I purchased my Anthurium rugulosum ‘Chocolate’ for the pebble-textured leaves in a local shop. While I paid, the shop owner started talking about wanting to add a refrigerated cloud forest display case to their shop. That was a big red flag. One, that I enthusiastically ignored.
The native Anthurium rugulosum grows in high altitude cloud forests in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. This plant wants cooler temperatures with a night time cooling with higher humidity. When I looked it up on The Exotic Rainforest website it warned: We do not recommend anyone other than a botanical garden with adequate facilities attempting to grow this species. It must be kept damp and cool at all times.
Well, shit. What had I gotten myself into?
Fortunately, I had lucked out because I live in Washington state and the conditions of my studio match up with what it wants. My plant prefers to sit in my studio window, under a grow light in winter, with a little water in the drip tray at all times. I keep my studio at 73 degrees during the day and 65 degrees at night in ambient humidity. The new leaves continue to size up. The only trouble that it has given me was when I put it in my grow tent for one night and two leaf tips turned brown. It was humid, but too hot for it.
In my conditions, I have found the Anthurium rugulosum ‘Chocolate’ to be a joy to grow. You can find it for sale online. Ecuagenera sells several different rugulosum around the forty dollar price point. But, even they include a warning in their plant description: It is an exotic and beautiful species; only a few can grow.
