Hydroponic Anthurium 'lilli'

Our very popular Rachel is now available planted in a glass bottle. There are two big advantages to this kind of planting. One, it looks beautiful. Two, it means you never have to worry about remembering to water your plant.

This method of growing is known as hydroponic planting, which means growing without soil. Your plant will just suck up all the water it needs. You’ve probably read our guidance saying plants don’t like their roots too wet, but that only applies to plants growing in soil. Bacteria breed quickly in very wet soil. That bacteria can attack your plant’s roots and make them rot. Because there’s no soil here, bacteria can’t breed and your plant is perfectly happy with wet roots. Remember to change the water every few weeks to keep it clean.

Plants usually take their nutrients from the soil, so hydroponic plants need to get their nutrients from plant food. Add a little to the water once a month and leave it in there for 24-48 hours. Your plant will then have taken all it needs and you can change the water again. You’ll only need to do this in spring and summer, because your plant won’t be growing in winter.

A useful way to think about how to care for your plant is to consider where it comes from. Anthurium adreanum live in rainforests, either in the branches of larger trees or on the ground beneath them. That means it’s used to getting dappled light, rather than direct sun, and regularly getting soaked by rainfall.

Did you know?

You might easily confuse your anthurium with a spathiphyllum, or Peace Lily, like Pippa. This is an easy mistake to make, given that they’re in the same plant family, very distinct because of their unique (suggestive!) flower shape.