We’ve gotta do better, yall!

There seems to be so many people posting about their new additions to their plant family, but it seems like no one is doing research!

For those of us that are a little well-versed in handling Calathea, we have to speak up and make sure that we are offering consistent and valuable information. This means:

Check those rootballs when you bring these babies home! Folks are excited and super quick to repot but Calathea, like a lot of other sourced plants, have those nasty mesh cages that essentially suffocate them and keep them from growing amazingly.

Clarifying light: stop telling folks direct, kinda dim, etc

Most Calathea enjoy moderate to bright, indirect light… light that casts a soft shadow. They grow across the forest floor, so Mr. Sun is not beaming down on them! Stop trying to interrogate your plant! Keep that light a healthy distance away, but make sure it’s highlighting the baby – not beaming!

Humidity is fucking yall up too! 60-70% period! I saw another commenter say 40% minimum and that’s dangerously low. The Brazilian Rainforest would NEVER! Invest in a humidifier, DIY pebble trays – they help! Misting is literally not necessary if the humidity is on point.

Watering – please pay attention here! Stop using that faucet water! Folks don’t care, I get it. But if you didn’t use that overly chemically treated crap, your plants won’t have those ugly tips and edges! Distilled water is ideal. Natural Spring water would even do the trick – but NOT that purified NewLife crap… stopppppp!

If your plant is in a 2.5-4” nursery pot, bottom water for 5-10 mins. This means sitting your pot in a dish of water to be soaked up through the holes in the. Ottoman of the nursery pot. The whole pot should not be submerged. You only need 3-4” of water.

If your pot is nestled in a 6”-8” pot, 15-20min is enough. This will also reduce those gnats you see from your overwatering! Generally you’d be watering these babies every 8-10 days.

I use Fox Farms Ocean Floor ($10), but I add a mixed bag of orchid bark, perlite, and charcoal I found at Lowe’s ($6). Works way better than Miracle Gro – which is actually peat heavy which is too moisture retentive.

SuperThrive Foliage Pro, not the regular Kelp one, is my go to fertilizer. GT Foliage Focus is more expensive, does the same thing, but it’s usually for the collector level plant parents. SuperThrive Foliage Pro is the perfect formula for Calathea. 1/4 tsp in a gallon of distilled water is the perfect light feeding.

I’ll shut up though. My babies are grouped and are thriving this morning. (It’s 4:30P now) This is all but 3 of my Calathea in the video. They’re looking so vibrant and shiny right? I don’t do all the overthinking, lol. I created the rhythm FOR my plants. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here.