So the first image is my girl when we bought her. We've been using Distilled water every other week or whenever the top inch of soil felt dry. As you can see by the second image, she's unhappy. Found some fungal growth in the soil so I removed it. It's not come back but she hasn't bounced back yet. I think air circulation might be an issue with the type of basket she lives in. Also humidity is potentially an issue.
My questions are:
1) Is the basket bad?
2) After doing some research, it seems pebble trays are a myth. Should I buy a humidifier for the room?
3) What NPK ratio fertilizer should I get for her and when should I start using it?
If it wasn't obvious, she's a velvet furry feather calathea. My kids are very attached to her and I don't want her to die. Please help me??!
by LawrenceW93
1 Comment
I’m also kind of new to calathea, just been reading and watching a lot of youtube, but since no one else chimed in yet I thought I would.
The yellowing lower leaves and the presence of fungal growth leads me to believe the cause is overwatering, which means less that the total volume of water is too much, but more that there’s water sitting around in the soil that your calathea isn’t using, or can’t use.
(1) The “water when the top inch of soil is dry” rule of thumb is useful, but less so when you have a big calathea in a deep pot — most beginners start out with a little 4″ or 6″ pot, where the top inch is a much higher proportion than your big guy! [Aloha Plant Life suggests thinking of it more like the top 1/4 or 1/3 of the soil is dry](https://youtu.be/xTmi-t61jAQ?si=MzQYfXMvoATE4Lch&t=686).
(2) The basket should be okay, but I’m worried about the cache pot inside. Is there a drainage hole in there? It could be that the top part of the soil is drying out BUT there’s a bunch of water pooled in the bottom, and while calatheas like moist soil they hate having wet feet. You should definitely swap for a cache or nursery pot that has a drainage hole, so that you can water the soil fully (to get ALL of the roots hydrated) and then all the excess can flow out.
(3) What kind of potting mix are you using? Sometimes nurseries and greenhouses use extremely water-retentive mixes that could be contributing to the problem.
Might be worth taking the plant out to check if its roots are okay, or if they’re soft, black, and mushy (rotted away). If so, cut off the dying roots, and repot as necessary (if you need to make any of the changes above).
Also, the yellowed leaves are unlikely to turn green again — the plant will likely shed them in favor of growing new, healthy leaves when it recovers.