Anthurium hookeri ranges from Surinam and northeastern Venezuela to Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles...
Anthurium hookeri also called as Bird's nest anthurium, Anthurium amplum, Anthurium huegelii, Anthurium neglectum, is a species of the genus Anthurium. This species was described by Carl Sigismund Kunth in 1841.
IDENTIFY ANTHURIUM HOOKERI - BIRD'S NEST ANTHURIUM
Anthurium hookeri ranges from Surinam and northeastern Venezuela to Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles (St. Kitts, Nevis, Monserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada), at elevations of 200-1450 m. In Venezuela, it ranges from Bolivar north to Sucre.
It is an aroid that grows both as an epiphyte and as a terrestrial with short stem and have triangular to D-shaped, 10-26 cm wide, 35-89 cm long leaves that are clustered at or near the apex of the stem. It blooms with green with a purple tinge spathe. The seed berries found on the infructescence are oval and oblong in shape and not red as is commonly believed, it is white.
Bird's nest anthurium is characterized by its bird's nest habit, supervolute vernation, scalariform venation (tertiary veins extending in a more or less parallel, ladder-like fashion between the primary lateral veins) and by having glandular punctations on both surfaces.
ANTHURIUM HOOKERI - BIRD'S NEST ANTHURIUM CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Anthurium hookeri love shade. Long exposure to direct sunlight will typically burn flowers and foliage. Give them a good shady area to grow. However, do not deprive them of all sunlight. Ideally 75-80% shade is best. Extremely low light levels can shut down flower production. If that happens, move your plant to an area that receives more light and wait for flower production to resume.
When grown indoors the plant will take about as much light as you can provide them with - but not direct sunlight. Place plant in an area with good, bright, diffused light. Try to place the plant between 5 and 8 feet from a window.
Temperature:
Bird's nest anthurium grow best with day temperatures of 25 to 32 °C and night temperatures of 21 to 24 °C. A high temperature will results in drying of the foliage and flowers and finally ends with the fading of the plant. A temperature below 16 °C will kill the plant. It is also be affected by temperature above 32 °C. Keep your plant away from heat ducts, ventilator grills and drafts.
Substrate and growing media:
Anthurium hookeri grow best in a well-aerated medium with good water retention capability and with good drainage. A good medium needs to be able to anchor the roots and stem so that the plant will not topple over as it grows larger, yet provide sufficient moisture, nutrients, and aeration to the plant. Organic matter (i.e., wood shavings, sugar cane bagasse, tree fern chips, taro peel, macadamia nut shells, or coffee parchment), volcanic cinder, or an artificial medium (i.e., rockwool, polyphenol foam) can serve as a good medium to anchor roots for plant growth and flower production.
At some point in time, your plant will need to be repotted. Symptoms will include severe root massing at the base of the plant, bulging on the sides of the pot (if it's plastic), and overall loss of plant vigor. Repot your plant early in the year, when new roots start to grow. Use a 6 to 7 inch (15-16.25 cm) pot filled half way with rocks. When repotting, as much as possible try to match the same media that your anthurium is already growing in. This will help your plant to root faster into the new media.
Watering:
High humidity (70-80%) and moist media is highly preferred. However, over-watering can cause root damage and sudden yellowing of leaves. While the plant love moisture, they do not like saturated media. So make sure to monitor your watering. Light, frequent watering is preferred to heavy soakings. Let the soil dry out in between watering. If you live in a hot area, water about once every 2 to 3 days; if you live in a rainy area, then water as necessary. Don't forget a light misting on the leaves to help with the humidity.
Too much drying of the plant will cease the plant growth and burns the tip of the plant. The plant prefers a winter rest at 15 °C for about 6 weeks with little water. It helps plant to bloom profusely in the next season.
Fertilizer:
Most growers use a slow time-release fertilizer monthly on their plants. Anthurium roots are very sensitive to uncoated quick-release fertilizers, which can burn their sensitive roots. Even powder organic fertilizers can cause root burn. Liquid fertilizers may be applied as foliar applications or incorporated at lower concentrations into surface irrigation water. Most foliar fertilizers for orchids will work well. Consistency will be the key.
Pests and diseases:
Thrips will be your worst insect problem. They can damage flowers and leaves, causing large brown streaks. In severe cases, the leaves and flowers will become severely disfigured. Don't let it get to this point. The best method to control thrips is to monitor your plants and treat them quickly before they get out of hand.
Keeping your plant and their surroundings clean is good preventative measure. Pinching off unopen thripdamaged flower buds and disposing of them in a sealed bag is another good control measure. That way you will get rid of thrips feeding inside of the infested buds before they have had a chance to come out and disperse to other plants.
The single most important disease of anthuriums is called 'Anthurium Blight'. This is a bacterial disease with no know cure. Once the plant becomes infected, and the disease becomes systemic, the only course of action is to destroy the plant before it can infect other plants in your collection.
Since there is no cure, the best course of action is prevention. Quarantining new plants, keeping your existing plants in good health, scouting for early signs of infection, and isolating suspect plants can go a long way towards preventing this disease from being introduced into your collection.
Propagation:
Two propagation techniques are good to learn: division and cutting. Over time, many anthuriums will shoot multiple plants from the same pot. By careful division of the mother plant, you can create multiple plant clones from just one plant. Division will also provide each plant with actively growing roots, which will in turn give you faster plant recovery.
Cuttings will require more patience. Anthuriums, especially the older cut flower types, will become leggy and appear to be growing aerial roots. This is when you should consider taking cuttings. The cutting will consist of severing the leggy growth from the mother plant and planting it into a new pot. On top of cloning of your favorite anthurium, the mother plant will possibly send multiple shoots off of where you took the cutting. In time you will be rewarded with a fuller mother plant.
Seed propagation will give you the least chance of getting the same plant as the original. However, it will most definitely give you the most varied response. Since many of the anthuriums for sale are hybrids (having been crossed multiple times over the years), seedling propagation will give you a collection of many of the parents of these hybrids, some possibly going back multiple generations.
Another use of seed propagation is to create your own new variety. Pollinating one variety with another completely different variety will most definitely provide you with some new and unique anthuriums. Anthuriums from seed can take anywhere from 2 to 5 years to produce a true mature flower. From there, evaluating appearance, quality, and consistency may take another 2-3 years. But, if you have the patience, you may create something so unique that you - and possibly others - may cherish for a lifetime.
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