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Anthurium Clarinervium has huge dark green, leathery, heart-shaped leaves that feature prominent creamy-white veins. Other common names for this tropical houseplant include ‘Queen Anthurium’ and ‘White-Veined Anthurium’. The name ‘Velvet Cardboard Anthurium’ comes from its thick, velvety leaves.
To keep it in perfect shape, here are things you need to know:
The velvet cardboard anthurium isn’t fussy when it comes to growing indoors in pots. However, it has a few care requirements to thrive. If you meet its needs, the plant will grow for many years and produce spectacular patterned foliage. Let’s look in more detail at how to care for your Anthurium clarinervium houseplant.
In the growing season, you may have to water your Anthurium clarinerviumas often as once or twice a week. In the fall and winter, you need to water less often—maybe as little as every few weeks. The general rule for watering an anthurium is this—only water when the top 1” to 2” (2.5 – 5 cm) is dry.
Before watering a velvet cardboard anthurium, check the soil for dryness. Poke your finger about an inch into the soil. If the potting medium is dry, then your plant needs watering. If you detect some moisture, wait a few days before checking again. But, always let the soil be your guide for when to water.
Another top tip for watering your Anthurium clarinerviumis to water less often and thoroughly. Giving the soil a deep drench ensures that the roots get properly hydrated. After soaking the soil, allow all the excess water to drain out before putting the plant back in its bright location.
Place the Anthurium clarinerviumin bright, indirect sunlight where the large attractive leaves get plenty of light. Although velvet cardboard anthuriums can grow in medium light, they don’t grow well in low light or direct sunlight. Filtered, dappled, or indirect sunlight is similar to their native environment—under the rainforest canopy.
Anthurium clarinervium plants are not plants that survive well in low to no light. You can tell if your velvet cardboard plant isn’t getting enough light by its foliage. The bright, creamy-white veins may start to lose their vibrancy. You may also notice that the plant’s growth slows down, or its stems become leggy.
Standing in direct sunlight for many hours can also be detrimental to your plant’s growth. Direct sunlight can burn the leaves and cause them to become paler or turn yellow. You may even notice that the plant starts to wilt and become stressed.
The best place to put an Anthurium clarinervium for healthy growth is on an east-facing windowsill. In a south- or west-facing room, keep the plant a few feet away from the window or have it behind sheer curtains. A great location for anthuriums is in a well-lit bathroom. The bright light and humid conditions make this an ideal shower plant.
You can grow Anthurium clarinervium plants outdoors in the summer. However, you should remember to place the plant pot in partial shade or dappled sunlight. Keeping the anthurium out of the sun’s rays will help the plant achieve optimal growth outside.
Most tropical houseplants need well-draining soil to grow. The potting mix should hold just enough moisture to hydrate the roots between watering. But it shouldn’t be so heavy that it becomes soggy or waterlogged. An overly-damp potting medium causes root rot, fungal diseases, and, ultimately, the death of your beautiful foliage plant.
To maximize growth, grow velvet cardboard anthuriums in a mixture of potting soil, peat moss, and orchid bark or perlite. Organic matter helps to retain some moisture, and the perlite or orchid bark help aerate the growing medium. Other suitable ingredients to improve soil drainage are crushed charcoal, mulch, bark chips, or sphagnum moss.
The best way to know if the potting soil has good drainage is to observe how water flows through and how often you have to water your anthurium. For example, water should start draining from the pot’s drainage holes fairly quickly. Also, you may need to adjust the potting mix if you have to water too frequently or only every so often.
Anthurium clarinerviumplants don’t require much feeding during the growing season. You should use a regular houseplant fertilizer, diluted to half strength. Feed your plant every two months from March through September just after watering it. During the fall and winter, don’t fertilize the plant.
To care well for yourAnthurium clarinervium, remember that too much fertilizer is just as bad as overwatering. So never fertilize or water more than you have to.
A challenge with growing tropical plants indoors is to prevent a mineral salt buildup. When growing outdoors, this is rarely a problem with anthuriums. Your indoor plants can benefit from a soil flush every three months or so. To flush the soil, run water through the soil for a few minutes. This process will rinse out excess salts from the soil and help keep your plant growing healthily.
Native to tropical rainforests in Mexico and Central and South America, velvet cardboard anthuriums need to grow in humid conditions. Anthurium plants need at least 80 percent humidity to thrive. High humidity helps speed up growth and keeps vibrant the plant’s lush green foliage and white veins.
Getting humid conditions at home can be challenging. That is one reason why many plant owners keep theirAnthurium clarinerviumplant in a bright bathroom. There are a few ways to get humidity levels right for velvet cardboard anthuriums. Let’s look briefly at these:
- Misting: Spraying a fine mist of distilled or filtered water can increase humidity around your plant. Do this daily or every other day, depending on how dry the air is.
- Use a pebble tray: Sitting the plant pot on a tray of stones that is half-filled with water can create a humid environment. As the water evaporates from the tray, it humidifies the leaves.
- Location: If your bathroom is too dark for growing houseplants, group plants together to increase humidity.
- Room humidifier: If you have several tropical indoor plants, investing in a humidifier can help keep air moisture at proper levels for plants to thrive.
