There is nothing like the stunning foliage of Calathea plants (now reclassified as Goeppertia)! If you can keep them in good condition that is! There are a few things to keep in mind to keep these plants in beautiful condition and avoid the dreaded brown, crispy edges!
Keep reading to find out all about Calathea care, including light requirements, repotting, and how to prevent your Calathea from dying.
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And by dying, most people tend to overreact to every little crispy leaf, but you can quickly kill a Calathea if you are not aware of a few things!
In this post, I will provide my personal experience with Calathea.
In particular, I will show my Calathea lancifolia (also known as Rattlesnake Plant) and Calathea orbifolia.
However, the care and advice will apply broadly to all plants in the Calathea genus.
Some other gorgeous Calathea species include Calathea makoyana, Calathea ornata, and Calathea roseopicta, among many others!
I will go into the care very shortly, but let me show you my plants. Here is my Calathea lancifolia.
I absolutely love the stunning patterns on the leaves! And here is my Calathea orbifolia.
These plants can grow HUGE. A friend actually sent me a tiny orbifolia in a mail and she is starting to grow into a beautiful specimen.
I would encourage you to read this entire post because you can't really separate elements of houseplant care. You have to look at them all together to get a good picture of how to take care of your plants.
By the end of this post, you will understand how to care for your Calathea and how to do your best to keep them in great shape and minimize those crispy leaves and edges that plague many people.
Table of Contents
HOW TO AVOID BROWN, CRISPY EDGES IN CALATHEA
1. HUMIDITY FOR CALATHEA
I wanted to start out first by talking about humidity. There are MORE important topics than low humidity actually, but I will get to those very soon.
If you can provide higher humidity for your Calathea plants, please go ahead and do so.
It is NOT the most important factor in keeping most of your Calathea species in good shape, but they DO prefer humid environments.
First of all, misting will do nothing to increase humidity! Humidity is a measure of moisture in the air. You are just wetting the leaves by misting.
That being said, Calathea can be prone to spider mites and misting can actually help deter spider mites (since spider mites like very dry conditions). There is one benefit to misting!
However don't expect misting to increase your humidity. There are better ways. If you do have a spider mite infestation, read my blog post on Spider Mites: 3 Things You Can Do to Stop Them.
Just don't overdo misting your calathea's leaves otherwise you can encourage fungal diseases, especially if your air circulation is poor.
One great way to achieve high humidity for your Calatheas and other plants is to simply get a humidifier. I honestly only run mine in the winter months when our indoor air is super dry.
My absolute favorite humidifier, and the one that I personally use is the Levoit Humidifier. It honestly is the best one I've used and I've used a lot.
It will cost a little more but is well worth it. It has many features including cool and warm mist, and is quiet and very effective. Not to mention, it is built very well and will last you much longer if you take care of it!
I run it all winter long in my sunroom. Not only is it good for my plants, but it is also great for my dry skin and my dry winter nasal passages! 😀
Central heating can result in really dry air, so I make sure to run my humidifier diligently all winter long.
The Levoit Ultrasonic Humidifier is by far the best humidifier I've tested and I will not use any other.
Another way to increase humidity is to group plants together. Plants naturally release water into the air by a process called transpiration.
The more you group together, the more the localized humidity will increase.
There are no secrets in houseplant care. A lot of people ask me frequently "what is your secret" for taking care of [insert plant of the day here].
The only "secret" is just proper houseplant care techniques, like proper watering. If you have proper watering down, in conjunction with proper light, you are most of the way there in ensuring that your plants are healthy.
Those dreaded Calathea crispy leaves and edges, more times than not, are due to inconsistent watering and/or improper watering! NOT humidity (though high humidity will help).
Proper watering is a much bigger factor in ensuring that your Calathea leaves are in great condition. If you have good humidity on top of all that, all the better! Think of it as a bonus.
You must get your watering practices down and have proper light first. THEN focus on increasing humidity. If you have all 3, you are golden.
That being said, PROPER AND CONSISTENT WATERING is the key to avoiding excessive crispy and brown leaf edges in Calathea (and other plants!)
There are so many watering myths concerning houseplants in general and the word overwatering is terribly misunderstood.
