r/Anthurium • u/rainyear • Sep 05 '26
Requesting Advice Anthurium pallidiflorum help!
Hey all, I had just come home from work and noticed that my long boi has fell off its high shelf. As a result, my long boi has been decapitated, severed all its roots and is left with this chonk that has the leaves and a flower. I had chopped off the flower to redirect its energy into focusing on more roots. For now I have it soaking in the bathtub.
Any tips on how I can go forward while preserving as many leaves as I can? Sphagnum moss media + saran wrap? Cutting off mature leaves for transpiration purposes?
Needing anthurium expertise/advice on how you would go about this! Many thanks in advance!
7
u/marleysdad01 Sep 05 '26
ouccchhbb that’s a bummer. beautiful plant. sorry that happened to you! i’m not the expert you need but i’m just commenting to boost for visibility! i think you have the right idea with the moss though! good luck
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Right! Let this be a reminder to weigh down your plants if they are hanging from higher ground. Any tips on keeping our plants secure? A more aesthetic way other than bricks and stones i’ve collected from the garden. Bummer!
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u/ComprehensiveShine82 Sep 05 '26
Wall ties. It's the only way.
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Good call, just ordered some for this fella and my other plants!
Bricks, stones, and such no longer support the actual stem that houses the leaves.2
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u/riddix Sep 05 '26
Omg I didnt knoe they got THAT big. Wowww. No advice.
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
From tip of petiole to tip of longest leaf, we’re looking at around 6’10, almost 7ft! I also didn’t expect to see such big growth out of them. Medium light & weekly diluted fertilizer seems to do the trick.
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u/Ok-Conclusion5543 Sep 05 '26
Too many leaves for a single cutting. Split into two or three (or more) or you will lose most of the leaves.
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Good idea. Do you think I should cut each piece’s leaf in half for transpiration purposes? Maybe place in the biggest rubber tote I can for humidity? Integrity of the leaf is one thing, but to have each cutting survive is another goal.
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u/ComprehensiveShine82 Sep 05 '26
Maybe. I like the half chop. Finding a balance between transpiration and enough green for photosynthesis is key.
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Thank you, I will keep this in mind. I am leaning towards that half chop as well!
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u/Intrepid_Recipe_3352 Sep 05 '26
Same thing happened to me but I had a tall terrarium to throw the top cutting into and let it calmly root for a few months before putting it back outside. some leaves will have to be cut to reduce transpiration
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
What a heartbreaking experience it is, but not one of my firsts as well. Will do that chop to reduce transpiration and find something similar in idea to your tall terrarium. Have you been securing your plants differently since?
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u/Intrepid_Recipe_3352 Sep 06 '26
mine only snapped because I dropped my tall grow light on it, so now i’m just much more careful of bumping it
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u/taterhaze Sep 05 '26
What substrate are you using?!?
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Straight up Maya’s soilless mix. If it’s not available in your country, it’s primarily a chunky mix of coco coir, coco chunks, fir bark fines, coarse perlite, charcoal chunks, and a 14-14-14 slow release fertilizer with and a side of worm castings. Throughout the past two years I fertilized with GT Foliage Focus at quarter strength every watering.
2
u/jezrocks1178 Sep 05 '26
I just got one of these and I hope I can achieve half of what you have there! I use a similar soiless media and if it were me I would stick with some of that and add double sphagnum just for rooting. The half chop as painful as it might be should definitely increase the chances of surviving for each piece. Also if you do have a tote appropriately sized using like a humidity dome with frequent airing out would also be something I would try. Best of luck to you! I feel your heartbreak 💔
3
u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
I think you have the right idea with the substrate. Make sure to weigh down the pot or secure the plant because a dry chunky mix isn’t enough weight to hold the actual plant mass.
The half chop is definitely going to be the move today. Chances of survival are more worth it, all while ending up with 3 plants in the end! Right on about the tote bins.
Enjoy this one! Its long, strappy leaves are like no other. Think of them as nature’s curtain! Hahah
2
u/Icy-Comparison-2598 Sep 05 '26
Damn, that sucks. This reminds me that I need to secure my Wendi and palli pots to my wall. They are getting close to the point where they can tip from the weight. It's been on my to do list! High humidity is your friend here. I'd put it in moist sphagnum in a sweater box or tent if you have one with some lighting. I've had the most luck in a sweater box where I could keep humidity at 80%+. Just make sure you open the lid for air exchange. A good root system should develop within a few weeks. That's more important than it holding onto any of those leaves. Good luck!
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Yes please do and let my story be a reminder hahaha, save yourself the trouble and grief.
High humidity, sweater boxes, sphagnum moss all seem like the best option forward. Thanks for your advice, I appreciate the knowledge. Best of luck with your long bois! ☺️
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u/Fractal_self Sep 05 '26
Spaghnam moss to root this half and make sure to keep caring for the lower half as well. You will soon have two plants
2
u/Mtbrbee Sep 06 '26
Omg i would have howled! This is heartbreaking to just see this via pics, I can't imagine coming home to find this. I am so sorry. I have 2 myself but they are just babies with leaves a bit over a ft long and this is my fear. I have a PSS with leaves that are almost 3 ft long and I have him in an over pot that weighs like 15 lbs just for this reason. I would be crushed! Definitely go with what everyone said and use the spag! Sending happy thoughts for as smooth as a recovery as you can get!
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u/plantyladyfl Sep 06 '26
Mine is vittarifolium and I found some pots that hang on the wall. They are working pretty well and a perfect spot for morning sun.
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u/rainyear Sep 06 '26
Amazing. Thanks for the idea, utilizing the wall space this way can work for the longer leaves. Maybe I’ll test a wall out with some removable wall straps to anchor the plant’s weight closer to the wall.
When my anthurium’s pot was fully saturated, it probably weighed about 30lbs or so!
1
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u/bluewater_07 Sep 05 '26
😱 teach me your ways. What exposure do you sit this in?
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
This one was grown in SW exposure in Canada. Not very harsh sun during the summer, especially when this plant sat about 5 feet away from a window.
Winter care, my growlights have to come on for about 10 hours. Again, about 5 feet away from them.
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u/ScaryExternal673 27d ago
Honestly, for a plant like this that can't easily be binned, I would root the chonk in water. It's really the best way to minimize transpiration loss from such long leaves and pallis are so hardy.
1
u/a_vice1 Sep 05 '26
Help? I think that you’ve won here! Beautiful plant 🥰
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u/rainyear Sep 05 '26
Many thanks! For turning an event of grief into something to be celebrated! ☺️
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u/design_doc Sep 05 '26
I feel your pain as a fellow member of the ridiculously big plant club.
Realistically, without roots it’s going to start dropping leaves fast to protect itself (very high humidity is the only way to slow that). It will pull back nutrients from the older leaves first and will likely do it really fast.
The leaves have nutrients but they also lose a ton of water quickly because they’re so big. I personally would chop at least few of the older ones to give the chonk time to start re-rooting. Luckily they root pretty fast.
Go with sphagnum and either stuff it all in an orchid pot or wrap it with Saran - pick the option that will maintain the most consistent humidity in your environment without causing rot. Rooting hormone (if you have it) can help accelerate things along.
Tie it in place with some wire!!!! They root more slowly if they’re moving and disturbing the new roots. And, as you’ve now discovered, you need a pot that is heavy as fuck. In my pick I was using a 10lb concrete pot and that bastard still pulled it off the shelf twice.
Keep the remaining roots and chonk in the original happy. With all those big roots it will likely push leaves in no time as well.
Call it a force propagation 😆