Anthurium Villenaorum Care – The Ultimate Care Guide

Want to grow an unusual plant?

Then you can check out anthurium villenaorum, a new houseplant on the market. 

To be precice, the commercial production of this plant started in 2017 only. So, most probably, you will be the only one who has this plant in your social circle.

It is considered to be one of the easiest plant to care for among the velvet leaf anthuriums. And to make it more easier, I will be discussing everything you need to know regarding anthurium villenaorum care so that you won’t kill thhis lush green plant.

The topics include,

• What is Anthurium Villenaorum?
• Anthurium Villenaorum Appearance
• Anthurium Villenaorum Care
• Best Place To Grow Anthurium Villenaorum
• Pruning Anthurium Villenaorum
• Anthurium Villenaorum Propagation
• Anthurium Villenaorum Toxicity
• Lot’s more.

Let’s get started.

What is Anthurium Villenaorum?

According to UBC Botanical Garden, Anthurium Villenaorum is not an officially described plant as of 2022. Even though it is classified under Anthurium, it may be grouped with some other species or even an entirely new species after the ongoing research gets conclusive evidence.

But till the research is over, this lush green beauty will be classified under anthuriums.

Anthurium Villenaorum is an epiphytic plant from the Aracease family. It means, in their natural habitat they can grow either in soil over other trees without soil.

They are first identified in the tropical forests of Peru but later found sparingly in South and Central American forests. But nowadays, these plants are considered to be very easy to care for and are commercially cultivated in California and Florida.

This plant is one among the many velvet leaf anthurium plants. And, in fact, anthurium villenaorum is the easiest to care for among all other velvet leaf anthuriums.

In the US and western countries, anthurium villenaorum is widely grown as an indoor plant because of its exotic lush green foliage.

Anthurium Villenaorum Appearance

Compared to other Anthuriums, this plant is little unique in its appearance. 

If you can give the care and requirements it needs, anthurium villenaorum can attain a height of 1.2 to 2 meters which is quite big for an indoor plant.

Not just height, even the maximum width this plant can reach is massive. A fully mature anthurium villenaorum can spread up to 1.2 meters in width.

These physical sizes are just the maximum values when grown inside greenhouse commercial production centres.  You don’t have to worry about its massive size because the average homegrown plant will be much smaller than this.

Now coming to the leaves. 

Anthurium villenaorum leaves are seen in different shades of green from pale to very dark depending on the different locations. 

Mature plants have large and broad veined leaves whereas small plants have narrow elongated leaves. These leaves are semi heart-shaped. 

Similar to Anthurium Warocqueanum, these plants also have a cardboard-like texture to their leaves. They are very thick and soft to touch just like velvet. And, that is the reason why it is considered to be one of the velvet anthuriums.

Now, let’s discuss the important part of an anthurium plant, the flowers.

Generally, Anthuorim plants have beautiful flowers. In fact, anthuriums are mostly grown for their exotic flowers.

But anthuiurm villenaorum is different. It will bloom, but the flowers are not that attractive. And, all of the houseplant owners who are currently growing this plant are attracted to its foliage.

Anthurium Villenaorum Care

Anthurium villenaorum comes from the tropical forests of Peru and other Central American forests where they get filtered bright sunlight and high humidity throughout the year. Along with that, they need moderate water, a nutritious potting mix and fertilizer, especially during the blooming season.

Let’s discuss each of the care parameters in detail so that you can give your anthurium villenaorum what it needs.

Soil Requirements

Anthuriums are generally considered to be tolerable plants that will grow just fine in any potting media.

But, you don’t want your plant to grow just fine right? Instead, you want it to thrive.

For anthurium villenaorum to thrive, a well-aerated soil mix with good drainage capability is a must.

If you don’t want to mix your own potting soil, then just get a premade anthurium potting soil online or from the nearby nursery. If anthurium specific mixes are not available, you can buy aroid or orchid mixes and mix a part of perlite to improve the water retention and aeration.

On the other hand, if you are someone who prefers mixing your own soil mediums then you need to get a couple of things like peat moss, perlite, pine bark and sand.

All you have to do is mix these four components in equal proportions. 

Out of these 4 items, sand is readily available and others you have to buy. But, the good thing is that all these components are useful for the majority of indoor plants and you won’t waste anything.

