I got a calathea just about a week ago. I know they are challenging. I have not had the courage to do anything other than sit it under my grow light and research. (My grow light is very strong. I set it across the way from it, not directly under it.)
The soil is still very damp even though I've done nothing to it, and I think a small piece of it has rotted, but it doesn't seem like the rest has yet. I'm not sure if it's just a fluke, or a sign that I need to hurry and repot it.
I recently lost another plant because I didn't realize that i needed to ditch the nursery soil soon enough. (Almost all of it anyway. A few sprigs are still in intensive care trying to make it.)
I don't feel like seeing another plant bite the dust because of crappy dense peaty nursery soil.
by Sokkas_Instincts_
7 Comments
After many, many years and endless numbers of plants bought, I have learned the best thing in almost every case is to leave it for at least a month. As long as the soil isn’t teeming with fungus gnats I let it be and don’t add transplant shock to the list of other stresses the plants have been through (travel, light, temp changes). If a plant is very wet I just let it take its time to dry out. It doesn’t hurt to tip the pot to check the roots, but try to resist the urge to mess with the roots a lot. Sometimes a plant is root bound, but that’s generally not an emergency. I’ve had a few maranta and they can get stem rot at the base like that, and it could very well be from wet soil. If a plant comes in straight coco coir without fertilizer it will need to be fed sooner than later because it is inert. Other plants come in a peat base mix but have some fertilizer the plant can use for a few months mixed in. I don’t know if that answers your question, but it looks great 😊
I suggest to first check how it’s roots are and if you don’t see enough roots then repot using your good quality mix in a smaller pot. I just lost this exact maranta cuz it was in too big of a pot with very bad quality soil and when I checked the roots the whole plant was yellowing and didn’t seem like it could come back. I chopped what was still green and I’m trying to root them in water :/
I almost always repot my calatheas because they are usually potted in soaking wet peat. Most folks’ houses don’t have the fans that commercial greenhouses have so the peat won’t dry out and the roots rot away.
About rotting. It is the roots that rot, typically because they were kept in wet soil and did not have the benefit of any air. The rotten roots can’t perform a main function, namely to deliver needed moisture to the plant. Ironically the plant dies of thirst even though the roots are swimming in water.
Nurseries create near perfect conditions for growing a plant. Their goal is to take a plant from seedling to marker as quickly as possible. The quicker the turnover for a good looking plant, the more money they can make. I certainly don’t begrudge anyone a profit. But the problem is that the rich soil that fosters faster growth when other conditions can be carefully monitored for success (like frequency and amount of water, strong bright light, air circulation, humidity, temperature, etc), that same rich soil can be the downfall of a plant when those same other conditions can’t be carefully monitored. And in that case, the plant slowly fails. So yes, you want to put your plant into soils that will help your plant succeed under less than perfect care. Changing the soil from super rich to chunky soil that encourages water drainage is a smart step.
How fast do you need to do that? In part it depends on where you purchased your plant from. Was it a locally owned nursery that sells to the community around it? They probably don’t rush huge shipments to big box stores the way COSTA farms does. So I would guess you could be a little more relaxed about it.
Otherwise, if your care conditions are less than perfect, I’d be repotting that plant as soon as possible.
But there are other factors to figure in. For example if the pot doesn’t have a hole in the bottom because it came in a dish from the drugstore, I’d be repotting that into a grow pot quite soon.
All in all I think you need to consider figuring in where the plant was purchased from and the condition you find the plant in. Repotting can stress a plant and isn’t something you want to do without reason. But if the plant came from a big nursery and it was a plant I had no experience with, I’d be inclined to repot it very gently handling the roots as little as possible to put it in a well draining soil. Then I’d let it settle in for 3 or 4 weeks to see how my care is working for it.
Just so you know this is a maranta. Belongs to the same family as calathea but just a little different.
All depends…
Half my plants are still in OEM DIRT after 2 years
Marantas have oval leaves. Calatheas leaves have a few different shapes. Calatheas are bushier and grow more upright. Their leaves aren’t as reactive to light. Marantas tend to drop down and trail. They rise and fall their leaves in a pronounced way as they react to light.