Hi Linda, I would just ask the person who you are purchasing from. If it is someone like Enid at Natural Selections Exotics she is awesome about helping out with questions. I have never grown an Anthurium as I understand they are a tad more demanding than Philos for example.....I just ordered a few nice Philos from Enid so I am going to give these a try :o) Dan

Dan...
Thanks so much for responding. Yes I have ordered a number of things from Enid, and you are right, she is wonderful about answering questions. An Alocasia Portei just arrived yesterday, from them. It is about 2 feet tall already. I've never gotten anything except wonderful plants from them.....healthy and well established. I have asked Enid about the Veitchii and she does have some and has told me the info like how much light..humidity...etc. But she really didn't give any information about the ease of growing it. I was hoping that someone here would have grown one indoors in their home and might have an idea about the ease of growing it in a home environment and not greenhouse or Florida-like conditions. I have thought about ordering one of the Philos from them instead. I do know they are fairly easy to grow and Enid does have some great ones.
Thanks again for responding.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone here might have experience with them home grown........anyone? :-)

Hi Linda,

The only thing Enid told me was that they are more picky than the Philos and since I have not grown either before this summer when a friend sent me a cutting of P. hastatum (seems very easy by the way and the silvery leaves are nice) I decided to try some more Philos. I ordered the P. melanochrysum, P. sp. 'velvet' and P. maximum (not on her site, but she has it and the leaves get truly massive for a Philo). They should arrive this week so I can let you know how they are when they arrive. Best of luck getting some answers about the Anthurium.

You should check out a place called Exoticrainforest.com Steve there is also very helpful and his site is insanely informative......no plants for sale though.

Good luck :o) Dan

Thanks Dan! I'm going to check out the info on Exoticrainforest.com.

Although you can grow Anthurium veitchii in soil, it does not grow in soil in the rain forests of Venezuela. This is a an epiphytic species that grows up in the canopy on the branch of a tree. A bird will eat a seed berry then drop that seed in its own droppings on a tree branch.

The plant is relatively slow growing and will take several years to reach a blade length of 2 feet. After that, it will grow perhaps 6 each inches each year on each new blade. But it is spectacular.

You will need to at least attempt to give the plant rain forest conditions. That includes high humidity, lots of water and fairly bright light. If you insist on soil, them make sure you use a fast draining mixture. Most successful growers use a mix called a "jungle mix". You can create your own using a moisture control potting mix to which you add extra peat, PerliteÂ, vermiculite, and orchid potting media. I suggest Schultz orchid media since it contains both gravel, wood and charcoal.

My own plants, which are now quite large, are in a large orchid basket packed with sphagnum moss. My plants have over twenty leaves, most of which are 3 feet long or longer. They hang from the ceiling in our rain forest atrium and receive bright light that is not direct sunlight. I water that moss every single day during the heat of the year and often enough during the winter to make sure it never dries out. Never! Most days I'll spray the entire plant for 5 minutes with a fine mist. The goal is to duplicate the rain forest in which the plant grows naturally. You can read a bit more at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Anthurium veitchii

Did you ever get your A. veitchii? If you have a photo, please post!
I have found that Anthurium veitchii is a very easy grower. I grow mine in the ground, and currently it has leaves about 3 ft long. The stems grow in a very upright fashion and allow the leaves to hang. It isn't given any special treatment. Its planted directly into the ground. My soil is 100% sand. It is inside a greenhouse, where it is humid and kept warm (>55F at night yearround). But you could duplicate this with a hanging basket in your house in a bright window, with a mister. It does get watered pretty much daily, and it is in full sun. Here are a few photos. These were taken several months apart. The first one shows a leaf about 2 ft long, the 2nd a leaf closer to 3 ft.
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Just in case you didn't get one, when I was down seeing Enid about a month ago she had some really nice large specimens and access to quite a few more. My guess would be the blades were already 2 feet. Her prices were extremely fair. These were grown in soil and could easily be transferred to a larger pot should you desire. I've been growing my specimens in a 12 inch (30cm) wooden hanging basket for over a year and they are quite beautiful when hung so the blades can drape downwards as they do in the rain forest canopy. We suspend many of our epiphytic aroids from the beams of our atrium.

There is a small bit of controversy over whether or not Anthurium veitchii is the King Anthurium or the Queen Anthurium. Deni Bown's book on aroids calls it the Queen Anthurium but many sellers call it the King Anthurium. Who knows which is correct.

Our specimens were originally grown in porous soil but have since been transferred to the basket packed with sphagnum moss that is kept constantly damp. The soil on the roots was not removed. The plants appear to like growing epiphytically and we have seen a great deal more rapid growth since they were transferred. Although not in direct sun, they do receive very bright light every day. These are watered daily. You can see comparative photos about one year apart on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: The ExoticRainforest