Anthurium Propagation Guide (Step By Step)

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Anthurium is one of the coolest plants that you can grow indoors. Besides having an amazing aesthetic, it’s also very easy to take care of.

Luckily, if you want more anthurium plants in your house, you don’t have to buy new ones, as you can simply propagate new plants from the old ones.

In today’s article, we’ll walk you through a brief anthurium propagation guide including the general procedure and all the different methods to get the job done. Let’s dive right in!

Can You Propagate Anthurium?

Propagation is the man-made process of growing new plants using parts of the old ones, such as leaves, stems, or even seeds.

Anthurium belongs to the Arum family (Araceae), which is a plant species known for its ease of propagation and division into multiple plants.

Not only that, but you can also propagate the plant in a variety of methods, each with its level of simplicity and rate of growth.

Regardless of the procedure you’re going to use, the best time to propagate an anthurium plant is during its growth phase, which is from mid-spring to late summer.

How to Propagate Anthurium

In order to successfully propagate Anthurium plants, there are some steps that you need to follow.

In the following section, we’ll take a quick look at the general procedure you need to follow to increase the chances of success while propagating anthurium plants:

Step 1: Prepare All Necessary Tools

Propagating an anthurium plant is relatively easy, but you still need to use some tools for protection and to increase the chances of success by being more accurate.

For starters, since anthurium is rich in irritating calcium oxalate crystals, you should wear gardening gloves while handling them.

You’ll also need to make cuttings for the propagation process, so you’ll need to bring scissors or a knife.

Make sure that the blades are sharp enough to make a clean cut, which increases the chances of success.

During the initial propagation phase, you may also need a propagation pot with fertile soil to help the plant grow.

If you’re using soil for propagation, you should go for well-drained, light soil with plenty of air pockets and perlite substrate.

Alternatively, if you’re going for a store-bought soil mix, a good tip here is to go for the ones made for orchids, as the two plants share the same requirements when it comes to soil.

Also, you should propagate the anthurium in the same pot if you’re planning to grow them as adult plants.

This saves you the hassle of repotting and avoids the risk of repotting shock, as you’ll be using the same potting mix and substrate you use for the adult plant.

Step 2: Sterilize Your Equipment

Making cuts expose the plant to pests and infections, which can cause serious issues or prevent the propagation process from succeeding.

To avoid that, you’ll need to sterilize all the tools and equipment you’re using. Luckily, this step is relatively easy, so here’s how to do it:

• Wipe your knife or scissors with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) before using them.
• Use clean pots that were previously soaked in 1:1 vinegar solution or 1:10 bleach solution for 15 to 20 minutes and then rinsed with distilled water.

Step 3: Inspect the Plant

Anthurium can be propagated from various plant parts. Yet, in all situations, you always need to make sure that you pick the healthiest candidates for the propagation process.

Healthy parts don’t only have the best chances of surviving the cutting without getting infected, but they also have the most active growing tissue and give rise to healthy anthuriums as well!

Step 4: Choose a Suitable Plant Part for Propagation

Now that you have everything ready for the propagation process, you’ll need to pick the parts you want to grow the plant from.

When it comes to propagation, there are generally three main parts for

1 – Stem Cutting

As a climbing plant in its natural habitat, anthuriums have aerial roots that make them very easy to propagate.

If you want a successful stem propagation, make sure that you look for a healthy long stem. This ensures more growing nodes and aerial roots for propagation. Here’s what you need to do:

• Carefully pick a suitable stem for propagation and make sure that it’s healthy and free of pests.
• Look for the nodes in the stem, and cut beneath them, so that you leave a couple of leaves attached.
• Place the stem cutting over a clean tissue until it forms a callus (healing wound), and plant it in the soil after it’s fully formed.
• Make sure that all aerial roots are buried under the soil, and water the cutting thoroughly.
• Leave the soil mix in a spot with bright indirect light and good aeration for a few days.
• Check the plant regularly, but allow it around 4 to 6 weeks so that the plant grows roots and matures into a full-grown one.