Be sure to read these two blog posts that I just linked to above after you're done with this post. They are critical to growing beautiful houseplants.
Take my Calathea lancifolia plant above. This plant was in great condition for a long time when I was very attentive and consistent in watering.
But sometimes, something called life happens, and I either get too tired or busy and I let my plants dry out more than I normally do. If you keep doing this over and over, you will get crispy leaves.
Your Calathea is not dying if you have one crispy leaf. Keep that in mind. But neglect watering over and over again, and it just may die!
So how much do Calathea like to be watered? How often should you water your Calathea? The short answer is that it DEPENDS!
People ask me all the time how often to water plants. And it really just depends. Don't go by your calendar!
Go by your soil moisture instead! Everyone's conditions are different. The size of your pot, the type of pot you have (terra cotta vs. plastic for example), the temperature, type of soil, all play a role in how quickly the soil dries out.
So forget that calendar schedule for watering and use your finger instead.
Calathea plants like to grow in a consistently moist soil, but they do NOT like to dry out completely.
A good rule of thumb that I like to use for these plants is to allow the surface of the soil to dry out, and then water again.
Maybe the top inch or so smaller pots. If you have a huge pot, maybe allow the top 2 inches to dry out.
But when do you water, water thoroughly! Let all the water drain out of the drainage hole, and you are done.
Then just keep observing and repeat. It really is as simple as that!
By having good watering practices and never allowing your Calathea soil to completely dry out, you will avoid those ugly crispy and brown leaves.
On the other end, make sure that your plant is never sitting in watering for extended periods of time and always ensure that you have a drainage hole. Like most plants, you can have root rot if this continues.
Once you have root rot, you can start to get yellow leaves and also brown tips as well.
You may still get very small brown tips on the leaves even with good care, but seriously...don't stress about those.
As long as the rest of the plant looks healthy and vigorous, you have come a long way!
3. WATER QUALITY FOR CALATHEA
Last but definitely not least, Calathea plants can be pretty sensitive to hard water and fluoride in tap water. You can grow them with hard tap water, but depending on the quality of your tap water, this can also cause brown leaf edges.
Many people have been very successful using distilled water for their Calatheas and have reported great results with minimal to no brown edges of the leaves.
If you don't want to bother with buying distilled water or setting up a complicated RO water system, don't miss my post on the best distilled water alternative for Calathea plants. You will thank me for it! It has worked wonders for my plants.
Of course, you'll also have to make sure that you're not letting your soil dry out too much either.
Avoid cold water, and always use room temperature or lukewarm water. Being native to tropical rainforest, it makes sense to avoid cold water.
Calatheas don't need a ton of fertilizer, but be sure to use some throughout the growing season, especially if you are using distilled water.
My favorite fertilizer that I use for most of my houseplants is Dyna-Gro Grow (easily purchased on Amazon).
Simply add ¼ to ½ teaspoon in a gallon of water and for Calathea, I might use with every other watering, or even once a month or so during the growing season.
You don't want to overdo it because of their sensitivity to salts, but they still need some fertilizer for best growth.
You can water periodically with just plain distilled water in order to flush away any build up of salts.
Watering with pure distilled water in between fertilizer applications will help flush out any salts that can potentially cause brown leaves.
Rain water is also a wonderful water source if you can collect it.
CAN CALATHEA GROW IN LOW LIGHT?
This is a loaded question too! Let me talk a little about "low light" and what Calathea like.
Low light is just too vague and everyone interprets it differently. Let me just tell you what works for me.
Calathea are among the "lower" light plants if you would like to call them that, but they still need to be in front of a window for best results. And by in front of a window, I mean within a couple feet (in most cases).
Light intensity decreases DRAMATICALLY the further you get from a window. You would be shocked!
Calathea do not like a lot of direct sun. The most I would do is some morning sun (which Eastern windows provide) but no more than that. Northerns windows will work well.
If you have any windows that are very sunny, you can either move your plant back a little, or use a sheer curtain to diffuse the direct sun so that the plants are not getting direct sun on their leaves.
Too much direct sun, or even short periods of hot, intense sun, can burn their leaves.
That's it! You're most of the way there now. Giving your Calatheas proper light and proper watering will go a long way in ensuring a beautiful plant.
