Question
QUESTION: I just read that an anthurium can be cut back.  My plant is also getting leggy.  The advice was to cut the plant back at the crown.  The crown is ....... what.  Sorry to be dense about this, but I just don't want to ruin my beautiful plant!  Thank you!

ANSWER: Hi Marie,
Thanx for your question.  The crown of the plant is usually just below or poking out of the soil.  It may appear as a tannish, thickening of the stem with roots coming out of it in a jumble.  The crown is like the head of the root ball just below the green stem.  I tried to find a picture of it and couldn't find one.  I hope this  helps.
Tom

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QUESTION: Hi again, Tom - my anthurium is about 1 1/2 feet tall and as I said, "leggy".  Should I really cut it all the way down to the crown as suggested to me by a Master Gardener??? That seems kind of drastic - and I hate to cut it down to nothing - it has lots of green leaves, soon to turn red at the ends and I have just fertilized it.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Marie,
Sorry about that.  You did ask about the cutting it back.  I don't think I would cut all the leaves off.  Maybe the leggiest ones.  Are they drooping and otherwise not standing erect?  One thing I forgot to metion, if you are feeding it something other than a balanced 12-12-12 fertilizer, a high Nitrogen fertilizer can cause legginess.  Discontinue feeding for a while to allow some of the nitrogen to leach out.  Place the plant in an area where it doesn't get direct sunlight but the room is bright.  If it is too dark and not bright enough, this will cause legginess too.  Yes, I wouldn't cut all the leaves off.  Maybe leave a couple of smaller ones and then let the plant send up some new growth.  I hope this helps.  BTW, we do have a houseplant expert here on Allexperts.  Go back to Home/Gardening and click on Gardening and then Click on Houseplants.  There are three experts there.  I noticed two of them are maxed out on questions and one is on vacation.  I don't mind trying to answer houseplants as I do keep some, but, I'm not really an expert like these other folks.  I do enjoy researching the answers though so if you can't access these other folks, feel free to ask and I'll see what I can "dig up".
Tom