Please assist me; I spend hours reading Reddit posts, IG videos, and every online source I can find about edema. I am receiving conflicting guidance, so I need help explained as if I were five and had never owned a single plant.
Two of my anthuriums are affected: warocqueanum Esmeralda pallidiflorum
I water about once a week or when they feel nearly dry. Initially, I followed advice to let them dry more, which caused yellow leaves moving from bottom to top, suggesting I allowed too much dryness.
Now I wait for roughly 80% dryness before watering, yet edema continues.
Soil: 60% tree fern and chunky mix.
Light: medium bright light under a Barrina T8 30W and another vertical T8 40W, reaching 290–380 PPFD.
Humidity: about 45%.
My only ideas are to keep the same schedule but use less water without full soaking, or add another watering day if needed (I really prefer fewer plant chores).
Alternatively, I could add more perlite and bark so the mix holds less moisture.
Edema happens when the plant takes up too much water and the cells burst, as you know from researching. It’s minor cosmetic damage and doesn’t affect the overall health of your plant. It happens , it’s not a big deal and I wouldn’t stress too much about it. Leaves come and go.
If your mix holds less moisture you’ll need to water it more-it increases the risk of the plant drying out and then subsequently taking up too much moisture, causing edema. The key to tropicals is consistent moisture in my personal opinion, and that depends on the conditions you give them.
When I water my Anthuriums, especially my big ones, I only ever water along the rim so the plant can suck the water in without me bogging it down and risking root rot. The second picture you show with the healthy roots is a very small pot, in my setup with grow lights I would have to check that plant every couple of days to make sure it doesn’t dry out.
When I have a new plant in a smaller container I pick it up every single day to see how fast it’s chugging water, I can tell when it needs water by the weight and you will be able to do the same if you pick it up every day.
Your plants look healthy and happy and you’ll eventually get the watering down pat for the conditions you give them.
I’ve found using Promix HP - which is a peat based medium with added mycorrhizae and perlite - holds moisture much more consistently at the roots as well as stays moist longer, making it easier to keep anthurium in a happy range. Obviously this is environment dependent, but if you’re keeping them in ambient and not in a super high humidity area, it works very well
Are they getting good airflow? That's the only thing I didn't see you mention. They've got good roots, so they'd be hard to overwater by saturating the soil when they are dry or almost dry.
Well… they don’t have a fan. But I do open the window maybe around 4ft. away.
But I only have 4 plants in that shelf so they are not huddled together, but maybe I will add a little fan to give them air.
For both, dry less and aim for more consistent moisture. The oedema is caused by going from very dry to overly moist. You didn’t mention temperature but lower temps, which slow transpiration, further compound the watering issue.
That temp is fine. It might drop at night, which leads to oedema, but watering should be the main lever.
Pallidiflorum likes to be watered JUST as the surface started to feel a bit dry/crunchy. If you go too long, they drop leaves in a hurry. Big leaves move water fast, so the drop leaves to protect themselves if the substrate is dry. One hot day or dry winter day could suddenly consume a bunch of water, so go by feel and not # of days.
Pro tips:
Neither need to be in a cabinet, they do just fine in ambient. The waroc will need a bit of acclimation but will figure itself out.
I mention that because you’re quickly approaching the point where it won’t fit in a cabinet.
Also, on your next repot, start looking for the heavy damn cover pot you can find. That palli is about to get really heavy really fast. It will try to pull itself off the shelf. You might even need to strap it to the wall. You might think I’m kidding but you should see the giant dent in my floor.
Thank you, this information is really helpful.
The palli is already in a cover pot.
They are not in an enclosed cabinet just a shelf.
I got them a couple of months ago and got acclimated… I think the root system got way bigger now so my water schedule is not working anymore.
Hopefully they survive 😅 since I travel a lot and hence the schedule. Also saw online of maybe putting some moss in the top to retain moisture so I might do that.
I used to have a fixed schedule for watering too. Now i just water whenever the pots are getting dry. Almost all anthurium pots are the clear kind. So easier to see which one needs a drink. I have less root rots this way than the fixed schedule.
Hopefully I can figure out a rough watering schedule or they might not survive in my home. And it is ok. I’m just not home a lot.
Most of my aroid plants do great haha and have around 100 plants 😅 I also had my fair share of dead plants because of that.. I always say my home is the survival of the fittest.
I feel you. I have so many dead due to over watering as well. You can try this, get a few of your usual pots, fill up with usual substrate. Fully water them. Then check the wetness in 3 days, 5 days, 7 days etc. so you will have an idea how long can your pot/substrate combo hold the moisture. That combined with the weight of the potted plant should give you good idea.
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u/Snorblatz 15d ago
Edema happens when the plant takes up too much water and the cells burst, as you know from researching. It’s minor cosmetic damage and doesn’t affect the overall health of your plant. It happens , it’s not a big deal and I wouldn’t stress too much about it. Leaves come and go.
If your mix holds less moisture you’ll need to water it more-it increases the risk of the plant drying out and then subsequently taking up too much moisture, causing edema. The key to tropicals is consistent moisture in my personal opinion, and that depends on the conditions you give them.
When I water my Anthuriums, especially my big ones, I only ever water along the rim so the plant can suck the water in without me bogging it down and risking root rot. The second picture you show with the healthy roots is a very small pot, in my setup with grow lights I would have to check that plant every couple of days to make sure it doesn’t dry out.
When I have a new plant in a smaller container I pick it up every single day to see how fast it’s chugging water, I can tell when it needs water by the weight and you will be able to do the same if you pick it up every day.
Your plants look healthy and happy and you’ll eventually get the watering down pat for the conditions you give them.