Hey all,
This is my first calathea and I am struggling to keep it healthy. For the first month I watered it regularly and put it in a corner near a door – it gets indirect sunlight – and it looked fantastic.
But now, although it is still sprouting new, beautiful leaves, all of the mature leaves are yellow and dry at their edges, and the leaves are a lighter green than when I first bought it.
A friend thought it may be that my house is too dry, so I started to mist it twice a day (it’s been about 6 weeks now), but I’m not seeing an improvement. I know the leaves that are damaged won’t look better, but the new leaves eventually look like this, too.
What am I doing wrong? They are gorgeous and I want more, but I need to figure this guy out first.
by United_War3852
13 Comments
Hi, try to take a look at your water parameters. Calatheas don’t like hard water. If your water is hard, try a filtering device to soften the water.
You can also use chatGPT/AI to implement water softening strategies that fit you well 🙂
I think misting is not enough… you will have to get a humidifier.
I still havent bought one of this because my home is to dry…
I’d do it systemically.
Priority number two: Measure temp and humidity for a day in that room. Roughly: If it’s <25C they are fine with >50%, above 25-26C I’d say more like 55%. If you want to understand what I mean accurately, look into VPD. That’s a good rule of thumb tho.
Priority number one tho: Watering frequency. Really be intentional about watering. Put your finger into the soil 3-4cm at 2-3 locations, estimate the pot’s weight and estimate by the looks of the plant. As weird as it sounds, smell the soil regularly and you’ll notice if it has/is developing root rot. This looks like overwatering to me.
Priority number three: look at the lighting. Are leaves more in a shady spot looking better or are these all the leaves in the picture? Maybe it’s too bright there, if the things above didn’t seem to be sb issue
I’m so sorry for the frustration and heartbreak you are bound to experience as a calathea owner. I’ve murdered so many, every time telling myself “it will be different this time!!!” It never is ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
The problem with misting is it creates temporary humidity and I think a plant will be worse off with high fluctuations in humidity than a moderate stable humidity.
My pinstripe will curl her leaves if humidity drops to 50%, which most of my other plants (including a few other calatheas) are quite happy with. So I keep her next to a car humidifier or at least a water tray.
The yellowing/browning of the edges might be from overwatering or fertilizer stress, too, so best to keep an eye for those
Handmisting usually only raises the humidity for ~30min, it means it goes from normal (like 50%) to 99% in seconds and reverts back in minutes – this is not normal, the surroundings in forests, like the moss/leaves and soil, take days to revert back to dry conditions. So it can actually leads to brown/dried tips in the first place.
Calatheas are sensitive to excessive minerals and salts, they draw them up with the water and store them at the tip of their leaves. And if they get too much of it, then that part dies off and dries out.
You case is quite extreme. As others pointed out: If it starts from the edge of the leaves only, it’s usually mineral/chemical damage. Use distilled water, rainwater or use an aquarium water conditioner (quite cheap, a few ml for a few liter of water). If you fertilize, also dilute it to half or 1/4 or more. Chemical fertilizers need more dilution than biological ones.
The problem now: If you used hard water or chemical fertilizers for a while, then chloramine (often used today, instead of chlorine), calcium, and other minerals and salts are already in the soil. So you either need to repot into new soil, or use one of the water variants mentioned above to really flush the soil thoroughly. Otherwise you will still see damaged leaves for a long time, even after switching to better water.
If you want to flush the minerals/chemicals out: First slowly soak the soil really well and wait a few minutes for it to get evenly soaked. Then use a few liters of water and slowly pour from the top so it drains well from the bottom and carries all the excess stuff with it.
(Chemical fertilizers lead to salt buildupts and need a flush after maybe 6 months to 1 year if you use them regularly, while biological ones generally don’t build up salts.)
As other said you may need an humidifier and also lower light. I think it’s sunburn mainly and that’s also the reason of the lighter leaves, they get bleached when getting too much light
Calatheas are very sensitive to the type of water they receive. They CAN NOT have tap water. Rain water or distilled water only.
You should get a hygrometer that can link to a humidifier so it’ll mist the area your plant is in to maintain a set humidity level. I have a Govee one that I can control from my phone and it’s really helped my Medallion.
Since they’re also sensitive to minerals and salts in your tap water, I use Seachem Prime when I’m prepping my water. I also pH my water down to between 5.75-6.
I have my Rufibarba and Medallion now at 60% humidity on my shelf and a White Fusion, Rattlesnake, and Makoyana that also chill at 62% humidity in an IKEA cabinet.
Wife has a pinstripe, we threw it into pon in a self watering pot a few months back, it gets ok lighting, no special treatment for humidity and whatever temp our house is and it’s doing great so maybe try semi hydro
Just spritz that bitch every few days. Its gonna be a bitch no matter what bc thats what these beautiful psychos do.
Low humidity