A. carlablackiae is one of the most rewarding velvets when grown successfully. It has beautiful, dark foliage sometimes highlighted by stark white venation. Its spathe emerges a light pink and fully expands to a cream white. Its inflorescence, the assortment of tiny flowers, produces a sweet mint aroma. 

Disclaimer: We are not experts by any means. We just hope this guide will help you on your journey to enjoying the splendors of this species. 

There seems to be a general consensus around carlablackiae being a difficult species. We’d have to disagree unless you're trying to grow wild material, most of the first individuals brought into the country were said to crash or just be finicky. Cultivated plants that were culled aggressively should reduce this. 

While growing carlablackiae we’ve noticed a few things, their stems are wide and compact. They typically get “woody” thick growth faster than most other species. In maturity, their trunks uptake nutrients from nearly pencil thick roots that act as scaffolding when you miss an up pot window. 

What do we mean by an up pot window, we’re referring to the time where your plant is dormant and not producing a flower or leaf. Even if the cataphyll is swelling we will try to avoid a repot. The least stress you can provide on your plant the better. If we happen to miss this window and know that my plant needs additional support we use Carsen’s (Rooted on the peaks) pot extenders. Those have been a huge game changer especially when plants are holding seed and should not be disturbed.

As seedlings, carlablackiae enjoy a damp substrate. That doesn’t mean keeping the substrate at 100% saturation at all times. Let it dry to about 20-30% and then water again.. When you water, you should hydrate all of the growing media and let water run through the pot. One thing, never use ice to water your plants, FUCK ICE, your orchids hate it and so do Anthurium. Try to use water that measures around 70-75°F or 21.1-23.9°C, to reduce the chance of shocking your plants.

Tip: To promote mature root development you can knock off the lowest tip where your plant was conceived. You do not want your plant to rely on thin angel hair. Give them railways for nutrient transport. If you take a substantial base cutting during this process you can potentially clone your plant.  

A. carlablackie can take more light than A. antolakii and A. dressleri while maintaining their more desirable color. We’ve found that growing seedlings in around 150-200fc is enough. You’ll need to play with your plant and determine what's the best sweet spot in your growing environment. This sweet spot should ideally provide good color, a consistent growth rate and provide enough evaporative pressure to dry out the pot regularly. 

The species does not like extremely cold or hot temperatures, you should try to grow it around the mid 70-80°F and upwards of 60% humidity for optimal growth. Remember we’re trying to replicate its natural environment where it evolved for millions of years. According to Monica Carlsen, “..Anthurium is quite old (Late Cretaceous), species diversification did not start until quite recently – the crown node age is dated to Late Oligocene, and the bulk of species diversification did not occur until even later, during the Late Miocene (ca. 8-9 Mya). Anthurium species diversification through time is indeed consistent with the pattern of a rapid radiation, having a diversification rate of approximately 0.61-0.69 species per million years.” 

Carlsen, Monica Maria, "Understanding the origin and rapid diversification of the genus Anthurium Schott (Araceae), integrating molecular phylogenetics, morphology and fossils" (2011). Dissertations. 414. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/414

While we’re on the topic, we use RO water for all of our plants. We supplement with a Foliage Focus or Grow Big- general fertilizer, Dune-monosilicic acid, Continuum- microbial / beneficial bacteria and a Calcium-Magnesium-Iron additive. We also use Nutricote 14-14-14 for our larger seedlings and motherplants. It’s a lot, but since we’re stripping our water and starting with a clean slate we have to add all the good shit back. 

Tip: In winter we use a submersible aquarium heater to regulate the temperature of our RO water storage. Don’t turn the heater on without being submerged, it’ll crack and fuck the whole thing up. 

For growing media you can use whatever you feel comfortable with. We’ve grown carlablackiae in a ton of different mixes and here are some notes we have.

Amended soils- are a solid choice for mature plants that can drain rapidly in their growing environment. If you’re growing in 100% humidity with no fans and cooler temps, your plant will rot. This type of substrate needs evaporative pressures. Evaporative pressure can come in the form of air circulation, warmer temperature, soil drainage and lower humidity. 

Unamended Pro-Mix- is the same story, it’s possible, but we advise against it. It’s just too dense depending on your growing setup. South Florida growers find this denser mix to work for them as they need the plants to have constant sources or water. 

Tree fern fiber and pumice- is a great mix for seedlings and small plants which dries out quickly and is easy to water. It’s not too complicated and is easy to transplant. We have mature plants growing in this as well. 

Moss, Orchid bark, pumice- It’s okay, the biggest thing is finding quality moss. Be careful about your moss becoming hydrophobic. We have a motherplant growing in this mix but don’t recommend it. It’s just not for us, some growers have found incredible success with it. 

Lechuza pon- A lot of growers have found success in using this product but we think it just becomes too dense and can lead to rot. It’s also heavy in large motherplant pots. It’s okay for medium size plants but we stopped using it entirely. We don't recommend using this for small seedlings. 

DIY pon- This is the cheaper alternative to pon if you can find lava rock, pumice and zeolite in bulk. It also gets heavy in larger pots and can be a pain to source in equal quantities, we typically run out of ingredients at different times. We’ve used it for medium to large motherplants but do not recommend it for small plants or seedlings. 

Pumice- It’s cheap and typically easy to source in bulk, like pon its null of any kind of nutrients so we especially recommend supplementing with a granular. We’ve used it on some large motherplants and medium size plants. So far so good. We’ll update this article if anything changes.

Ultimately you can grow your plants however you'd like, this is just what's worked for us. Best of luck!