Anthurium ‚Delta Force‘ - Care

A bright spot with plenty of indirect light best showcases the silvery veining of this hybrid – without sufficient light, it will shed leaves rather than simply grow slower. In contrast, direct, hot sunrays quickly scorch the velvety leaf surface, so a spot a little distance from a south-facing window usually works well. Rough guidelines for velvety-leaved anthuriums are 20 to 100 µmol/m²/s PAR (PPFD), which corresponds to a DLI of approximately 1 to 4 mol/m²/day.

The substrate should be kept evenly moist without becoming waterlogged – too much water quickly leads to waterlogging and subsequent root rot. The best way to check is with your finger: if the top 2 to 3 cm feel dry, water again. Excess water in the saucer should always be poured off.

During the growth phase, a well-diluted liquid fertilizer once a month is sufficient. As a guideline for the genus, a pH of about 5.5 to 6.5 and an electrical conductivity of the irrigation water of roughly 1.0 to 1.5 mS/cm are considered. If the plant is only placed by the window in autumn and winter, no further fertilization is needed due to the weaker light; however, with year-round bright plant lamp lighting, fertilization can continue at the usual rhythm.

We consciously alternate between different fertilizers for our own plants – currently including COMPO COMPLETE, Foliage Focus, Liquid Gold Leaf, and Hesi TNT-Complex, supplemented with Hesi Root Complex, Hesi PowerZyme, and CalMag as needed.

An airy, well-draining mix of equal parts orchid bark, peat substitute or coco coir, and perlite will provide ample oxygen to the roots without suffocating them. A pot with good drainage is important; repotting is usually done once a year or as soon as the plant has doubled in size.

This hybrid is pleasantly adaptable to humidity levels and can cope with slightly lower levels than many other velvety-leaved Anthuriums, but it grows noticeably more vigorously at levels of about 60 % or higher. Instead of misting—the effect is short-lived, and damp leaves can promote fungal growth—a nearby humidifier provides more reliable results. As for temperature, the ideal range is between 18 and 27 °C; the plant does not tolerate temperatures consistently below 15 °C well.

As a self-heading rosette plant, ‚Delta Force‘ grows upright without climbing ambitions and therefore does not require a support. Its name comes from its distinctive triangular-delta shaped leaves, which deviate significantly from the classic heart-shaped anthurium silhouette—a legacy of the lobed, finger-like parent in its lineage. When grown solely indoors in the fall and winter, growth noticeably slows due to weaker light; however, with year-round bright grow light illumination, growth remains largely consistent.