If you have a leggy Anthurium, this means that the plants stem is starting to grow longer than it should and it’s becoming stretched out.
This usually means your Anthurium isn’t getting enough light and it wants to stretch towards the nearest light source it can find.
With that said, you can get a leggy Anthurium from other causes unrelated to low light so keep that in mind.
So if you have found yourself in the predicament of having a leggy Anthurium and want to fix it then you’re in the right place.
Here are the main causes and what you can do to fix this unaesthetic appearance today, or as soon as possible of course.
Low light
Low light is the first thing I would look at if you’re dealing with a leggy Anthurium since the plant will naturally stretch towards the closest light it can find.
This can result in weak thin growth and make your Anthurium look quite unhealthy and lose it’s aesthetic appeal that they are known for.
Anthurium plants require a lot of bright indirect light daily (6-10 hours) will be ideal and usually the more the better.
With that said you have to be sure the vast majority of the light received in bright, indirect light and not a lot of full sun as that can cause the potential for leaf scorching and brown crispy leaves.
If you’re not sure if low light is currently an issue for your Anthurium, here are some other signs to look out for that can result from low light conditions.
- Your Anthurium leaves are drooping (bending, falling over, etc.)
- Yellowing of the leaves
- Your Anthurium is turning white (pale, loss of color)
- Slowed or stunted growth
- Less flowers or they become smaller than usual
As you can see, growing Anthuriums in low light conditions can result in not only a leggy Anthurium, but it can cause other problems as well.
In general you can expect growth to be less effective the less light your Anthurium gets or have poor blooms since the right amount of light is needed for best results.
You just have to be weary about providing too much of the wrong type of light at the same time.
Solution
If you suspect low light is the cause for your Anthurium becoming leggy or stretched, you have to get back on track to providing adequate amounts of bright indirect light.
If you’re growing outdoors then you should find a spot that gets not only ample amount of light, but shade to protect your Anthurium from the harsh afternoon sun.
These are tropical plants Afterall, so you have to mimic their natural growing habitat for the best and most natural results.
For outdoor growing you can achieve this by growing under balconies, trees if they provide good shade or really anywhere that provides some overhead cover throughout the day.
You can certainly be creative.
When growing indoors, your best bet is to try growing near a north or east facing window as this will provide lots of bright indirect light and not so much full sun.
If you don’t have this option for whatever reason, you will need to supplement with an indoor grow light to provide your Anthurium with the light it deserves.
Too much fertilizer
Too much fertilizer can also result in a leggy Anthurium, especially when you’re giving it too much nitrogen as this can cause rapid growth.
Not the kind of rapid growth you want though.
When there is too much nitrogen present, this will speed up your Anthuriums growth, but it will be leggy or lanky unhealthy growth as the plant struggles to maintain itself in compact form.
Think of it like hitting a growth spurt, or when a person grows too tall too quickly and starts getting problems from the rapid growth.
That is what too much fertilizing can do to plants.
Plus if you fertilize too often, after a while your roots can become damaged and get what is known as fertilizer burn which can cause things like yellowing of the leaves or brown leaf tips and overall less effective roots.
If you think you may have been providing a bit too much fertilizer, here are some signs to look out for.
- Yellowing of the leaves
- Brown leaf tips
- Burnt or crispy looking leaves
- Roots have turned dark or fall apart
- Slowed or loss of growth
- Pests or bugs are showing up
Solution
With everything mentioned above, Anthuriums do like to be fertilized and can grow quite well with the boost that it can provide.
They just don’t need it too often.
If you suspect you have been fertilizing too much, hold out on it for a while.
Anthurium plants can do quite well with monthly fertilizing during the spring and summer so you don’t really need to go beyond that.
Using a well balanced fertilizer diluted to 1/4 to 1/2 strength will be ideal since you won’t have to worry about providing too much nitrogen or any nutrient for that matter.
The reason for dilution is because most fertilizers are super strong for plants so you can get away with using much less.
Other than that, just follow the manufacturers directions for the specific fertilizer you plan to use.
If your leggy Anthurium is also showing signs of fertilizer burn, you should flush the soil to get rid of the excess salt buildup that occurs with using too much fertilizer.
Rootbound
Over time if you have been growing your Anthurium in a container, the plant may eventually start to outgrow the container and the roots can start taking up too much space.
Once the roots become too much and start getting tangled and not have room to breathe, you can expect your Anthurium to not grow as well and become leggy.
This is especially noticeable if you use a container with drainage holes since the roots will start branching out in an effort to breathe and be comfortable.
If you think your leggy Anthurium is due to being rootbound, here are some other signs this may be the case.
- The leaves are turning yellow or brown near the base
- Stunted or slowed growth
- Wilting leaves
- The soil drains faster than usual
- Your Anthurium seems dehydrated or unhealthy looking
- Visible roots through drainage holes or above soil
Solution
If you suspect your Anthurium is rootbound, it could certainly benefit from repotting the plant.
To do this, you will first need to select a new container that is one pot size bigger than the current one.
Next you should water your Anthurium to make it easier to remove without disturbing the roots too much as they are less likely to break this way.
Now carefully remove your Anthurium and take this time to prune back any unhealthy roots that may have formed which would be dark or mushy.
From here go ahead and add some well draining soil to the new container and then plant your Anthurium inside and fill around.
Be sure to not pack the soil in too tight so the roots can breathe well.
You can water and place your plant back in bright indirect light and you will be good to go.
Keep in mind when repotting, there is a chance you can run into transplant shock which can cause a variety of issues.
If you want to learn more on that, you can check out my article on Anthurium transplant shock.
How to fix
Once you have pinpointed the cause for your leggy Anthurium and corrected the issue, your best bet to fix your leggy Anthurium is to prune back the long weak growth.
You can do this by first having some pruners at the ready and then pruning the leggy growth just above the node where the legginess is occurring.
The node is a visible point where leaves start to grow from the stem by the way.
By doing this you not only remove the stretched growth, but this allows your Anthurium to use more energy on fresh new growth rather than wasting it on unhealthy, unrecoverable growth.
This is also a great time to prune back other unhealthy growth like yellow or brown leaves that your Anthurium is also wasting energy on if you have any.
Overall pruning is the way to go when dealing with a leggy Anthurium and should be done regularly to keep your plant looking and growing it’s best.
Prevention
To prevent this from happening in the future, here is a recap and some things you can implement.
Provide more light
Make sure your Anthurium is getting at minimum 6 hours of bright indirect light per day, more is better though.
Turn your plant
To prevent your Anthurium from becoming stretched out, especially towards a certain side, you can turn the container every so often to ensure even amounts of light are being provided and that one side of the plant isn’t being neglected.
Go easy on the fertilizer
Less is usually better when it comes to fertilizing as it reduces the chance of fertilizer burn and other issues from too much.
Plus Anthuriums don’t need that much anyway to grow well and look good.
Repot when needed
Lastly you may need to repot when the time comes to prevent your Anthurium from becoming root bound and producing weak or leggy growth among other issues.
Just be sure to only go up one pot size for minimal drainage issues down the road.
Final thoughts
By now you will have a pretty good understanding why you have a leggy Anthurium, what it takes to correct the main causes and what you can do to fix it.
Overall I hope that I helped you learn something new today so you can get back to growing a happy and healthy Anthurium for as long as possible!