If you don’t get any of the items, then there are alternatives that you can try.

Component	Alternative
Peat Moss	Coco Coir
Perlite	Vermiculite
Pine Bark	Orchid Bark Mulch

Light Requirements

Whether your anthurium villenaorum will grow or die depends on the light and humidity in your setting. In nature, they grow under the canopy of trees and it gets only filtered sunlight throughout the year.

As a result, you should aim to give indirect bright sunlight irrespective of the season. If it gets direct sunlight for more than a couple of hours a day, it may lead to sunburn on leaves.

Botanists consider all the velvetleaf anthuriums as variegated plants. And, as a general rule of thumb variegated plants need more light than their non-variegated counterparts.

For the anthurium villenaorum to thrive in indoor settings, it is advised to provide a minimum of 10 to 12 hours of filtered bright light.

If you have a light meter, check multiple spots and finalize a place where the readings fall under 75 fc and 300 fc throughout the day for at least 10 hours.

If your indoor space does not have enough light, then a full spectrum grows light is also a good alternative.

Temperature Requirements

As I already mentioned, anthurium villenaorum is native to tropical hot regions. They are conditioned to survive heat waves during summer season which is upwards of 95 ⁰F (34 ⁰F).

Even in winter, the temperature in these regions are pretty high. So, to put that in a perspective, the ideal temperature range required for this variety of anthuirum will be in the range of 77 ⁰F to 95 ⁰F (25 ⁰C to 35 ⁰F).

According to a few studies, the plant was survivng even when the temperature went below 77 ⁰F. But, once the temperature reaches 60 ⁰F, the plant started to wilt and dry.

So, if you are growing this plant outdoors and the winters in your region gets very cold, then you should not forget to move it indoors.

Alos you need to make sure that the plant is not close to any cooling appliances like refrigerators or air conditioners. It is because, the cold air will make the anthuirum villenaorum’s leaves fuzzy.

Humidity Requirements

If you remember, I’ve alreday mentioned that light and humidity are the two most important care parameters you need to nail down for this plant to thrive.

We already discussed the light requirements, now let’s focus on humidity.

Anthuirum villenaorum loves high humidity. Not just high, infact they thrive in environments with very high humidity.

If you check the humidity levels in the Peru and other Central American regions, they are in the range of 60 to 80 throught out the year. In some regions, even 85 to 90% humidity has been recorded.

You should aim to provide somewhere in the range of 60 to 70%. A study published in UBC Horticulture Journal have confirmed that there were no difference in growth rate between 70% and 85% humid environments.

If you live in somewhere the humidity is comparatively less, then please buy a humidifier. If you don’t put your plant in high humid environment, the plant will not grow. High humidity is must when it comes to anthuriums.

Water Requirements

Setting up a watering schedule for your anthuirum villenaorum is not a straight froward task. It is highly dependant on the soil type, local climate, etc. So, there is not one size fits all rule here.

As a general rule of thumb, you should hydrate your plant when the top two to three inches of the soil is dry. Some people will say, you should water only when the top 25% of the soil is dry, but based on my experience it is quite too dry for a tropical plant.

Just insert a wooden stick into the soil to check the moisture level. Alternatively you can buy a couple of stick moisture meters for more accurate reading.

Make sure that you check the moisture levels in the soil twice a week. In some regions, you may need to water twice a week wheras some other regions require waterng only once.

Water requirements of anthuirum villenaorum also change based on the season. For example, it needs more water in summer than winter. 

Anthuriums will tolerate a little bit of underwatering here and there. But, overwatering will really affect the plant’s health in a lot of ways including root rot, bacterial infection, etc.

Along with a proper watyering schedule, having a well drained soil and a pilot with good grainage holes are equally important.

Fertilizer Requirements

Anthuriums need good fertilizer to boost its growth. In nature, it grows on top of multiple layers of organic leaf compost, wild animal wastes and many other natural fertilzers.

If you keep your plant outdoors, you can add leaf mould or worm castings instead of chemical fertilzers. But when grown indoors, organic fertilzers are a mess and a good brand of chemical NPK fertilzer is better choice.

To improve anthurium villenaorum lush green leaf growth, fertilizers with more concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus instead of a balanced one is preffered. But, always dilute the fertilzer befor applying.

