Plant friends, I did a bad thing. Bad meaning that I spent too much money on one plant that barely fits on my plant shelf.

I’d like to introduce you to my newest addition, the Anthurium Magnificum. She’s beauty, she’s grace — she made my wallet hurt.

Anthuriums are known for being part of the collector’s plants, meaning they’re crazy expensive and very high maintenance. So, I really put myself into a pickle with this one.

This bad boy requires at least 60 percent humidity but prefers it much higher. I have mine set to 70 percent, and let me tell you, I feel like I live in Florida or something. But at least my plants are happy (insert shrugging emoji.)

They like to have chunky, well-draining soil. I use a mix of Fox Farm soil, perlite, horticultural charcoal and a little bit of sphagnum moss. But, as the picture depicts, mine is just sitting in damp sphagnum moss because I’ve been a tad unmotivated to repot her. But I swear I’ll get to it tomorrow.

Keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet or the plant will develop root rot and die. This part was tricky for me to learn, but a good starting plant that requires this is the calathea, and I love me some calatheas.

As mentioned before, I have mine just sitting in damp sphagnum moss. This is how it arrived when I purchased it, and it is really good for propagating plants. But it does not provide any nutrients as soil does, so it’s not recommended as a long-term medium.

I’ve spent the last few days just staring at her, trying to figure out the perfect name because Anthurium Magnificum is just too long to say. After careful consideration, I have dubbed her “Krystal.”

All that information and fun stuff aside, I must warn you: these plants are extremely expensive. I lucked out on mine, as one of the leaves was damaged and got her at a “reasonable” price. $130 later, I finally was able to say I own a collector’s edition of plants.

These do range anywhere between $130-$300, or a car payment, insurance payment, part of your rent or a doctor’s visit. Thank goodness I saved my birthday and Christmas money to spend on a silly little plant (she’s not silly, I love her.)