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Anthurium commonly called Laceleaf or Flamingo Lily is a beautiful household plant known for its vibrant foliage. It is native to Central America.
The bright red or pink leaves of the plant are commonly mistaken as flowers. The flower is the finger-like projection that grows at the base of the spathe.
The plant has a welcoming vibe to it with its very colorful leaves.
It is quite an easy plant to grow. However if your plant is facing browning then we have listed all the things you need to know to take care of it.
Why is your Anthurium Flower Bud Turning Brown?
The anthurium plant produces small flower buds and the bud could be turning brown due to various reasons which include:
1) Pests
Pests can feed on the leaves, flowers as well as buds of the plant. Thrips and aphids are the most common pests to infect an anthurium plant.
2) Fungal Disease
If pests aren’t the cause, the problem could be due to various fungi such as Fusarium, Pythium, and Phytophthora.
These fungi cause brown patching and staining of the buds and leaves. The brown patches spread irregularly and quickly.
3) Low Humidity
Low humidity results in many changes to the buds and leaves of Anthurium.
Many varieties lose their bud and leaves in addition to browning tips and leaf edges.
4) Underwatering
Under watering also causes brown buds and leaves. It is more likely to affect old leaves and can cause them to completely brown and fall off.
This also affects the flowering buds and causes them to wilt and they fail to bloom.
If you need help watering your plant, try using this automatic drip irrigation kit.
5) Cold Stress
Anthuriums are tropical plants and survive best at temperatures of 59-86°F. The plant leaves and buds suffer damage due to cold stress.
It makes the buds brown and delays blooming. It presents initially as patchy yellowing then turns brown.
If your plant is placed in a cold room in winter, or within a range of a cold air conditioning vent, then it may suffer from this problem.
How to Stop Your Anthurium Flower Bud from Turning Brown?
To stop your anthurium flower bud from turning brown try the following:
1) Check and Remove Pests
Houseplant pests should be detected as early as possible because they not only damage your plant but pose a risk to neighboring plants.
Check both sides of the leaves, flowers, and buds. Inspect the soil and stems for any mealybugs and thrips as well.
If you’ve found the pest infestation, remove the affected plant to prevent the bugs from spreading to others.
Remove as many of the pests as possible by hand or wash the infected parts with water.
Prevention of Pests:
Use neem oil, or horticultural oil spray on the leaves to kill the pests as well as to keep them from growing back.
For more help on this check out our article on why does your anthurium have holes in it’s leaves.
2) Remove Diseased Plants
If the anthurium is affected by any fungus, remove the affected parts as soon as possible. Using a fungicide might help.
However, fungal diseases are difficult to treat and the best solution would be to dispose of the plant in order to save your other plants.
Prevention:
Avoid excessively damp conditions that might promote fungal growth.
3) Improve Humidity
If low humidity is the issue, try grouping your plants to improve the humidity.
Using a shallow tray or dish filled with water underneath the plant pot can benefit the plant.
Placing the plant in the kitchen or bathroom where the humidity is high also improves the plant growth and will fix the browning buds.
Prevention:
Always ensure your anthurium gets proper humidity. Use an electric humidifier if you want to closely monitor your plant.
4) Improve Watering
Water your Anthurium plant when the top 1-2 inches of soil feels dried out. Soak the soil thoroughly, and then let the pot drain the excess water for some minutes.
Prevention:
You should always keep a proper watering schedule for your anthurium.
Take proper breaks in between watering but don’t let the plant wilt. Otherwise, this will retard the growth and delay the blooming of buds.
Again if you need help watering your plant, try using this automatic drip irrigation kit.
5) Maintain Proper Temperature
Placing the plant at appropriate temperatures aids in the growth of the buds and prevents them from growing brown.
Prevention:
Keeping a thermometer to ensure that the plant has the proper environment. This is a handy tool to keep your plant healthy.
If you’re enjoying this article, you may enjoy how to treat a hoya with fungal leaf spots.
Why Does Your Anthurium have Brown Spots on Flowers?
Flowers are the prime reason this plant is grown indoors. However brown spotting can ruin the beauty of the flowers or modified leaves.
The brown spots on your anthurium flowers can be the result of the following reasons:
1) Overfertilizing
Excessive fertilizers are toxic to foliage as well as roots. Too much nitrogenous fertilizers can cause brown spots to develop on the flowers.
How to fix it:
Wash the soil with plenty amount of water, this would remove the excessive fertilizers. Then drain the water off the pot to prevent waterlogging.
Repot the plant in another soil mix if the fertilizer build-up in the soil is severe.
Prevention:
Take breaks of almost 5 months in between fertilizing your plant.
2) Acclimation
Shifting the plant from one area to another suddenly might cause brown spotting or browning.
The plant would be well acclimatized to a certain light, humidity, and temperature condition.
Shifting it from this place would cause spotting. Spotting is a lesser critical problem than browning the whole flower.
How to fix it:
If you need to move the plant to another location e.g. from indoors to outside, gradually move the plant to the location so the plant does not experience a fluctuation shock.
Ensure proper humidity, temperature, and sunlight in the new location.
Prevention:
To prevent this from happening, make sure you select an appropriate point to put your plant when you buy it and don’t move it often.
3) Bacterial Infection
Bacterial blight causes leaf spots and flower spots. First, the infection appears as yellow spots. As the disease progresses, the spots turn brown.
How to fix it:
Remove or burn any infected parts of the plant.
Prevention:
Keep the leaves dry because bacteria grow on wet surfaces. Improve the air circulation around the leaves to prevent the growth of bacteria.
Use clean instruments to trim or prune your plant.
Why are Your Anthurium Flowers Turning Brown?
There may be many reasons your anthurium flowers could turn brown:
1) Natural Aging
Browning of the flowers may be a part of the natural aging process. Older flowers and leaves tend to get brown and start wilting.
2) Sunburn
Sunlight is beneficial to the growth of the flower. It helps in producing more flowers.
However, excessive direct sunlight can cause the flowers to dry up and turn brown.
If your plant is struggling due to light, trying using this to help regulate the lighting.
3) Nutrient Deficiency
Nutrient deficiency is also a major cause of the browning of flowers.
Soils depleted of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium also cause the plant to undergo browning.
4) Overwatering
Anthurium requires proper watering to grow. Overwatering can cause the root to rot and can cause fungal problems as well.
All these eventually cause the leaves to turn brown.
Again if you need help watering your plant, try using this automatic drip irrigation kit.
Final Thoughts
Anthurium is a beautiful houseplant plant recognized for the vibrancy it adds to the living space.
Being a bit careful with your plant and giving it adequate care will benefit this amazing plant and prevent the browning of its leaves and buds.
Before you go, here are some more related articles I encourage you to read below to help solve more of your gardening issues:
Why are my Pilea Leaves Turning Brown
Why is my Jade Plant Turning Brown
What is the Ideal Humidity for an Anthurium
About the Author:
Saad Ansar
Saad is an avid gardener himself and is a great lover of plants, animals, photography, & people. Currently, he is focused on photographing indoor plants & captioning beautiful outdoor sceneries. He writes and rewrites in-depth articles on nature and science.