As far as frequency is concerned, once a month is goid enough during growing season that is summer and spring.

During fall and winter, maybe fertlize once every two or three months.

Best Place To Grow Anthurium Villenaorum

As I already mentioned, anthurium ​​anthurium villenaorum comes from tropical forests of Peru and other South and Central American countries. So, if you live in any such region, then you can grow these plants outdoors or indoors without any artificial climate adjustments.

To be more precise, the regions that fall under USDA 10 to 11 zones is perfect for growing anthurium villenaorum. That doesn’t mean you can’t grow it in other regions. 

In fact, I’ve seen a couple of houseplant enthusiasts grow these amazing plants even in sizzling cold Canada. All you have to do is nailing down it’s environanet requiremenst by artificial means.

Pruning Anthurium Villenaorum

At some point you may experience some slow down in growth of your anthuirum villenaorum. It can be due to many reasons, but if you are seeing a lot of half dry leaves, then it’s time to prune your plant.

When your plant has many un healthy leaves, it cannot focus it’s full energy on growing new healthy leaves. As a result, the overall growth rate of the plant will slow down.

To put your anthuirum villenaorum back in the growth pedesatal, all you have to do is cut back all the unhealthy leaves using a sterlized knife or scissors.

Pruning allows plants to generate more leaves, reduces pests, and promotes healthy growth. 

Apart from this, if you feel like your plant is growing without any shape you can prune back some leaves to improve the form of the plants. Afterall, we want our houseplants to be attractive right?

Another point to remember regarding pruning is tne fact that, after pruning your anthuirum villenaorum may not show any sort of new growth for a couple fo weeks due to the pruning stress. But, it is temporary and you don’t have to do anything other than normal care routine.

Anthurium Villenaorum Propagation

If you have a fairly large anthuirum villenaorum, then propagating your plant is the best way to mulitiply the number of plants in your plant collection.

If you don’t want too many anthuirum villenaorums, then you can sell those rooted small plants for a good amount of money as well.

Anthuirum villenaorum can be propagated in two ways, stem cutting or root division. If you are a beginner to intermediate, then stem cutting is a better choice.

You can propagate the stem cuttings using either water alone or in a potting soil. I would advise you to use water alone, because rooting happens faster in water than soil.

Here are the steps you should follow to propatate anthuirum villenaorum using stem cutting.

1. Cut a healthy stem from your parent plant with one or two leaves. Preferably two leaves minimum. It is advised to use sterlized instruments to minimize any infections.
2. Fill and small jar with water. The size of the jar should not be very huge. Add a few drops of liquid fertilzer to improve the quality of water. 
3. Dip the cutting’s stem is a rooting hormone to make the rooting process faster.
4. Place the stem inside the jar in such a way that the leaves are above the water level.
5. Make sure that you place the jar in a brightly lit environment with high humidity. If humidity cannot be increased, try to cover your jar and plant in a plastic cover to create a feeling of greenhouse.

If you provide all the care guidelines properly, you can expect to see root in few weeks to a month. Alsom don’t forget to change the water every week to reduce the chaces of bacterial infections.

If you prefer propagation in soil instead of a water medium, then follow the same steps. But instead of putting the plant inside a jar of water, you have planted them in a small pot filled with good anthurium soil mixture.

Anthurium Villenaorum Toxicity

Just like other anthurium varieties, anthurium villenaorum is also toxic to both humans and pets.

All parts of the plant contain calicum oxalate crystals which can cause allergic reactions.

When humans or pets ingest any part of anthuirum villenaorum, they experience an itching and hot sensation in their mouth. Other symptoms could include a swollen mouth, difficulty moving, weakness, and so on.

Even though anthuriums are said to be toxic, there were no reports of death or any severe health complications as a result of eating this.

But still, it is advised to keep the plant away from the reach of small kids and pets for their own safety.

Anthurium Villenaorum – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In this section, I will be answering some of the most commonly asked questions related to anthurium villenaorum care so that your don’t have to search them separately.

Wrapping Up

Anthurium villenaorum is an unusual plant. What makes growing this plant more exciting is the fact that it is not yet described properly by scientists.

If you are fan of other velvetleaf anthuriums, then this is a great addition to your houseplant collection. Provide the plant with 10 hours of indirect sunlight and high humidity throughout the year and showcase the lush green leaves.