Anthurium blooms not opening

I have had a sort of miniature anthurium plant for about 2 months now. When I bought it, it had 5 flowers. Now, these old flowers are still intact and from the look of it, they seem quite old.
The problem is that the new flowers are not lasting much at all. In fact, a new flower barely bloomed for 4-5 days. Now, I have another bud which has not opened for about 2 weeks and it has started to dry out and is turning brownish).

What can I do to get long-lasting blooms? The plant seems otherwise healthy and is producing new lush green leaves.

Note: you can see the unopened, slightly brown bud in the middle of the first picture. The second picture is just to show the overall condition of the plant.
Thanks,



This message was edited Apr 2, 2013 9:55 AM

A brown bud leads me to believe it is short on water. I do not know your climate or where your plant started out. My anthuriums usually come to me potbound and need a new pot. They are used to a humid atmosphere, so a tray with pebbles and water might improve any dryness. If this plant were mine, I would put a plastic bag over its head from time to time (2 to 3 days at a time) and then leave it off for a day to see if it makes a dlfference.

By the way is this plant indoors or outdoors? I know there are more knowledgeable on this forum than I, so you might received answers from someone closer to your georgraphical area with more experience.
Marcia

Thanks, Marcia.

The plant is indoors, about 10 ft from a west-facing window. The climate here is hot (avg temp abt 90 F) and dry. I water the plant once in about 5 days (or whenever I see the pot drying out). I also apply foliar spray fertilizer (NPK 19:19:19) once a week (this was recommended by the plant seller).



This message was edited Apr 2, 2013 7:50 PM

You'd be coming out from your cold dry into your hot dry period. The plant was probably kept in artificial humid conditions before you bought it. Inside houses it's often drier than out. That's possibly what set the new flowers back as they began to develop. Also, if you're fertilising that frequently you need to dilute it a bit. With the dry atmosphere excess fertiliser would be drying on the plant. Every now and again give it a good flush with clean water. When you get the monsoon let it get a good drenching with rain water.