I had this as well, it’s spider mites, if you shine a torch on the leaf in the dark you can see all their tiny webs. Wash thoroughly with insecticidal soap / spray with insecticide.
PersephonesChild82
Spider mites. They love calatheas. Almost every calathea will come with them unless it has just come out of tissue culture. Most insecticides don’t work well on spider mites, so make sure to get a product that lists them specifically and follow the directions. I recommend a systemic if you can get one, because mites are very mobile.
For less toxic control, Neem oil won’t completely wipe them out, but it is fairly inexpensive, natural, readily available, and will do a good job keeping them from becoming numerous enough to harm the plant. People also report good results using predatory mites, but those are really expensive for a single plant (makes more sense if you have a greenhouse or very large collection). You can also just manually wipe leaves weekly top and bottom with a moist paper towel to remove mites and keep them from getting too bad (least effective, but adequate to control the problem if you don’t have other plants nearby that could be infested).
Beardedtatmuscle
If there are no signs of pests, then it is normal guttation of excess moisture. I have a pinstripe that does it. I just give it a shower every week or so. Look it up and I’m sure you’ll get similar answers. I have two sansevieria that do it after watering. But only a few droplets. They are both cylindrical sansevieria.
lulusgarden
I would take a bunch of q tips/cotton balls dipped in diluted rubbing alcohol and water, 50/50 and wipe all the little white spots that you see off. Look very close as they like to hide. Calatheas leaves can be sensitive so use caution
Sir_Bilbo_Fraggins
Did you water it before nightfall?
Mediocre-Coyote4387
My calathea has the sticky undersides and brown, dry edges. Can she be pruned?
yer-momma
This is a mix of guttation and spider mites. Sorry. The wet, sticky looking spots=normal guttation. The white dots=spider mites/eggs. I am actually dealing with spider mites myself right now. Spent 10 hours yesterday going through my collection of 120+ houseplants. Ugh. Sucks, but it’s a reality with this damn hobby.
It’ll be ok. Just quarantine, treat, and check/monitor nearby plants. Good luck! ❤️
mattparx
If they’re a hard sugar crystal, once dry on a setosa its perfectly normal and harmless. I’ve had these on mature plants. Unsure what the cause is, but they’re thriving. I assume its down to irregular watering.
Maximum-Appeal9256
use dr jacks super soap!! its spinosad and it works MIRACLES on even pretty bad spider mite invasions
Awkward_Elk_644
I had the same, it was dead in few months.
orchid7knitter
70% alcohol. Spray the plant. (Test a leaf if you’re scared.) Keep it out of the sun until it’s dry. Spray the soil with 3% hydrogen peroxide. Do this again in a few days to a week. They’ll be gone. You probably have an infestation on your other plants too- spider mites are not discriminatory.
Kitchen_Glove_8502
good lord please douse that thing in neem oil
PothosHorde
Or this is the cheapest and 100% most effective option. You take the bathtub you feel it with water you take the plant you submerge it for several minutes completely underwater. Any spider might alive will not be able to breathe and die end of story
lyonaria
I got a cutting of a lemon lime maranta from my stylist, she told me the white grainy stuff was just spilled powder bleach… It was spider mites. Spread to my rescue white fusion. I washed their leaves a few times with dish soap and it got rid of them.
anonablous
70% isopropyl alcohol, safer’s soap (insecticidal soap=potassium salts), in water. 30-40% of the alcohol to water, soap about 1-2 tbps/gal.
get a cheap makeup brush, and gently spread/lather that mix EVERYWHERE on the plant. both side of the leaves, the entire leaves stems, everything. squirt some into any rolled up new leaves. repeat regularly, mebbe once a week/every 10 days, for a month or two.
sulfur will work too, but my medallion showed a small sensitivity/reaction to it, so i won’t recommend it to you.
the alcohol mix method is tried and true. both will kill mites and thrips.
the absolute key is repeating the treatments often enough and long enough to get the bugs that hatch AFTER you’ve treated. takes awhile to finally nuke the buggers out.
it’s a fairly easy deal, no major work, but you better get on it quick, and treat every single plant in your house. these things travel far and wide.
g’luck 🙂
anonablous
oh-acaricides are what you want to look for, if going the ‘chemical’ route-but they will eventually develop resistance to just about anything.
they can’t develop resistance to alcohol and soap 😉
17 Comments
Looks like spider mites
I had this as well, it’s spider mites, if you shine a torch on the leaf in the dark you can see all their tiny webs. Wash thoroughly with insecticidal soap / spray with insecticide.