There is more to consider though that is very important so keep on reading!
WHAT KIND OF SOIL DOES CALATHEA NEED?
Plants can really grow in a variety of mediums and soil mixtures, but the most important thing that you need to keep in mind is that the soil should be well drained.
There is no one "magic" soil mixture.
Many pre-packaged soil mixes can use some help though in the area of drainage!
As a general potting mix, I love using Miracle Gro potting mixand I do amend it a bit to make it fluffier and lighter, depending on what plants I'm growing.
For Calathea, I like to add perlite to mix.
I like to use my wheelbarrow outside for this to keep the mess down and keep it easy! My ratio will vary, but 2 to 3 parts of Miracle Gro potting mix to 1 part of perlite is a good rule of thumb!
The reason that you want good drainage all has to do with oxygen to the roots. If you incorporate things like perlite, which I buy often all the time from Amazon, it will increase drainage and oxygen to your plant's roots.
This is very important for all plants.
ORGANIC POTTING MIX
If you don't want to mix your own, I HIGHLY recommend the Oh Happy Plants mixes that you can use straight out of the bag. The Pray For Us soil blend is formulated specifically for Calathea and plants in the prayer plant family. If you use my link, you will automatically receive 10% off at checkout on any product.
The Pray For Us soil blend also contains no chemical fertilizer additives, and uses organic additives instead to slow-release nutrients over time, so you won't have to add fertilizer for a while and there are no chemical fertilizer salts to worry about giving you brown leaf tips since they are sensitive to salts.
There are also concerns with perlite being a source of fluoride which can cause brown tips in Calathea leaves, but Oh Happy Plants does not use perlite in their blends.
As a basis for that blog post, I survey my readers about all of their frustrations with potting mixes. All of these questions have been answered, and I also talk about my amazing experiences with using the mix.
In fact, I'm currently transferring most of my plants to this mix after seeing the amazing results it produces!
Let's talk about how to repot Calathea now.
CALATHEA REPOTTING
Are you ready to repot your Calathea? How do you know when to repot Calathea, or any other plant for that matter?
Has your plant been in that same small pot for a long time? You can simply slip your plant out of its pot to see if it is root bound. If it is, it is time to repot.
Maybe you see roots coming out of the drainage holes. Time to repot.
Or maybe you just have a lot of surface roots, and the pot just seems to dry out really quickly. Much more quickly than before.
These are all indications that you may want to repot.
Let's take a look at my steps that I used to repot my Calathea lancifolia. This applies to almost all houseplants.
If you have a flexible plastic pot, you can just squeeze the pot gently to loosen it so you can take it out.
I had mine in a ceramic pot so I just used a metal chopstick and passed just inserted it around the whole perimeter of the plant.
You can also use a knife to do this as well. Once you do this, gently see if the plant comes out of the pot. If it doesn't, keep using the chopstick or knife until it does.
You can see from the photo above that it is pretty potbound. It could be worse though!
Then the next thing you want to do is to loosen the root ball. Gently take both hands and loosen the bottom and the sides of the rootball.
If you break a couple roots, please don't worry. This step is necessary! Your plant will thank you!
If you don't do this step, your plant's roots will find it much more difficult to grow into the new soil in your new pot.
Once I had a peace lily that I didn't do this do, and years later when I repotted it again, none of the roots had grown into the new soil! The original pot-bound look was still in-tact!
I ended up combining two plants into one pot. When you add your soil mixture, be sure that there are no air gaps. You want the roots to have contact with the new soil.
Gently press down to ensure that this occurs. Then give your plant a good watering, and you are done!
CALATHEAS HATE THE COLD
Lastly, I'd like to talk a little bit about temperature. Calathea plants HATE cold temperatures! Aim to have temperatures no lower than 60F (15.5 C)
Numerous people have written to me about their Calatheas suddenly having these issues:
Leaves are starting to curl.
The plant is no longer upright and leaves seem to droop.
The plant is no longer "praying." Healthy Calathea plants should move their leaves upward at night and then lower them during the day.
I've come to find out that many of those plants with these issues have been exposed to cooler temperatures. Calatheas prefer temperatures in the 65F-80F range (18C-27C).
