Anthurium Rescue Guide: How to Save a Struggling or Dying Plant

TL;DR Anthurium Recovery Guide

Here’s a short step-by-step summary of how to rescue a struggling anthurium:

1. Unpot your anthurium and remove any rotted roots
2. Don’t remove dying leaves unless pests are the cause; these are energy your plant can utilize
3. Repot in a vessel with drainage holes in fresh, chunky substrate with a high concentration of perlite, as well as amendments like coco husk, orchid bark/bark chips, and coco coir, while avoiding soil. Ensure there are air pockets within the substrate, and that roots won't be sitting in water
4. Position your anthurium so it receives medium, indirect light. Glossy leaf varieties can usually be exposed to higher indirect light. Dark, velvety, and pebbled-leaf varieties generally do better with low-medium light
   
5. Water every 3-7 days depending on light intensity chosen (lower light; 1x per week, medium-high light; every 3-5 days). A semi-hydro setup also works well
6. Supplement with fertilizer
7. Provide higher humidity. Any improvements in humidity will be beneficial, but bonus points if you can achieve 60% or higher

1. First, diagnose the problem

Before you water, repot, or panic, it's important to not do anything that could make the condition of your anthurium worse. Your plant is telling you something, so you need to figure out what the cause is.

How to diagnose your anthurium's decline

• Leaves: Are they drooping, yellow, brown, or crispy? Or, are there simply zero leaves left and you just have a stump?
• Substrate: Is it dense and soggy? Or dry and compacted? Allowing anthurium roots and stems to either be waterlogged or extremely dried out can both cause their own type of root rot
  
• Roots: Unpot gently and rinse. Healthy roots range from white to tan, pink, or even red—don’t assume they’re rotten just because they’re not white. Rotten roots will be brown, squishy, and easy to remove if you give them a soft pull. Smell test: If you’re still unsure about the roots, rot smells bad. If it stinks, you’ve got root rot. If you tend to be an inconsistent or under waterer, it’s possible you have dry rot if you notice they’re looking lighter in colour and more deflated. If you notice any issue with the roots, ensure you also inspect the stem as this is the most vital part of your plant
  
• Check for pests: Inspect the leaves and stem. Thrips and spider mites are very common anthurium pests (but there are others) and you really have to look closely to see them, they’re absolutely tiny. Thrips look like little tiny elongated specks of black/white, almost metallic and lay their eggs in crevices of leaves typically, while spider mites are just that, mites that leave micro-webbing on leaves

Once you’ve either pinpointed one of the above issues or ruled them out completely, it’s probably overall care and really fine tuning your watering frequency, lighting, fertilization, and humidity. We’ll focus on each of these areas below. While we do recommend reading through to understand the full picture, you can also skip any section that does not pertain to you.

Now, let’s get into how you can actually recover your anthurium.

Why are my anthurium leaves yellowing?

The entire anthurium leaf is turning yellow

If you’re experiencing entire leaves that are turning yellow, there could be different reasons but the most likely is that inconsistent watering (ie. watering sporadically), or underwatering while your anthurium lives under high light are occurring—this combo can be detrimental to some anthuriums, especially species like luxurians and warocqueanum.

Keep in mind too that many anthurium species tend to only hold onto a small amount of leaves at a time, and the oldest leaves will turn yellow and eventually fall off so the plant can recycle the energy for new leaf production.

What’s lesser likely is if you’re currently fertilizing, there may be accumulated salt buildup within your substrate. But, you can rule that out if not applicable to you.

Why are my anthurium leaves browning?

Leaf brown and crunchy

Crisping is likely in response to the roots being too dry in between waterings, and the lighting might also be too intense. The light issue is especially prevalent for more high-maintenance varieties in the genus, like velvety and pebbled-leaf.

Higher humidity will also benefit an anthurium experiencing leaf crisping.

Leaf brown and soft

Your anthurium is way too wet. The root system is likely experiencing waterlogged substrate, where the water is either not draining out of the pot efficiently in between waterings or it is sitting in a tray of water all the time (or both). Anthuriums require efficient drainage in order for roots to stay oxygenated.

If you check the root system, you’re likely to find rot as well if the leaves are brown and soft.

How to care for anthurium imports

There are a few important steps you should follow when you receive a fresh anthurium import, especially if it's coming from overseas.

Step 1: cut off all rotted roots. These are easy to identify; they're discoloured and/or mushy, and easy slide off when gently pulling on them. In some cases the entire root system may be rotted and it's important to still remove all the roots. As long that the full or partial anthurium stem is in tact, then you can still save it.

