Dear houseplant community,
Like the beginning of any good letter, I should probably have written you sooner.
Anyway, a friend of mine had this beautiful plant that she neglected for months, completely drying it out. At the end there were just a few leaves hanging half a meter from the plant itself, completely dried out.
I cut off a piece, gave it roots, potted it, and it went wild! Explosive growth, every new leaf bigger than the last. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
A few months later, it had had enough. Leaves started curling up and withering. Growth halted. I thought maybe I had forgotten to give it water, but that wasn’t it. Moving it to a sunnier spot didn’t help either. Now it’s almost completely dead, and I miss what we once had.
So, a couple of questions:
- Does anyone have any idea what went wrong? Did I water it too much? Too little?
- What can I do? Can it be saved? Does it need plant nutrition? A bigger pot? I’m afraid of doing anything, as it seems so fragile one bad move would surely be the end of it.
Thank you so much in advance!
Yours truly, Aa
That’s a calathea. Tropical rainforest plants that grow well below the shade of the canopy. It needs HUMIDITY, warm temps, indirect dappled light, and never fully dry soil (nor saturated). Notoriously difficult as a houseplant.
Oh my - it’s a wonder it ever felt comfortable here in the first place.
Thank you so much! I’ll do what I can, though it’s clearly in Bad shape for entering a season where both heat and sunlight are sin short supply.
Mine was brought back from about this state when a friend gave it to me, so recovery is possible.
Mine thrives with indoor lighting and a little natural light, so don’t fret as long as its not full sun or in a closet it should be fine.
Warmth can just be “not really cold” for people. Anything above 15C is probably passable. So long as its in your house it shouldn’t perish, it might just slow its growth if you don’t have a heater on high.
Humidity might be an issue and over or under watering. If you live someplace where the air is very dry it could be challenging as you’d have to dote on it to keep it in the sweet spot water wise.
That’s uplifting!
I guess I’ll have to make more effort to give it less water more frequently to keep some stability in the soil. Probably that’s where I messed up.
I also put it in in a corner of the apartment that’s a bit brighter but with indirect light. Hopefully it’ll do better there.
Thank you!
You might have success with the orchid process.
It’s common to water Phalaenopsis and many other kinds of orchids by putting 3 or 4 ice cubes in their soil once a week. For plants that require constant moist soil, you can water the plant to the right amount, and then maintain with an ice cube or two a day, adding more or less as the ambient humidity changes through the season. If you’re like me, it’s easier to get into the habit of “drop an ice cube on the plant” once a day than “check and water 6 tbsp every 3.” Ice cubes are great for orchids because most thrive in cool yet high humidity environments.
If you’re not opposed to spending a little money, there are planters made specifically for plants like this: made of a porous material like terracotta and fit inside a larger container which you full with water (that one is nice because you can see the water level, but they come in all styles). The soil absorbs moisture through osmosis and is self-regulating, and you need only ensure there’s always water in the container.
A planter is the easiest solution to maintaining the right moisture, but the ice cube method is free and provides a little higher local humidity for the plant. It also lowers the local temperature of the plant, which is perfect for orchids but may not be ideal for this one.
That’s a great trick, thanks!
Some people have mentioned elsewhere that this specific plant might have trouble with cold temperatures, so I think I might be a bit careful about giving it ice cubes. But I’ll keep it in mind, and consider trying it if I find myself struggling to hit a good balance!
Isn’t it a maranta, not calathea? Or are they related maybe? I’ve had some calathea, very pretty at first but then all drama and they die… I’ve had much more success with the maranta, fairly resilient imo.
Not sure, actually. But they grow in the same conditions.
It does look like a maranta! And the fact that it stayed alive at my friend’s place despite a lot of neglect would indicate that it shoudn’t be a famously tricky plant. That might give me some more hope, but also makes it even worse that I’m managing to kill it.
I’ll follow the advise given for the calathea then, if they want roughly the same thing. Thank you so much! :)
One thing I forgot to add to my list of requirements: you need to use filtered day-old water. Tap water must be off-gassed for like 24 h before watering this plant. I’d opt for fluoride-free water. Good luck.