Temperatures much below 60F (15.5C) will cause many of the issues described above. So try your best to avoid cold drafts, or cooler temperatures as described above!
CALATHEA PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS
Should i bottom water Calathea?
I do not recommend bottom watering Calathea, especially if you are using tap water or using fertilizer. Fertilizer salts and minerals from tap water will accumulate through bottom watering. If you do bottom water, be sure to periodically top water with distilled or filtered water to remove any accumulated salts that can cause damage to your plant over time.
Does Calathea like coffee grounds?
Although Calathea like a soil pH of around 6.5 and coffee grounds tend to be around a pH of 6.5-6.8, making it acceptable from a pH standpoint, it is not recommended to add coffee grounds directly to your Calathea soil. In order to make any nutrients in coffee grounds available to plants, the coffee grounds must be composted first. Adding coffee grounds directly to soil before composting will rob the soil of nitrogen and can actually harm your plants. Using any uncomposted kitchen scraps will actually create conditions that are favorable to fungus, mold, bacteria and also can attract fungus gnats.
Do Calathea like to be misted?
Misting does NOT increase humidity. It will only wet your leaves and if you overdo it (especially if air circulation is poor), you can also invite fungal issues. Raise humidity by using a humidifier.
Does Calathea like small pots?
They should be up-potted to a larger pot once root bound. Leaving them constricted in a small pot will eventually inhibit growth.
Should I shower my Calathea?
Yes, it would benefit your Calathea if you periodically took your plant to a shower or a sink in order to be rinsed off to remove accumulated dust on the leaves that can inhibit photosynthesis. Be sure to use lukewarm water and never cold. Rinsing your plants off will also help to deter any pests that may be present, especially spider mites.
Can I put my Calathea outside?
Yes, absolutely. Remember that there is no such thing as a "houseplant" since all plants evolved outdoors. When you move your plants outdoors, be sure that conditions are warm (above 60F) and that you have your plants in the shade.
Is Calathea safe for pets?
According to the ASPCA, Calathea are non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses.
Can I put Calathea in the bathroom?
Yes! Bathrooms typically provide higher humidity which can benefit Calathea plants. Just make sure that your bathroom has sufficient light for your plant.
RELATED POSTS
If you want to explore different kinds of Calathea, check out my blog post with 39 Calathea varieties that you can hunt down for your own collection!
Hi I have several Calatheas and they seem to be looking so lush when I got them. I have them for 3 months now and I have repotted them all with mix of premium potting mix, coco coir, perlite and bit of charcoal and they seem to be okay. This was almost 6-7 weeks ago.
But I noticed my orbifolia leaves are light green like fading silver stripe marks and losing the greeness it has previously but only on the 3 top leaves. Also my a few of my Calathea medallion leaves are curling and brown tips same as my Ornata and Fasciata.
i water with tap water before and had only watered them 3 times since I got them in early March. Last week I watered them with distilled water to see any difference but nothing really more brown tips. I use humidifier too. Bright well lit bathroom. No pests as I sprayed neem oil few times.
I dont know what I am doing wrong. The temperature here indoors between 16-21C in Australia (autumn)
Hi. Great to find your page. I was in the wrong place when this covid virus struck so my calathea (I think Majestica) was without water for 7 weeks :(. I cut off all the crispy leaves and left the 7 ok ones and 4 partly damaged ones. It has hardly dried out since I watered it nearly 2 weeks ago and the damaged leaves are yellowing in the middle. Does it have any chance of recovering do you think?! Astoundingly my ficus elastica perked up in no time and only dropped one leaf at the bottom so miracles do happen in the plant world!
Hi JC. Just keep an eye on it and keep it in good light. It's hard to say if it will recover, but just be attentive and if you're lucky, it will start to grow back from the roots! Keep in mind that it will probably take longer to dry out since it lost most of its leaves. So don't go too crazy with watering at this point, but make sure it is not dry!
Hello!
Thank you so much for this informative article! I’ve just gotten my first two calatheas. One is a calathea medallion that I’ve noticed has a couple (very small, like a speck of rice) spots on a few of the leaves. I know this plant can be finicky so I just want to make sure it isn’t the beginning of a problem. I’ve got the calathea sitting directly in front of a humidifier and it’s about four feet from a window but behind a sheer curtain. I water it every 3-5 days with distilled water. Do you have any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong?
