Hi everyone 🫶
I have a calathea and I'm quite worried about its condition.
The leaves are curled and have brown, very dry edges, to the point that they break into small pieces when touched.
I mist it with water every day and I've put moss in the pot to increase humidity, but I don't see any improvement.
When I bought it, it was already somewhat dry, but when I brought it home, several leaves fell off, and it hasn't improved since.
Also, some leaves have holes, as if something has been eating them. I'm not sure if it's a pest or what it could be.
It has never been in direct sunlight, but it's in a window with good indirect light.
I've also thought it might be overwatering, since I'm sometimes a bit irregular with watering. I also feel like I've given it more water than it needed, thinking it would help.
Do you think it can still be saved?
What do you recommend I do (watering, humidity, substrate, pests, location)?
Thank you so much in advance 🙏🌿
by Aggressive_Bell4094
5 Comments
Looks like too much sun.
edit: I have one and live in Rio da Janeiro. The sun can get harsh here. Usually mine looks like this when taking too much mid of the day sun, even if properly hydrated.
It’s hard to say because this can be for several different reasons, but I can tell you why mine has done this at different times. At first I was letting it get too thirsty. It does not like to dry out between waterings. Ambient humidity is no problem as long as it’s getting adequately watered and it’s in a fluffy airy (but not chunky) soil. Not long after I figured it out it started to struggle again and… spider mites. I removed the worst leaves and treated for spider mites worth captain jack’s dead bug brew for 5 weeks. The one thing you mentioned that it never minded was too much light. They like much a lot more light than people think, and as soon as I increased the light it was much healthier, able to defend against pests, and more forgiving of a late watering.
Roughly, how often are you watering it?
How’s humidity?
Do you use tap water? Calatheas are so finicky and like filtered or distilled most of the time!