Plant care guide
Anthurium Problems: Symptoms, Causes and First Checks
Updated
What are the most common Anthurium problems?
Most anthurium problems trace back to light, watering, feeding, humidity or temperature. Yellow older leaves usually mean wet roots, leaves without flowers mean too little light, brown tips point to dry air, salts or thirst, and spreading V-shaped edge lesions suggest bacterial blight.
What to do first
Find your symptom in the table below, make the first check listed, and change one condition at a time. Check the mix and roots before watering a plant that looks unwell.
The RHS notes in its anthurium growing guide that anthuriums given warmth, humidity, rainwater and acidic compost usually suffer few problems. When something goes wrong, the cause is usually one of those conditions slipping. Use the table to narrow it down, then make the first check before treating anything.
Symptom sorter
| Symptom | Most likely causes | First check |
|---|---|---|
| Older leaves turning yellow, mix wet | Excess water, root damage | Unpot and look for brown, soft roots |
| Wilting while the mix is moist | Root rot | Smell the mix and check the roots |
| Wilting with dry, light pot | Underwatering | Finger-test the mix 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) down |
| Many leaves, few or no flowers | Light too low | Move closer to a bright window, out of direct sun |
| Brown leaf tips or edges | Dry air, salt build-up, too little water | Check humidity, crust on the mix, and watering |
| Broad dry tan blotches | Sunburn | Look for direct sun on the leaves |
| Bleached leaf centers, brown tips | Too much light | Move to softer, indirect light |
| V-shaped brown wedges from the leaf edge | Bacterial blight | Isolate the plant from other aroids |
| Small brown spots with yellow margins | Fungal or bacterial leaf spot | Stop wetting the leaves; improve air flow |
| Fine pale speckling, webbing underneath | Spider mites | Hand lens on the leaf undersides |
| Fluffy white wax, sticky honeydew, sooty mould | Mealybugs | Inspect stems and leaf bases closely |
| Yellowing between veins on older leaves | Magnesium deficiency | Review feeding |
| Irregular yellowish spots | Manganese deficiency | Review feeding |
Where these links come from
Watering and roots. UF/IFAS Extension’s interiorscape anthurium guidelines link yellowing older leaves with root damage to excess water, and tip burn with reduced growth to too little water. NC State Extension notes that overwatering can cause root rot on Anthurium andraeanum. UF/IFAS’s anthurium disease guide describes Pythium and Phytophthora root rots that make plants wilt even when the mix is moist.
Light and flowering. The UF/IFAS problem table pairs many leaves with few flowers to low light. It pairs bleached centers to excess light and broad tan blotches to sunburn. NC State says south- or west-facing windows are best for the genus, with direct sun kept off the leaves.
Leaf spots. UF/IFAS describes bacterial blight as water-soaked marginal lesions that become V-shaped and dead. Clemson Extension’s houseplant diseases and disorders factsheet describes fungal leaf spots with yellowish margins and lists dry air, salts and improper watering as causes of brown tips.
Feeding. UF/IFAS links interveinal yellowing on older leaves to magnesium deficiency and irregular yellowish spots to manganese deficiency. It also warns that overfeeding indoors builds salts that injure leaf margins and tips.
Pests. NC State lists mealybugs, spider mites, whiteflies, scale, aphids and thrips for the genus. The RHS names mealybugs as a pest that can colonise anthuriums, and its mealybug page gives fluffy white wax, honeydew and sooty mould as the main signs.
Before you change anything
- Check one symptom at a time and change one condition at a time.
- Keep the plant at 18–30 °C (65–86 °F), as the RHS advises, away from draughts and radiators.
- Wear gloves when unpotting or cutting. The RHS warns that the sap irritates skin.
- Keep the plant away from pets. The ASPCA lists flamingo flower as toxic to dogs and cats because of insoluble calcium oxalates.
For a general comparison of wet and dry symptoms, see overwatering versus underwatering. For mites on any houseplant, see spider mites on houseplants. The anthurium hub collects our anthurium care pages, and the varieties guide covers species differences.
Related guides
Other anthurium problems we cover: watering frequency, overwatering, spider mites treatment, brown spots, not blooming.
References
- UF/IFAS Extension: Cultural Guidelines for Commercial Production of Interiorscape Anthurium (EP159)
- UF/IFAS Extension: Anthurium Diseases, Identification and Control in Commercial Greenhouse Operations (PP292)
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Anthurium andraeanum
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Anthurium
- RHS: How to grow anthuriums
- Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC: Houseplant Diseases & Disorders (HGIC 2251)
- RHS: Mealybug
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: Flamingo Flower
How this guide was put together: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension, RHS, Clemson Extension, and ASPCA guidance.