Anthurium

CULTIVATION
Dr. V.S.PATIL
Professor of Horticulture
Department of Horticulture
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
Classes of Anthurium
• Cut flower -A. andreanum
•Foliage -A. crystallinum
• Verigatet foliage- A. grande

• Dual- A. amnicola
• Pot plant -A. scherzerianum
Classification of Anthurium

Flowering Foliage Dual purpose

A. andreanum A. magnificum
A. amnicola
A. scherzerianum A. crystallinum
A. ornatum
A. regale A. digitatum

A. regenellianum A. clarinervium Andraecola

A. robustum A. corrugatum Pot plants

A. veitchii

A. warocqueanum
Anthurium crystallinum
Anthurium pittieri
Anthurium scherzerianum
Inflorescence Spadix

Spathe-modified leaf
Spadix with true flowers
Flowers – bisexual
4 stamens, 4 loculed anthers
Superior bilocular ovary
1-2 ovules in pendulous
placentation

Spathe
Cut flower varieties
Colour distribution
Sl.No. Colour Market share (%)
1 Red 40
2 Pink 13
3 Green edged 11
4 Mixed 8
5 White 8
6 Cream 8
7 Green 6
8 Orange 3
9 Miscellaneou 2
s
Top ten anthurium varieties
Sl.No. Varieties Market share (%)
1 Tropical 37.80
2 Midori 7.20
3 Acropolis 6.30
4 Pistache 4.00
5 Choco 3.20
6 Fantasia 2.60
7 Cheers 2.20
8 Champagne 1.80
9 Casino 1.70
10 Terra 1.70
Quality criteria ( Cut flower)
Spathe characters
Heart shaped, symmetrical, lot of
blisters, uniform colour
Spadix
Shorter than spathe, inclined to
spathe at 300-400
Pedicel
Long, straight, sturdy
Tropical
Cheers
Meringue
Midori
Acropolis
Lima white
Fantasia
Caesar
Safari
Red dragon
Lady Jane
Condor
Propagation
 Traditionally by seeds or by offshoots and
nodal cuttings
Disadvantages
 Heterozygosity
 Slow, tedious, non-profitable, not practical
on large scale
Propagation
Mature seed
Immature seed culture
 Immature seed culture in anthurium
 Time taken for seed maturity: 145 – 208 days

 Immature seed culture: 70 – 120 days

Vegetative propagation
Conventional
 Suckers
 Top cutting
 Leaf with axillary bud
 Stem cutting

Commercial
 Tissue culture
Suckers
  Cut here

Top cutting
Single leaf
 Propagation by Tissue Culture
 Increases normal multiplication rate
 Provides source of clean material
 First developed in 1974 by Pierik et al.
 Since then a number of published/ unpublished
work using different parts of plant as explants
 Axillary buds (Kunisaki, 1980)
 Adventitious buds (Cen et al., 1993)
 Spadix (Geier, 1982)
 Leaf & Petiole
 Somatic embryogenesis (Kuehnale et al., 1992)
Tissue culture
TC plant in net pot
 Planting

Media
Containers
Method of planting

The media generally used are sugar bagasse,wood shavings,

leaf mould, coarse sand, small brick pieces, coir pith
compost, charcoal, coconut husk pieces
Management of medium
Planting in pots
Planting in beds
Growing environment

 Temperature -18 and 280C

 Humidity -70 per cent
 Light (75 % shade)
Management
Shade regulation

•UV stabilised shade net

•UV stabilised polyethylene film
Management

Nutrition
Organic
In organic
Management

Irrigation
Management

Plant protection
Bacterial blight :

Xanthomonas axonopodis p.v diffenbachia

First reported in Brazil, 1960 later in Hawaii 1972
Now reported all over the world
Affect most genera and species in family Araceae
Symptom more severe in warm wet weather condition
Disease symptoms – 2 types
Foliar symptoms
 Foliar -Water soaked spots near margins -
hydathodes
 Tissues near infected areas turn yellow
 Water soaked spots coalesce- form large necrotic
zones at leaf margins

Vascular symptoms-prevents translocation of

nutrients & water - main stem - turns dark
brown-growing point deteriorates-death
Guttation droplets at vein
endings on leaf margins
Water-soaked lesions developing at leaf margins
 Interveinal chlorosis on Systemic infection resulting in
leaves characteristic of a death of potted plants
systemic infection
Disease spread
Contaminating cutting tools
Infected plant material
Irrigation water
Pathogen rarely infects roots - does not survive
long in soil
Other problems control
•High rainfall
Leaf pruning
Spacing pots
•High temperature
Ventilation
Sprinkling
•Floral malformation
Slow release fertilizers
Harvesting and
Post harvest handling

 Stageof harvest
 Time of harvest
 Method of harvest
 Pulsing
 Grading
 Packing
 Transporting
Anthurium from a farm in Mauritius
General Grade Standards in
Anthurium

• Proper maturity of spike

(one-third to two-third flowers open)
• Uniformity of colour and size
• Long and straight stem
• Glossiness of spathe
• Free from damage/disease
Flower size Min. Stem Number per
(cm) Length (cm) box
> 15 50 8
13-15 45 12
11-13 40 16
9-11 35 17
8-9 30 18
7-8 25 18
6-7 20 21
Grade name Size(average of length
& width) inches
Extra large >6
Large 5-6
Medium 4-5
Small 3-4
Miniature 2-3
Peewee 2
Corsage <2
Marketing