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  Re: [Aroid-l] anthuriums are not wimps
From: "Peter Boyce" botanist at malesiana.com> on 2006.11.22 at 09:30:07(14827)
I heartily concur with Don on Anthurium but from the other extreme; here in
Sarawak birdsnest Anthurium will easily take 36C (98.6F) in full sun (leaves
hot to the touch) without a whimper while the lowland spp. from the other
sections are happy with only the lightest of shade. We get 5 m (16+ ft) of
rain dropped on us in a single year and never experience rotting with
Anthurium; even seedlings flats.

I also concur with Alocasia; for problem-free culture these year-round need
high temperatures and good drainage. The trick is to keep them growing
vigorously. Alocasia in the wild 'walk', the rhizome extending and rooting
as it goes with the lower (older) parts rotting away. This poses problems in
pots as the older rhizome sections senesce and roots die and newer portions
of rhizomes fail to root until eventually the already weakened plant topples
over; re-rooting such plants is tricky even here in the equatorial tropics;
in wintertime northern hemisphere it is nearly impossible and even when
rooted such re-roots seldom develop the vigour of the original plant. To
combat this 'walking and rooting' lifestyle we pot Alocasia low in deep pots
(leaving c. 15 cm (c. 5 inches) of free space above the planting mix surface
and, as the rhizome extends upwards we top dress with a loose infill of
planting mix; once the mix reaches the rim of the pot we repot and start the
whole process again; in the manner we have maintained even 'difficult'
Alocasia species in cultivation of many years.

One interesting point we have found is that almost all terrestrial aroids
(and notably Alocasia) respond to mineral soils with a modest humus content.
In such conditions they seem to be MUCH more resistant to fungal and
bacterial rots and develop really good leaf texture and colours; the only
proviso is that for mineral rich soils you HAVE to use unglazed fired-clay
(terracotta) pots; mineral soil + plastic pots (even those with lateral
drainage) = a la carte dining for fungal and bacterial pathogens.

Peter

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