Spider mites. They love calatheas. Almost every calathea will come with them unless it has just come out of tissue culture. Most insecticides don’t work well on spider mites, so make sure to get a product that lists them specifically and follow the directions. I recommend a systemic if you can get one, because mites are very mobile.
For less toxic control, Neem oil won’t completely wipe them out, but it is fairly inexpensive, natural, readily available, and will do a good job keeping them from becoming numerous enough to harm the plant. People also report good results using predatory mites, but those are really expensive for a single plant (makes more sense if you have a greenhouse or very large collection). You can also just manually wipe leaves weekly top and bottom with a moist paper towel to remove mites and keep them from getting too bad (least effective, but adequate to control the problem if you don’t have other plants nearby that could be infested).
If there are no signs of pests, then it is normal guttation of excess moisture. I have a pinstripe that does it. I just give it a shower every week or so. Look it up and I’m sure you’ll get similar answers. I have two sansevieria that do it after watering. But only a few droplets. They are both cylindrical sansevieria.
I would take a bunch of q tips/cotton balls dipped in diluted rubbing alcohol and water, 50/50 and wipe all the little white spots that you see off. Look very close as they like to hide. Calatheas leaves can be sensitive so use caution
Did you water it before nightfall?
My calathea has the sticky undersides and brown, dry edges. Can she be pruned?
This is a mix of guttation and spider mites. Sorry. The wet, sticky looking spots=normal guttation. The white dots=spider mites/eggs. I am actually dealing with spider mites myself right now. Spent 10 hours yesterday going through my collection of 120+ houseplants. Ugh. Sucks, but it’s a reality with this damn hobby.
It’ll be ok. Just quarantine, treat, and check/monitor nearby plants. Good luck! ❤️
If they’re a hard sugar crystal, once dry on a setosa its perfectly normal and harmless. I’ve had these on mature plants. Unsure what the cause is, but they’re thriving. I assume its down to irregular watering.
use dr jacks super soap!! its spinosad and it works MIRACLES on even pretty bad spider mite invasions
I had the same, it was dead in few months.
70% alcohol. Spray the plant. (Test a leaf if you’re scared.) Keep it out of the sun until it’s dry. Spray the soil with 3% hydrogen peroxide. Do this again in a few days to a week. They’ll be gone. You probably have an infestation on your other plants too- spider mites are not discriminatory.
good lord please douse that thing in neem oil
Or this is the cheapest and 100% most effective option. You take the bathtub you feel it with water you take the plant you submerge it for several minutes completely underwater. Any spider might alive will not be able to breathe and die end of story
I got a cutting of a lemon lime maranta from my stylist, she told me the white grainy stuff was just spilled powder bleach… It was spider mites. Spread to my rescue white fusion. I washed their leaves a few times with dish soap and it got rid of them.
70% isopropyl alcohol, safer’s soap (insecticidal soap=potassium salts), in water. 30-40% of the alcohol to water, soap about 1-2 tbps/gal.
get a cheap makeup brush, and gently spread/lather that mix EVERYWHERE on the plant. both side of the leaves, the entire leaves stems, everything. squirt some into any rolled up new leaves. repeat regularly, mebbe once a week/every 10 days, for a month or two.
sulfur will work too, but my medallion showed a small sensitivity/reaction to it, so i won’t recommend it to you.
the alcohol mix method is tried and true. both will kill mites and thrips.
the absolute key is repeating the treatments often enough and long enough to get the bugs that hatch AFTER you’ve treated. takes awhile to finally nuke the buggers out.
it’s a fairly easy deal, no major work, but you better get on it quick, and treat every single plant in your house. these things travel far and wide.
g’luck 🙂
oh-acaricides are what you want to look for, if going the ‘chemical’ route-but they will eventually develop resistance to just about anything.
they can’t develop resistance to alcohol and soap 😉