Anthurium recavum Care & Culture Tips for Growing Indoors

Caveat: The Anthurium recavum I had was recent acquisition from Ecuagenera. It started out well, but I later killed the plant while experimenting with pH down alternatives—it did not like acidity and I promptly rotted the stem which I believe was the cause of nutrient toxicity. This care sheet is not based on a great deal of experience growing this species, but instead on extrapolations of habitat data and my experience growing other plants native to that same general area of South America, along the Andes. There is very limited information online about the care and culture of Anthurium recavum, so I’m hoping this will help give you some context. That said…my plant is dead, so apply any information here at your own risk. If you’re looking care tips on Aroids I haven’t killed, refer to this other article: Aroids, Anthuriums & Philodendrons Care & Culture – Tips for Growing Indoors.

Anthurium recavum Care & Culture – Quick Tips

• Temperature: A. recavum comes from an elevation between 600 and 2,000m which likely means there’s a good probability that this species is adapted to cool nights (down to ~16C). If you live in a continuously hot climate, you may find this plant struggles.
• Potting Media: adapted to moist or wet premontane forests, where it grows as a terrestrial or epiphytic plant indicates that it needs a moisture-retentive but well-oxygenated potting media. Unlike my other aroids, I’m using: sphagnum moss and large-chunk perlite (50:50) with a lower drainage layer of pumice. Anthurium recavum comes from wet cloud forests of higher elevation and is well-adapted to moisture (so it’s likely not well adapted to dryness). Sphagnum moss is airy but holds a lot of water—if using sphagnum as a potting media, beware – you may need to repot more often to avoid compaction & root rot.
• Water: Keep roots moist between watering.
• Light: Moderate. Target 5-25% filtered direct sun (500-2,500 footcandles, OR  5,000–26,000 lux OR 100–500 PAR)
• Fertilizer: The general area in the Andes where this species is found is high in calcium carbonate (limestone). It is unclear, but this plant may benefit from oyster shells in the potting media. If you’re struggling with your plant and it gets root or leaf rot as a result of fungus or bacteria and you’re offering the other requirements, consider adding oyster shells to the potting mix at a rate of about 1/4tsp per liter of media.
  As with care for other aroids, offer a nitrogen rich and well rounded organic fertilizer.

Anthurium recavum in Situ

Found in Colombia along the Andes at an elevation of 600–2,095m above sea level, and also in Northern Costa Rica. It grows in lower montane and premontane forests which are considered either wet or moist forest life zones [source: Croat, Global Biodiversity Information Facility]. Extrapolating this for care: these plants are adapted to highland temperatures with continuous moisture and likely don’t do well with root desiccation or continuous high temps (requiring cool nights to throttle their metabolism).

Habitat Data (Cali, Colombia) – Where Anthurium recavum is found

We can look at climate and weather information from a plant’s habitat to extrapolate specific conditions the species may be adapted to. There are a few recorded sites where Anthurium recavum has found growing, but we’ll focus on Cali, Colombia because there are a cluster of areas there where A. recavum has been found. From the climate information below we can see that habitat is quite dry in July and January, and the temperature ranges from an average low of 16C to an average high of 31C for most months.

Annual Rainfall (Cali Columbia)
Dryer seasons: July & January

Annual Temperature (Cali Columbia)
Hot days – Cool nights

Anthurium recavum – Photos of my plant

Oct 8, 2020 – Two Month Update! A New Leaf & Lots of Root Growth

Aug 15, 2020 – Freshly repotted plants

Aug 15, 2020 – New Plants Arrived from Ecuagenera!