Getting a lava plant to bloom

I got a "Red Smalltalk Anthurium Lava Plant" (pic below) as a gift earlier this year. It had 3 blooms on it at the time. They're dead now, but the plant itself is thriving. Anyone know how I can get the flowers to come back?

The plant grows out of a lava rock that sits in a dish of water. I have to refill the water every couple of days, and it's kind of a pain to get someone to babysit it when I'm out of the office. I'm not sure it's worth the effort to keep futzing with it if it's only going to be a rock with a dozen (and more on the way) green leaves coming out of it. But my sister paid like 50 bucks for it and I want to keep it if I can make it look cool again. Any cellar horticulturists have an answer?

bump. I really need to know. Don't make me call the florist, I shy from human contact.

If you cover the water and rock with plastic, you won't have to water so often. ;)

Simply Command It.

take it to Hawaii... and buy it a few Mai Tais.


edit: just make sure the Mai Tais are made from fertilizer -- like liquid fish emulsion -- but it's smelly!

Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling.

Here ya go, Mr Noodle.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/interiorscape/Anthurium_scherzerianum.html

Or maybe this is better.
http://www.evergrowing.com/tips/anthurium.htm

Most plants don't bloom year round even indoors. It might take some time before its blooms come back. I would just be patient with it. I love plants and it looks like it has some pretty cool looking leaves. But I normally go in for lots of green with a bit of other color thrown in.

What kind of exposure is it getting? Do you ever add fertilizer to the water?

Nope, I have added nothing but tap water since day one. I will try the fertilizer for sure.

It gets indirect medium sunlight.

I also had a mold of some kind that was taking over the dish. It was white (the mold). I guess it's not hurting the plant, since the plant is doing better than ever. I just want it to have plant sex and put more cool flowers up.

Mold?

The sunlight sounds about right. Just give it some food and see what happens. Post a photo when it blooms, please and name it after me, if you don't mind.

If you can't smoke it, it's not worth dealing with.

Lucy wrote:

Mold?

The sunlight sounds about right. Just give it some food and see what happens. Post a photo when it blooms, please and name it after me, if you don't mind.

It is now named Lucy :celebrat: I won't actually address it as such unless it gives me flowers, though.

breakingnews wrote:

If you can't smoke it, it's not worth dealing with.

With the fungal stuff on it, it might be worth a shot. Tune into CNN tonight and see if there's a naked guy on top of the capitol building with a homemade ray gun and a pirate wig. If there is, I smoked it.

Thank you, Mr. Noodle.
And please, do not smoke the Anthurium Mold. Trust me on this one.

Lucy wrote:

Thank you, Mr. Noodle.
And please, do not smoke the Anthurium Mold. Trust me on this one.

:rotflol:

My grandmother told me that many plants will bloom more if you "stress" them a little -- they think it may be their last chance to reproduce, etc. Try keeping it in the dark for a few days, or a slightly colder environment? YMMV. Disclaimer: most of my plants die. Slow, lingering deaths.:greenface

I have a lovely lava plant that has not only kept it's bloom, it is growing new ones!!! I NEVER water with tap water...the chemical treatments kill the plant so I only use filtered or bottled water...

my understanding of lava plants is that we don't need to fertilize them...the lava rock contains ALL the minerals a plant needs for life! It can grow larger and larger without roots, because roots only grow as they look for nutrients!

Welcome to the Cellar, superJencat. :D

I thought mrnoodle was back