to collect enough pollen.

• You can collect the pollen with a sterilized camel hair brush and transfer it to the female stigma, which is yellow.
• Use freshly collected pollen, as it will survive only a few days, even if held in the refrigerator.
• Finally, transfer pollen from staminate to stigma.

This way, you can efficiently pollinate the flower and see the flower enlarging and turning into fruit.

After four or five months, the fruit will turn bright red and should be harvested. Hence, you can tear the fruit and find seeds that you can use for propagation.

How to Make a Red Aglaonema Flower?

The Red Aglaonema is relatively easy to care for compared to other foliage plants. Still, you must consider additional requirements when the plant starts blooming in spring and summer. 

• Red Aglaonema needs 8-10 hours of bright indirect light daily. If you reside in a snowy place, you can offer to grow lights for at least 12 hours for optimum growth and flower.
• Make sure you have planted the Aglaonema in loose, well-draining soil with pH levels of 5.6–6.5, so it can prosper.
• You can offer Red Aglaonema water every 1-2 weeks when the top 1 or 2 inches of the soil is dry. 
• These plants need bloom booster or All Purpose Fertilizer (20-20-20) monthly during spring and summer.
• It is also essential to check if the plant is around 60 and 70% humidity. 

• Clean the leaves regularly with damp clothes and spray them with insecticidal soap and water to protect them from pests.
• Ensure the leaves are not always moist, pat them dry if they encounter water, and remove the dead and infected leaves.
• Also, avoid repotting and keep Red Aglaonema rootbound if you want to see a bloom in your Red Aglaonema.

Pro Tip! Make Red Aglaonema hit dormancy by providing it with less light and less water during winter and avoiding fertilization.

What Should you do with Red Aglaonema Flowers?

Are you confused about whether to allow your Red Aglaonema flower to bloom? It is entirely subjective. 

Some people find it ugly, while some think it is a reward for taking care of the plant and should not be cut.

However, the plant requires lots of energy to produce flowers. As all the energy goes toward the flowers, the foliage will lack sufficient nutrients making them appear pale and have stunted growth. 

It is better to cut Red Aglaonema flowers if you wish to grow beautiful foliage.

Red Aglaonema flower will live for only a few months, but your foliage has years of life span. Likewise, the leaves may be shorter and distorted due to a lack of nutrients.

So, removing the flower as they form is better to solve the problem. 

Follow the steps below to ensure the proper cutting of the flowers without damaging the foliage of the Red Aglaonema.

• The tool must be disinfected using rubbing alcohol to ensure that your Red Aglaonema does not catch any fungal diseases.
• Use a sharp tool to cut the flower into one slice.
• Cut the inflorescence a few inches above the attached stem by grasping the peduncle.
• Remember to cut it during the spring season.
• After successfully cutting the flower, you must keep them in the vase with water as decoration. If you are not fond of them, you may dispose of them.

Is Red Aglaonema Flower Poisonous? 

Red Aglaonema is a beautiful plant with low severity positions in bark, flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, seeds, and stems. 

According to University of California, Aglaonema, or Chinese evergreen, produces toxicity levels of 3 and 4, making it mild to nonharm to humans. 

It can cause oral irritation, drooling, pain, and swelling of the mouth and tongue, as well as difficulty swallowing if these pets consume it.

Red Aglaonema contains Calcium oxalate crystals which can cause irritation and burning if consumed. You should not consume these plants and always be conscious of them.

According to NC State University, touching the sap from Aglaonema plants can produce a rash and cause discomfort to the mouth in the case of humans. 

Likewise, Red Aglaonema plants can also lead to severe problems like dermatitis and skin irritation in humans from the sap found in them.

If found such symptoms, you need to get help immediately from the contact below.

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