I absolutely love the textured leaves of Anthurium vetchii. I love them so much, I have four of them! I find vetchii to be one of the easier Anthuriums to care for. It isn’t as fussy as many other Anthuriums can be, and is actually a very easy plant to have in your collection. So if you have been on the fence about getting one, or just got one but are worried about the care, read on to see how to make yours thrive!
Potting/Soil Mix: As with other Anthuriums, the mix it is potted in is critical to having a thriving plant over a dying one. Anthuriums like to have air to their roots and don’t want their roots smothered, so an airy mix is key to them thriving. I make my mix from the ground up and start my using my Aroid Base Mix (see my post on how I make it). I then add a high-quality potting soil to about a 50/50 blend of potting soil to aroid base mix. My favorite potting soil is Roots Organics Greenfields. This blend gives a good balance of drainage from the aroid mix, but good water retention for the potting soil so you aren’t having to water every day. You can adjust the ratios to your liking, but I wouldn’t go less than say 30% aroid mix. Also, when is comes to repotting, vetchii seems to prefer being snug in their pots. I get better growth when they are starting to fill their pot space with roots, and have noticed a stall out in growth when I first repot them. In fact, one of mine stalled totally for 6 months because I jumped too big so it put all its energy into growing more roots.
Light: I have found that Anthurium vetchii enjoys more like than some of the more velvet leafed Anthuriums. They can tolerate down to medium light, but are going to grow the best when they have more light. I have four vetchii and the two I have in high light grow much more vigorously than the one I have in medium light.
Watering and Humidity: Anthurium vetchii is on that can handle drying out more than other Anthuriums. Ideally water when it is about 50% dry. I water most of my Anthuriums when most of them are about 50% dry. But I have let my vetchii go to fully dry and haven’t seen crunchy leaves or ill effects from it. As far as humidity goes, Anthurium vetchii isn’t as fussy as many other Anthuriums. It definitely benefits form having higher humidity, however, I don’t see many issues arise when growing them in ambient house humidity, around 30% or so. I really have only seen issues with the leaves and growth in the winter when the heat was running and my humidity got down to around 15%. So ideally, try to keep your humidity around 30% by adding a humidifier if needed.
Fertilizing: All Anthurium benefit from fertilizer. It takes a lot to sustain their big beautiful leaves. So be sure to feed yours with a good plant food like Foliage Pro (9-3-6). Another one I’m really liking is Flora Nova Grow and Flora Nova Bloom.
Propagating: There are a few ways to propagate Anthuriums. First is taking cuttings. To take a cutting of Anthurium vetchii, look at the main stem where all of the leaves come out and cut through that main chunk. You want to have at least three leaves or several leaf scars on the chunk you are cutting off so it has plenty of places to root from. Second is waiting for your plant to grow an offset and then when it has grown big enough, separate it from the mother plant.
Toxicity: All Anthurium contain calcium oxalate crystals with are toxic to dogs, cats, birds and humans. The crystals cause irritation of the mouth and throat when eaten. Most common effects would be mouth irritation and drooling. Monitor your pet or child closely. Watch for gastrointestinal distress or vomiting. Seek a vet or doctor if you see these symptoms.
Planted Paradise 