2 – Root Division

Root division is another easy and relatively quick method to propagate anthurium, although it can take a little longer than stem cuttings to create new leaves. (around 4 to 8 weeks).

Here’s how to propagate anthurium plants through root division:

• Water the plant thoroughly to loosen the soil and allow it to sit for 8 to 24 hours. This also nourishes the roots and helps them tolerate the cutting
• Separate the soil from the plant by removing some of the upper soil until the main root-soil mass
• Loosen the soil around the anthurium plant and untangle the roots gently and carefully
• Split the roots at stem junctions by hand or using pruning shears if the roots are very long, but make sure that you leave a few leaves attached
• Put the divided plant into its propagation soil and make sure that it’s covered by soil mix from all sides
• Water the propagated plant thoroughly, and leave the soil mix in a spot with bright indirect light and good aeration for a few days.

3 – Through Seeds

Propagating anthurium through seeds is typically the least favorite method because it takes a lot of time with varying levels of success.

This is because anthurium flowers don’t bloom for a long time, so it’s hard to fertilize the plant and get new seeds.

However, if you have new anthurium seeds, here’s how to propagate them:

• Plant the seeds in a medium of coconut coir, vermiculite, or sphagnum moss while spacing them out by around 1.5 inches apart.
• Water the sprouting medium and keep the temperature relatively warm
• Partially cover the medium to increase the humidity level
• Allow the seeds to sprout (usually takes around 12 to 14 days), then let the juvenile plant grow to a full adult plant, which could take up to a year.

Can You Propagate Anthurium from Leaf?

Leaf-cutting is a popular method of propagation among some types of plants, especially succulents with thick leaves like rosettes.

However, anthurium leaves don’t have the growth nodes necessary to divide and become fully-grown plants.

In other words, if you separated anthurium leaves and planted them separately in soil, they won’t grow roots or stems.

Can Anthurium Be Propagated In Water?

In addition to propagating your anthurium in soil, you can technically grow it hydroponically in water.

This is because anthurium is a tropical plant that can survive water mediums as long as they’re not suffocated.

With that being said, propagating anthurium in water has some advantages and downsides that you should keep in mind.

For instance, the clarity of the water makes it easier to keep track of the plant’s growth and whether its roots have sprouted.

Additionally, the special roots that anthurium grows hydroponically are better at absorbing nutrients and bypassing the complexity of the soil and humidity requirements.

Despite that, hydroponic propagation requires a lot of maintenance, as you’ll need to clean and replace the water frequently to avoid algae growth.

Moreover, the chances of survival in a water medium vary significantly depending on the grower’s skills.

How to Propagate Anthurium in Water

If you’re interested in propagating Anthurium in water, here’s how to get the job done:

Step 1: Gather the Necessary Tools for Hydroponic Propagation

For a successful water propagation process, you’ll need a clean, sterilized container (preferably transparent with a wide opening) as well as paper towels and a pruning knife.

You should also check the plant and focus on using healthy specimens for propagation to increase its chances of success.

Step 2: Prepare the Plant for Stem Cutting

Thoroughly water the plant the day before cutting to loosen the soil and make it easier to separate the roots without damaging them.

After removing the roots, use the sterilized knife to make a stem cutting just beneath the nodes, and make sure that you trim the leaves and roots

Step 4: Propagate the Cutting in Water

Now that you have the cutting ready for propagation, you’ll need to submerge it in clean water so that the lower part of the cut is fully submerged while the upper part isn’t.

Allow the propagated plant to sit in a spot with favorable conditions for anthurium growth (relatively warm and bright spot), and monitor it occasionally for root growth.

Once the roots grow large enough, you can then move the new plant into a suitable potting mix

Final Thoughts

Anthurium is one of the easiest plants when it comes to propagation, as you can do in a variety of methods and the plant is hardy enough to tolerate the changes in conditions.

Additionally, you can propagate the plant in both soil and water, which is a surprisingly simple method but still has its pros and cons.

Not only that, but you can also use different parts of the plant for propagation, although it’s usually best for a beginner to start with stem cuttings.

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