Step 2: give the remaining roots, stem, and leaves a good hand rinse, and then place the roots in a water:hydrogen peroxide bath at a 1:5 dilution for about 10-15 minutes. Remove and rinse with water once more.

Step 3: unless the whole root system came rotted, place in your preferred substrate and take care as you would your normal anthuriums. 

If your anthurium arrived with completely rotted roots or even stem rot, refer to the sections below for help.

How to care for an anthurium stump?

If you have a stump (the cut base of the plant with roots), you just need to take care of it long enough until it produces a growth point. You’ll want to pot it in regular aroid mix (read more about this in the substrate section) and water like you would any other anthurium. 

The only extra thing you’ll want to add is high humidity, so keeping it inside some type of dome or structure. Keep a close eye on it to make sure the step or roots are not rotting along the way, as this is a concern with very high humidity. You should see a growth point within 2-3 months.

How to revive an anthurium chonk?

An anthurium chonk is a portion of stem that a plant can be grown from. Although it may look lifeless, as long as it has at least one node (a primary growth point), then it can be revived. Unlike a stump, a chonk usually has no established roots or leaves, so it cannot immediately absorb water or produce energy through photosynthesis.

You can tell if a chonk has a node because when you feel the stem, they tend to be raised bumps. From these nodes, new shoots or roots can be formed.

You want to first start out by locating all of its nodes, and gently scrape off any dried plant material that might be covering them. You then want to place the chonk semi-submerged (ideally with one or more nodes facing upwards/sideways away from the substrate) in either perlite or perlite/sphagnum moss mix (or another rooting media), with a water reservoir at the bottom. The chonk should be inside some type of container or enclosure that creates a high humidity environment, while ensuring that you open it daily or have a way to ventilate in order to prevent it from rotting. Ensure it has access to light as well, and it should start to sprout in 1-2 months.

If your chonk has roots, you can instead pot it up in more regular chunky substrate in a pot with drainage until it grows back, ideally in higher humidity environment.

There is also the option of applying a small amount of keiki paste (cytokinin plant growth stimulant) directly to a node. This stuff can work well and essentially forces that node out of dormancy to quickly start producing new growth. You just need to be weary that there’s also a high chance of rotting the growth point as the keiki paste coats the surface of it. 

I have stem rot—what do I do?

Stem rot is probably the most serious scenario here since this is a vital component that keeps your plant alive.

You can do one of two things:

1. You can cut up the stem as long as there’s at least one (but more ideally 2) roots or nodes on each stem cut. If there’s only a certain area of the stem that experienced rot, you can cut pieces of the healthy stem. Pot up the fresh cuttings based on the stump and chonk care above, ensuring they get ample light and humidity.
2. If the stem rot is superficial, you can try cutting it out from the stem as long as you aren’t removing too much tissue.

My anthuriums leaves are getting smaller/downsizing

If your anthurium otherwise looks healthy (no yellowing/browning on the leaves), and new leaves are getting smaller as they emerge and mature, then this mean your anthurium is getting too little light and/or the pot size is too small for the root system.

As much as it’s touted online that you need to start in small pots and slowly work your way up in pot size, this is absolutely not true. Anthuriums need as much free space as possible to spread their roots. Even if they’re seedlings or small specimens, they can be put into large pits and they will size up faster and larger because of it.

My anthurium leaves are coming out deformed

This could really be a number of issues, but the most common are likely:

1. Your anthurium is experiencing a nutrient deficiency
2. If the roots look fine, and all other parameters seem normal (medium-high humidity, fertilizing it, consistent watering, and not exposed to too high light) then thrips may be the culprit. They’re hard to spot, but they commonly cause deformed and shrivelled emergent leaves. We’ve found that while thrips will feed on any leaf, they’re especially prevalent on new growth and more juvenile plants. Check the front and backs of leaves, and crevices where the petiole meets the stem to confirm and continue checking day after day as they’re difficult to spot

Why are my anthurium leaves pointing down and inwards?

It’s getting too much light exposure, and pointing down in an attempt to lessen the exposure. Move your plant to indirect lighting, and also consider increasing your watering frequency if the substrate is drying out in between waterings.

2. Clean the Roots

With anthurium decline, the root system tend to be the culprit and any rotten roots need to be removed.