Thank you!
It's hard to say without seeing a photo. I would make sure that the humidifier mist isn't blowing directly onto the plant. This will cause issues. I'd say give it some time since you just got the plants.
Thank you for this post, it’s so thorough and helpful!
I have a question about my recently acquired Calathea Zebrina. She’s grown quite tall, about a metre in height. However, I am starting to notice her leaves are dropping especially at night (when I first got her, the leaves would go up at night and open up during the day). I haven’t repotted the plant since getting it, but I am starting to notice the stems are browning slowly, and I also notice some of the smaller leaves closer to the bottom are yellowing and I am finding slightly brown tips on the top leaves.
Is it time to repot my plant? I read somewhere that it could be a sign of fusarium as an infection and that I should clean the roots and change the soil. I was advised by the vendor at the plant store to repot her soon (a few weeks ago) I am just a bit worried because it’s gotten colder here in Australia that it wouldn’t be the right time to repot.
If you could help me that would be amazing! Happy to send you photos as well.
Janelle
Hi Janelle, sounds like you're doing a great job! Please send me an email with photos. If you use the contact form on my site, send me a note, and then when I reply, you can attach your photos.
Love your article! I'm about to get the infamously dramatic white fusion and am trying to prepare. Do you add peat to your soil to help with moisture retention?
Thank you for your very informative post! Unfortunately it’s nothing I haven’t tried yet to help my poor Calathea Misto - which has been suffering from browning crispy curling edges consistently since I got her 3 weeks ago. I mist her daily, she’s on a humidity tray, right next to my Calathea maranta, with moist soil in a ceramic pot (that may be too big??) and about 2 feet from a south facing window with indirect light. What does she want! I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but I feel terrible about it. Any direction would be much appreciated!! Thank you!!
Hi Cat! I've never tried growing the Misto. In my experience, the easiest one is Calathea lancifolia by far. In general, Calathea is not the easiest genus of plants to grow inside. If you've only had your plant for 3 weeks, give it a little longer and try to follow the care tips in the post. Do your best to increase the humidity. Misting doesn't really do anything for humidity, so stick with a consistent moist humidity tray like you have and a humidifier.
Your post is very thorough. As a new plant mom I’m so grateful for people like yourself. 🙂
I have a calathea warscewiczii and it was my very first plant :). I was very excited to have such a beauty in my home. I’ve done a bunch of things to help my plant thrive and thankfully it’s been working, however I’m still having trouble with crispy brown edges. I also have a few leaves that are pointing downward all day and getting slightly yellow around the edges (while others are healthy and consistently going up at night :)). I do find that my plant dries out pretty fast and I tend to rely on a moisture tester to check that (started using my finger a bit more since I saw what your wrote about the moisture testers).
Just wondering if my problems will be solved with a humidifier and I just need to increase the humidity or if there’s anything else that will get my entire plant looking healthy and happy.
I also don’t see a bunch of water draining out when I water it. Crossing my fingers that there’s now root rot....
Just asking for any advice you have. I can send pictures as well.
Hi Julie! Don't get discouraged. Having a Calathea as a first plant is tricky. I would recommend growing easier houseplants to start off with so that you can gain some confidence! If you'd like to email me some photos, that would help. Please send photos of the plant in its growing location so I can see its proximity to your windows. Also describe everything you do to care for it...how you water, the temperature range inside your home, etc. Calatheas definitely like it warm and humid so a humidifier would always be a good idea.
I have a lancifolia calathea and I've noticed that my soil dries out extremely quickly... Or when I water it, it seems like the soil itself isn't absorbing water. I also can see that the leaves close to the stem are turning brown... What should I do?
Sometimes if you let your soil get super dry, it takes some work to recondition it. Initially when you water, the water will seem to run straight through. You need to water it all around the pot several times in a row until the soil actually absorbs the water. Use warm water. It will take a few times, but if you don't do this, your plant will decline pretty quickly. Try not and let the soil get that dry again, especially for Calathea. Also, I don't have details on your plant or photos, but you may need to consider placing it in a larger pot if it is very potbound. Hope this helps!
