Hi, context. She thrived in the mean girl corner(among other calatheas and alocasias) giving 2-3 new leaves per week from early winter until a month ago. I always (rainwater) watered her 1 time a week or 1 time and a half depending on the soil, the season, and the humidity in the house which is around 50-60% in winter and 40-50% in the summer. She s in a soil mix or orchid bark, perlite, soil and volcanic rock.
Last month I found 2 mealybugs so I isolated her in another room but same conditions of humidity and light were given. I gave her a bath and treated with insecticidal soap, all was good, she was still growing leaves like crazy. A week later I found another mealybug and decided to spray with neem oil this time, around here she stopped creating new leaves and tantrum no.1 started. She dropped all her leaves and sat really sad for 2-3 days and then recovered out of nowhere.
As summer is around the corner and my house humidity dropped a little I took out my humidifiers (I usually keep them on for 3-4 hours a day), gave her one too and was fine for one more week. No extra mealybugs were found in the meantime.
Now, I came home after a 24h shift (yesterday was a no humidifier day) and found her exactly in this state and I have no idea which of the things listed earlier was the problem. Or if it’s a new problem. She s not underwatered as I checked her soil, new mealybugs did not come (but I’m waiting for some possible eggs).
I decided to check her roots today but partly I think that will just stress her out more and I really need a new perspective on this situation if somebody could help me. Thank you in advance!
by Lolathegreatest
4 Comments
Hello, plant noob but researcher here! Apparently neem oil can burn super sensitive plants, especially when combined with prolonged sun exposure! Perhaps she’s chemically burned from the neem and also was moved to a new room which tends to spook these Drama Queens. I moved my maranta (not calathea but still prayer plant, calathea adjacent) to a new location, and she frozen open and stopped praying, just because of being moved (same room, just different part). I hope she recovers soon! Goddamn bugs! 🥲
Check for a death plug. That kind of crisping can be a sign of root rot.
How long have you had the plant? A weekly watering shouldn’t be an issue because your mix sounds pretty chunky. If the mix is very loose though that might be part of it since you’re saying you’re worried about pulling the plant up with the roots, would roots just expose themselves quickly or will they pull up the mix with it?
They don’t mind being slightly underwatered however.
I keep mine in Coco, pumice, bark. Humidity is 40 to 60%. I treat my tapwater because mine’s hard. Fertilize with every watering.
If you want to avoid neem oil in the future, I’ve used isopropyl alcohol on a qtip to kill mealybugs on contact during the early stages when there were only a couple mealybugs before a full on infestation!