Follow these steps for best results:

• Rinse the entire root system with lukewarm water, cleaning the roots thoroughly
  
• With clean scissors, cut any roots at the point where you see healthy tissue, right after the rot ends. Rotted roots will be mushy and dark
  
• Leave what’s salvageable. A root that’s firm and coloured (even if a bit dull) is still viable
• Even if you end up removing most of the root system, that’s totally fine and if given the right conditions, the roots will regrow
• If you had to remove all of the roots and you’re left with just the stem, fear not, as long as the stem itself is in good condition, your anthurium can still grow back. Refer to the subsection above about Chonk care

3. Don't remove leaves unless it makes sense

If you don’t mind the look, especially if your anthurium isn’t in the best health, you’ll want to not cut off “ugly” leaves.

If a leaf has formed, an anthurium has already used the energy it needed to create that leaf. If a leaf is dying and turning yellow, the plant is actually recycling and utilizing its nutrients to feed the entire plant and will handle removing the leaf from its stem pretty much by itself.

You'll notice both the leaf and petiole will slowly convert into a fully pale yellow, and eventually the leaf may fall off the petiole first, and then the petiole off the stem afterwards. We recommend letting this process take its course—but you’ll instinctively know when a leaf/petiole is ready to be removed. The colour will be 100% changed, and upon giving it a gentle pull, there shouldn’t be any “crunch” sound or resistance when the petiole detaches from the stem.

That's the natural process an anthurium leaf will go through, but here some different scenarios:

• If a leaf is slowly crisping, that's likely a lighting issue and the plant needs to move to a different spot further from light. This should hopefully stop or slow the spread of leaf crisping
• If you have any strange spotting, scratching, or otherwise unnatural-looking patterns, this is likely pest damage. For this type of situation, you'll want to assess the type of outbreak you might have, and consider cutting off ant affected leaves if they’re badly infested.

4. Optimize your anthurium substrate

Substrate is simply the material (ie. soil) a plant grows from. Many different types of substrates work for anthuriums. Lechuza pon, chunky mix, tree fern fiber, or even pure sphagnum moss. The list really goes on.

Most anthuriums are epiphytes, meaning they grow on the surface of other plants, like trees for example. They use their roots to help affix them to trees for physical support. So you can imagine, their roots are extremely aerated in their natural environment, with rainfall rushing past their roots but not causing them to be submerged in water for long periods of time.  It’s important to keep this in mind when building your substrate, in order to mimic their natural conditions as much as possible. 

The most important thing here is ensuring ample airflow within the substrate. Similarly to humans, anthurium roots require oxygen in order to “breathe” and prevent root rot. What you really want to avoid is using extremely dense or small particle sized substrate amendments like soil or sand. These will more than likely clump together at the bottom of your pot, preventing drainage and ultimately a lack of oxygenation to your roots.

Here are some examples of substrate mixes you can do

You have options here, and you’ll want to select the best substrate the matches your conditions and watering routine.

We’ve listed some chunky components and moisture holders that you can choose from and mix together. This is not at all an exhaustive list, and you can of course use components that aren’t listed here.

• Chunky components (70-80%): perlite, orchid bark, lava rock, leca, tree fern fiber, coco husk. A safe approach is using a relatively high concentration of coarse perlite. Coco husk itself does also hold a lot of moisture, so keep that in mind
  
• Moisture-holders (20-30%): Coco coir, small amount of sphagnum moss
• We also recommend having something like a layer of leca or lava rock at the bottom of your container so water can drain out easily and not sit in the substrate
• Sphagnum moss collar around the base of the stem can be helpful for an anthurium that’s exposed to higher light

There’s no magic ratio, and you just need to aim for a mix that holds some moisture without compacting. You should tailor your substrate to how often you’re going to be watering (same can be said vice versa) and how warm your environment is.

If your goal is to water once a week, and your home environment tends to run very warm, then your substrate needs extra moisture holding ability. If you opt for a 100% chunky mix that doesn’t really contain any moisture binding materials, then expect to water every 1-3 days.

Pro tip on pot type and drainage: use a pot with drainage holes one with drainage holes + leca layer at the bottom. Best case scenario is placing a prop between the bottom of the pot and saucer, or a mesh floor on the inside placed right before the leca layer, to make sure any water draining out is not touching the roots. In our experience, not letting the saucer water touch the roots will make a massive difference in the health of your anthurium.

Semi-hydro

Semi-hydro can be and is an exceptional substrate setup for anthuriums. It does require some know-how, but once set up properly, it can really eliminate the negatives that come along with a chunky aroid mix; ie. root rot, and excessive time consumption if you have a large anthurium collection. It also much more closely resembles how most anthurium species grow in their natural habitats—their roots exposed to lots of air.