Hello!!
I have a Calathea and I’ve had a bad case of root rot ? I’ve cut all the unhealthy roots and I’m basically left with a stump and a few tiny white roots . I’ve rinsed them. What do I do now?! Repot ? Cut leaves off ? Leave to air and root and mist everyday ?!
Hi Molly, I would really try and first understand what caused it. Can you send me some photos and describe your conditions (light, soil, watering, etc).
Thank you for an amazing post! I got my calathea a couple of days ago and I’m loving it!
I just have one problem. When I got it it was already rootbound, so i repotted it yesterday. But I forgot to have perlite or something to cause good drainage in the soil! So now it has only soil in the pot. I dont know if I should just keep it that way and hope for the best or if I should repot it again with perlite in the soil? What would you recomend? Im afraid that repotting it again would only Worsen the case..
Hi Hanne. You may be OK, so just monitor your plant. Don't be too quick to change too many things at once. Especially if you just received your plant and already repotted it. Just make sure that you're giving your plant enough light. This is really important.
Having trouble with my Calathea Ornata. Following all of the standard instructions — watering, humidity, bright but indirect light. However, all my my leaves are brown and curling! I’ve been gauging the moisture of the soil (and it’s in a pot with drainage and never sits in water) and the water seems to stay damp for a long time. I tried to “repot” it recently bc I was concerned about root rot, but the roots were also fine.
Any ideas?? I’ve only had it for a month! No idea what’s wrong ??
Hi Kelly! What size pot is it in? Did you repot it when you first received it or is it still in its original pot from when you got it? Was it exposed to cold drafts or cold temperatures at all? When you said you are gauging the moisture, are you using a moisture meter (I don't recommend those) or just feeling the soil with your finger?
Hi
I was wondering if you can help me save my plant. It was beautiful and then it started to get its edges brown, curly and dry. I had it in front of a window but one day it was cold and I opened the window do you think the cold air burnt it?
Please help me
Thank you
Did the brown edges appear shortly after exposure to cold air? These plants definitely hate cold temperatures and drafts. How long was the window open and how cold was it outside?
Hi Anna, just give it time and it should bounce back if you're providing good regular care and you're keeping it warm now.
Hello Raffaele,
I have a calathea rufibarba which is not doing very well, I've sent a photo to your email for reference.
The leaves were burning closer to the window so I moved it a bit further back, it was doing well for some time but now most of the leaves are turning brown. The soil -when I test it with my finger- feels moist so I wouldn't water again. Should i re-pot in a smaller pot with only the healthy leaves? Should I water more regularly or less often? Or should I just remove the dead leaves and wait for sunnier days? I live n Scotland so no much sun sees my plants unfortunately. Please help me I'm afraid I cannot help it 🙁
Hi there! Desperately seeking help for my beloved calathea rufibarba. "Barb" was growing extremely well until I made the mistake of moving her to sit with my other calatheas. Her leaves started discoulouring; instead of a uniform purple underside, they are now speckled and brown. She no longer "prays" at night and is sad and droopy. Once I noticed something was amiss, I moved her back to her old spot, but she is not bouncing back. Should I trim off the discoloured leaves? Is she a goner? Happy to send a pic. Thank you so much for any recommendations you may have.
Hello Talia! Yes, photos would help and I also have questions. Please include in the email how the conditions changed from where you used to have Barb to where you moved her. Light, temperature, etc. Anything that you can observe that changed. I will try my best to help!
Just use the contact form on my site in the menu 🙂
I have a calathea where a new stem was sprouting but now has dried out at the tip. Plant is next to a humidifier at all times and the usual humidity is 60-70%. The top of the new stem is now all dry. Is there a way for the new stem to recover or should I remove it altogether?
Hi Pauline. I would just cut off the brown tip and leave anything that it still green. It's hard to say without seeing a photo. Are you maintaining good soil moisture? Not to dry and not too wet? It could be watering related.
If the leaves really bother you, you can cut them off. If you can stand them, just leave them on! If you have a lot of leaves with crispy edges, you don't want to cut all of them off your plant. If it's just one or two, it's fine to do that.
