Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ (A. pendulifolium × A. cubense)

Bill Rotolante’s Silver Krome hybrid

Bill Rotolante created Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ at Silver Krome Gardens in Florida by crossing Anthurium pendulifolium with Anthurium cubense. The first parent is an epiphyte of wet forest from Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru. The second forms a bird’s-nest rosette on trees, rocks or the ground from southern Mexico and Cuba through Central America to northern South America. ‘Big Bill’ brings those two contrasting forest habits together in a cultivated Florida lineage.

Care for Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ (A. pendulifolium × A. cubense)

• Light: Provide bright filtered light and keep long leaves away from direct midday sun. Light from above helps the crown grow evenly.
• Watering: Water when the surface begins to dry, soaking the open mix completely and allowing rapid drainage around the epiphytic roots.
• Humidity and airflow: Maintain 60–80% relative humidity with free air movement around the hanging leaves and crown.
• Temperature: Keep at 20–28 °C with nights above 18 °C. Protect hanging pots from cold windows and ceiling-level heat.
• Substrate and repotting: Use the nursery root ball as a stable baseline for Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ (A. pendulifolium × A. cubense) while it acclimates; record how quickly the rosette crown and outer roots dries, then repot when fresh roots and a repeatable watering interval are visible. Later, use a secure hanging or elevated pot with coarse bark, coco chips, a little coir and pumice.
• Feeding: Feed lightly with a complete fertiliser during root and leaf growth. Flush the open mix with plain water every 4–6 weeks to clear salts from exposed roots.
• Space, support and propagation: Give the long leaves clear space below and stabilise the crown as the plant gains weight. Clean the blades with a gentle rinse and propagate only from rooted offsets or viable stem sections.

Brown tips, wilting and slow growth

• Pot weight, wilting and yellow leaves: A noticeably lighter container with a dry open mix points to thirst; soak all of the mix and empty any collected runoff. A pot that feels heavy in the hand, stale damp mix and limp yellow leaves point to root stress; give the pot time to lighten and inspect the root zone.
• Checking root firmness: Healthy exposed roots feel firm and springy; surface colour can change between waterings. Remove hollow or slippery sections with a sharp blade sterilised in advance, keep the crown high and return the remaining roots to a secure close-fitting pot with a coarse airy mix. Before cutting Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ (A. pendulifolium × A. cubense), photograph the root system and confirm failure by texture; preserve every firm section, sterilise the tool between cuts and keep the crown stable while new roots develop.
• Dry tips, salts and uneven watering: Dry tips can be caused by a fast-drying hanging pot, mineral-rich water or heat near the ceiling. Feel the mix below the surface before watering again; use low-mineral water and lower the plant if heat gathers near the ceiling.
• Dark marks with wet or yellow borders: A long blade can crease where it rests on a shelf or wall. A damp mark becomes urgent when its edge expands or turns yellow; keep the full blade dry and photograph the edge each day.
• Roots active while leaves remain still: Weak light above the crown can delay the next hanging leaf. Keep filtered light centred over the crown and temperatures at 20–28 °C; new root or leaf movement is the recovery sign.
• Pests around leaf bases and undersides: Silver streaks on an opening leaf point to thrips; mites leave much finer pale dots along the length. Examine closely both surfaces from crown to tip. Isolate, clean the full leaf length, treat with a product carrying the correct pest label. Follow the label closely when another application is due and watch the central growth point every seven days for four weeks.
• Creases in long leaves: A dry crease usually forms where a long blade rests on a shelf, wall or floor. Raise the crown, clear the full hanging path and leave an existing crease in place.

Pet warning for Anthurium ‘Big Bill’ (A. pendulifolium × A. cubense)

• Not pet-safe. This plant contains calcium oxalate crystals that can cause immediate pain and irritation if chewed.

The botanical names behind this plant

The genus name Anthurium combines Greek anthos, “flower”, and oura, “tail”, referring to the tail-like spadix. Heinrich Wilhelm Schott established the genus in 1829 in Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Litteratur, Theater und Mode, volume 3, page 828.

Pendulifolium combines Latin pendulus, “hanging”, and folium, “leaf”: “hanging-leaved”. Nicholas Edward Brown described Anthurium pendulifolium in 1904 in The Gardeners’ Chronicle, series 3, volume 36: 362.

Cubense means “from Cuba” or “Cuban”. Adolf Engler described Anthurium cubense in 1898 in Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik 25: 364.