So, what is it? Kind of like how it sounds; it’s not quite a fully water setup, but it is partially. Semi-hydro works by keeping a small, controlled reservoir of water around the bottom of the container in a saucer or self-watering pot rather than fully saturating the root zone. The roots take up moisture through capillary action (reservoir water can essentially soak upwards into the pot) while still being surrounded by air. As a general rule, the water level should sit below the majority of the roots, usually no higher than the bottom quarter of the pot.

As the plant adapts, it will naturally grow roots downward toward the moisture source. As long as the roots above the waterline remain airy and oxygenated, the setup is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

For semi-hydro, you can keep it very simple. Either grow your anthurium in 100% LECA, or use Pon mixed with some LECA to create extra air space around the roots.

These setups depend on consistent reservoirs and fertilization, but in return they offer excellent root health and long-term stability once the plant is established. When you change your anthurium from a regular aroid mix to semi-hydro, they usually adapt and start pushing new growth much faster than if you were to pot it up in aroid mix for the first time. 

5. Water when it makes sense

Outdated knowledge would have you believe that anthuriums like being dried out in between waterings, and to be careful with overwatering.

While some anthurium species like peltigerum and clarinervium do thrive in being dried out in between waterings, the vast majority of anthuriums require consistent moisture around the root zone. The substrate you choose will heavily influence how often you should water, but the goal is that when you do, the water is passing through the roots and exiting the pot (and substrate holding a bit of moisture to keep roots hydrated).

As mentioned earlier, aeration and oxygenation are critical for anthurium roots. This genus evolved in rainforests, and many of them are found clinging to trees, rocks, or on slopes. While they experience heavy rainfall, their roots experience lots of airflow and are generally exposed to rushing water instead of stagnant water. Even the most moisture-loving anthuriums that evolved in the darkest and wettest environments (ie. alongside riverbeds) hate stagnation. 

You’ll have to determine how often to water based on the substrate you’re using, but if you have a very chunky aroid mix that has a high concentration of amendments like perlite, then you could water every 3-5 days. If exposed to high temperatures and lighting, then you’ll want to water even more frequently.

For example, if you live in Florida, and have your anthurium in a very chunky mix, you could get away with watering every single day due to the heat drying out the substrate extraordinarily fast.

If you live in more Pacific Northwest climate like Vancouver or Seattle, and get more medium light exposure, then probably every 4-5 days makes more sense.

Watering shouldn’t be anxiety-inducing. Your substrate and conditions should allow you to water ever couple days if you wanted to, or seven days if need be without much cause for concern.

6. Adjust your lighting

Lighting is probably the most important factor that needs to be dialled in, as it’s highly dependent on the anthurium species that you have. First and foremost though, to make things more fool-proof, most anthuriums do well with low-medium indirect light. So if you're ever in doubt, don't use bright direct lighting on them.

Anthuriums grow pretty close to, and sometimes on, the forest floor in the wild where they receive very little natural sunlight. These low light conditions are enough to make them thrive in the rainforest. Albeit, they also have all of the other conditions dialled in as well such as humidity, airflow, watering, etc. That makes it easier for them, whereas when grown as houseplants, it makes recreating their natural conditions a challenge.

With that said, since anthurium is an expansive genus spanning across South America and into Mexico, there's still a range of low-high lighting they can handle depending on the species.

Tailor light by leaf type:

Glossy leaf, strap leaf, and bird's nest types do well in medium light (or bright, indirect light), and some can tolerate high light. These types usually do well indirectly in a south facing window, indirectly under Barrina pendant lights, or underneath Barrina T5 lights. Mexican species can generally thrive in high light, and this is especially true for clarinervium—it’s adapted to dry and high light conditions and does well being "neglected" and dried out in between waterings.

Anthuriums that either have a pebbled or bullate leaf texture, are dark and/or velvety, are an exception and usually require low or low-medium light. These species evolved in highly shaded areas, and the most difficult-to-grow anthurium species come from these groups.

Hybrids can typically handle a more broad range of conditions since they obtain their genetics from two (or more) distinct species, and shouldn’t be too fussy when it comes to lighting, but just keep in mind its leaf type.

If you’re unsure of how intense the lighting should be, it’s ideal to start in low light (accompanied with fast draining substrate) to allow your anthurium to become established and shoot out new aerial roots and get its first leaf.