Hi I have several Calatheas and they seem to be looking so lush when I got them. I have them for 3 months now and I have repotted them all with mix of premium potting mix, coco coir, perlite and bit of charcoal and they seem to be okay. This was almost 6-7 weeks ago.
But I noticed my orbifolia leaves are light green like fading silver stripe marks and losing the greeness it has previously but only on the 3 top leaves. Also my a few of my Calathea medallion leaves are curling and brown tips same as my Ornata and Fasciata.
i water with tap water before and had only watered them 3 times since I got them in early March. Last week I watered them with distilled water to see any difference but nothing really more brown tips. I use humidifier too. Bright well lit bathroom. No pests as I sprayed neem oil few times.
I dont know what I am doing wrong. The temperature here indoors between 16-21C in Australia (autumn)
Have you let your plants dry out a lot? What kind of light and conditions do you have them growing in?
Hi. Great to find your page. I was in the wrong place when this covid virus struck so my calathea (I think Majestica) was without water for 7 weeks :(. I cut off all the crispy leaves and left the 7 ok ones and 4 partly damaged ones. It has hardly dried out since I watered it nearly 2 weeks ago and the damaged leaves are yellowing in the middle. Does it have any chance of recovering do you think?! Astoundingly my ficus elastica perked up in no time and only dropped one leaf at the bottom so miracles do happen in the plant world!
Hi JC. Just keep an eye on it and keep it in good light. It's hard to say if it will recover, but just be attentive and if you're lucky, it will start to grow back from the roots! Keep in mind that it will probably take longer to dry out since it lost most of its leaves. So don't go too crazy with watering at this point, but make sure it is not dry!
Hello!
Thank you so much for this informative article! I’ve just gotten my first two calatheas. One is a calathea medallion that I’ve noticed has a couple (very small, like a speck of rice) spots on a few of the leaves. I know this plant can be finicky so I just want to make sure it isn’t the beginning of a problem. I’ve got the calathea sitting directly in front of a humidifier and it’s about four feet from a window but behind a sheer curtain. I water it every 3-5 days with distilled water. Do you have any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong?
Thank you!
It's hard to say without seeing a photo. I would make sure that the humidifier mist isn't blowing directly onto the plant. This will cause issues. I'd say give it some time since you just got the plants.
Hey Raffaele,
Thank you for this post, it’s so thorough and helpful!
I have a question about my recently acquired Calathea Zebrina. She’s grown quite tall, about a metre in height. However, I am starting to notice her leaves are dropping especially at night (when I first got her, the leaves would go up at night and open up during the day). I haven’t repotted the plant since getting it, but I am starting to notice the stems are browning slowly, and I also notice some of the smaller leaves closer to the bottom are yellowing and I am finding slightly brown tips on the top leaves.
Is it time to repot my plant? I read somewhere that it could be a sign of fusarium as an infection and that I should clean the roots and change the soil. I was advised by the vendor at the plant store to repot her soon (a few weeks ago) I am just a bit worried because it’s gotten colder here in Australia that it wouldn’t be the right time to repot.
If you could help me that would be amazing! Happy to send you photos as well.
Janelle
Hi Janelle, sounds like you're doing a great job! Please send me an email with photos. If you use the contact form on my site, send me a note, and then when I reply, you can attach your photos.
@Raffaele, hi raffaele! Thanks so much. I’ve sent you an email with the photos that I’ve attached 🙂 thanks.
@Janelle, @Raffaele
Hi, I have exactly the same problem, have you figured out some solutions?
Love your article! I'm about to get the infamously dramatic white fusion and am trying to prepare. Do you add peat to your soil to help with moisture retention?
Glad you enjoyed it Hannah! I wouldn't add additional peat. Stick with what I describe in the blog post :-).
Greetings!
Thank you for your very informative post! Unfortunately it’s nothing I haven’t tried yet to help my poor Calathea Misto - which has been suffering from browning crispy curling edges consistently since I got her 3 weeks ago. I mist her daily, she’s on a humidity tray, right next to my Calathea maranta, with moist soil in a ceramic pot (that may be too big??) and about 2 feet from a south facing window with indirect light. What does she want! I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but I feel terrible about it. Any direction would be much appreciated!! Thank you!!
