I've had this calathea for a few months now, it's not been doing the greatest with most of its new growth coming in like this – leaves translucent or completely missing in spots. I've been isolating it as I'm wary of pests and have been treating it occasionally. I did a repot the other day and found it had a root cage, which I removed.
Really struggling to understand what's going on with this one as I've not come across this kind of damage before. TIA for any answers
by Fizzy68
8 Comments
I’m curious too , but don’t have the answer . I’ll be checking back .
Previous posts like this one suggest it might be from overwatering. How often do you water it?
I would dismiss overwatering as that would kill the entire leaf, it would yellow completely first.
Are you misting and/or overwatering? It looks like major oedema, where the roots take up water faster than the plant can transpire (release water vapor) and the cells burst. You get soft, watery, translucent spots that eventually turn brown and die. Poor air movement and insufficient light can compound it by reducing the rate of transpiration. Other things can cause cell damage, but damage like that… that’s the most likely guess. Eta, the calathea in the background of your first picture looks like it’s having the same issue on the edges.
Humidity too high. These guys are such a balance of either too much or not enough humidity. I live with the too much and just ignore those leaves. I personally think not enough is worse.
It’s a humidity issue
Super dry.. you need HIGH humidity and don’t let it dry out
If you repotted and took out a bunch of roots of course that would mean it no longer has the same water infrastructure so it can’t send water up the way it used to, causing splotch problems