From there, you can work on increasing light exposure gradually if you think your plant falls into a higher light-type species’ bucket. You’ll see faster leaf production and upsizing, as well as better root growth.

7. Find the right humidity level

Average daily humidity in the range of 60-85% will have an amazing impact on the growth and recovery of your anthurium as this closely matches their natural conditions in the wild. If you can’t provide that level of humidity, fear not. You can tend to get away with much lower humidity, like in the 30-50% range in ambient room conditions. Many collectors grow in this very humidity range with great success, and they have large, thriving anthuriums. But keep in mind, especially the lower end of humidity, you will need to reserve space for acclimation.

There’s a whole group of anthurium species that will not survive or do very poorly in that low humidity range, which mainly encompasses the pebbled-leaf varieties. This group typically needs between 80-100% humidity in order to thrive. Two such species,  splendidum and corrugatum, are notoriously difficult for their near 100% humidity needs. Simultaneously, pebbled-leaf species tend to also do better in lower temperatures, especially at nighttime. Any anthurium species that grows along river beds will also require these high humidity ranges and low nighttime temperatures, so it’s a good idea to research where your species grows naturally—iNaturalist.org is an excellent resource for this information.

Increasing humidity in general will always improve the vigour and speed of recovery of your anthurium. If your home has a low humidity, you can improve the humidity around your plant in a few ways. Positioning closely amongst other houseplants, keeping a humidifier close to it, placing it inside some type of larger dome/vessel, or best case scenario, a grow tent. Just be cognizant that increased humidity can increase the likelihood of mould (if it’s inside a vessel), and providing periodic airflow will help curb this.

If you’re feeling extra committed, we recommend getting a humidity meter to know what the humidity/temperature is in your space at all times.

8. Fertilize your anthurium

Anthuriums thrive when they’re fertilized, and if left for too long without nutrients, will have a serious impact on the health of your plant. This is where stagnation in growth will become apparent, with new leaves that downsize from the previous leaf size, yellowing leaves, weaker roots, and lack of flowering. If this applies to you, then you should start fertilizing as soon as possible. More about this in product suggestions below.

In terms of dosage and how often to fertilize, simply follow the instructions on the product you decide to use, taking care not to overdo it. Generally, you can use a diluted dose every watering, or full strength every 2–3 weeks.

Seedlings can also be fertilized and will assist in more rigorous growth. As soon as an anthurium has roots, it’s able to take up nutrients. In fact, they can be fertilized as soon as they’re germinated seeds. For very small seedlings, use 1/4-1/2 of the recommended dose on your fertilizer product.

One thing to note is it’s important to periodically water your anthurium without fertilizer to prevent salt build up within the substrate, as this can cause what’s known as fertilizer burn, leading to dehydration and leaf damage. An easy way to avoid this is by simply fertilizing every other watering.

You may have noticed the three numbers on the front of a fertilizer label (like 10-10-10). These represent the N-P-K ratio, which stands for:

• Nitrogen (N) is the most important nutrient for leaf growth and chlorophyll production. In the case of a nitrogen deficiency, photosynthesizing becomes greatly reduced
• Phosphorus (P) supports root formation and flower production. It’s especially helpful if your anthurium has lost roots or hasn’t bloomed in a while
• Potassium (K) is your plant’s immune system booster. It strengthens cell walls, helps with water regulation, and makes your anthurium more resilient to stress while it recovers

For optimal health, it’s important to not just supplement one of these nutrients, but a somewhat balanced ratio of the three depending on your goals (ie. if you’re solely focused on getting your anthurium to flower, you may want to supplement with higher phosphorus).

Here are some fertilizer and nutrient product options:

• Schultz 10-15-10: a very simple formula that contains the most important nutrients for plants. We listed it here as it’s easily accessible and can be found at most garden centres
• Superthrive Foliage-Pro 9-3-6: if you want to go the extra mile, we highly recommend this fertilizer as it contains an optimal ratio of the most important nutrients while also providing calcium, magnesium, and an abundance of macronutrients in significant quantities that you don’t tend to see in other fertilizers
• Sea kelp: this can be used as an additive to your fertilizer, and we recommend this during the recovery stage especially as it contains growth hormones to speed up root growth and expansion
• Humic acid: another additive to your fertilization that enhances nutrient uptake and improved microbial activity within your substrate, providing your anthurium with more resistance to stress and a faster recovery

Final Words

Unless you’re dealing with a serious pest outbreak, rescuing a struggling or dying anthurium is all about optimizing the right conditions. They love high humidity and moisture, low-medium light, and their roots need breathability.