Hi Cat! I've never tried growing the Misto. In my experience, the easiest one is Calathea lancifolia by far. In general, Calathea is not the easiest genus of plants to grow inside. If you've only had your plant for 3 weeks, give it a little longer and try to follow the care tips in the post. Do your best to increase the humidity. Misting doesn't really do anything for humidity, so stick with a consistent moist humidity tray like you have and a humidifier.
Hey!
Your post is very thorough. As a new plant mom I’m so grateful for people like yourself. 🙂
I have a calathea warscewiczii and it was my very first plant :). I was very excited to have such a beauty in my home. I’ve done a bunch of things to help my plant thrive and thankfully it’s been working, however I’m still having trouble with crispy brown edges. I also have a few leaves that are pointing downward all day and getting slightly yellow around the edges (while others are healthy and consistently going up at night :)). I do find that my plant dries out pretty fast and I tend to rely on a moisture tester to check that (started using my finger a bit more since I saw what your wrote about the moisture testers).
Just wondering if my problems will be solved with a humidifier and I just need to increase the humidity or if there’s anything else that will get my entire plant looking healthy and happy.
I also don’t see a bunch of water draining out when I water it. Crossing my fingers that there’s now root rot....
Just asking for any advice you have. I can send pictures as well.
Hi Julie! Don't get discouraged. Having a Calathea as a first plant is tricky. I would recommend growing easier houseplants to start off with so that you can gain some confidence! If you'd like to email me some photos, that would help. Please send photos of the plant in its growing location so I can see its proximity to your windows. Also describe everything you do to care for it...how you water, the temperature range inside your home, etc. Calatheas definitely like it warm and humid so a humidifier would always be a good idea.
Hello!
I have a lancifolia calathea and I've noticed that my soil dries out extremely quickly... Or when I water it, it seems like the soil itself isn't absorbing water. I also can see that the leaves close to the stem are turning brown... What should I do?
Thank you!
Sometimes if you let your soil get super dry, it takes some work to recondition it. Initially when you water, the water will seem to run straight through. You need to water it all around the pot several times in a row until the soil actually absorbs the water. Use warm water. It will take a few times, but if you don't do this, your plant will decline pretty quickly. Try not and let the soil get that dry again, especially for Calathea. Also, I don't have details on your plant or photos, but you may need to consider placing it in a larger pot if it is very potbound. Hope this helps!
Hello!!
I have a Calathea and I’ve had a bad case of root rot ? I’ve cut all the unhealthy roots and I’m basically left with a stump and a few tiny white roots . I’ve rinsed them. What do I do now?! Repot ? Cut leaves off ? Leave to air and root and mist everyday ?!
Thanks !!
Hi Molly, I would really try and first understand what caused it. Can you send me some photos and describe your conditions (light, soil, watering, etc).
Thank you for an amazing post! I got my calathea a couple of days ago and I’m loving it!
I just have one problem. When I got it it was already rootbound, so i repotted it yesterday. But I forgot to have perlite or something to cause good drainage in the soil! So now it has only soil in the pot. I dont know if I should just keep it that way and hope for the best or if I should repot it again with perlite in the soil? What would you recomend? Im afraid that repotting it again would only Worsen the case..
Hi Hanne. You may be OK, so just monitor your plant. Don't be too quick to change too many things at once. Especially if you just received your plant and already repotted it. Just make sure that you're giving your plant enough light. This is really important.
Having trouble with my Calathea Ornata. Following all of the standard instructions — watering, humidity, bright but indirect light. However, all my my leaves are brown and curling! I’ve been gauging the moisture of the soil (and it’s in a pot with drainage and never sits in water) and the water seems to stay damp for a long time. I tried to “repot” it recently bc I was concerned about root rot, but the roots were also fine.
Any ideas?? I’ve only had it for a month! No idea what’s wrong ??
Hi Kelly! What size pot is it in? Did you repot it when you first received it or is it still in its original pot from when you got it? Was it exposed to cold drafts or cold temperatures at all? When you said you are gauging the moisture, are you using a moisture meter (I don't recommend those) or just feeling the soil with your finger?
Hi
I was wondering if you can help me save my plant. It was beautiful and then it started to get its edges brown, curly and dry. I had it in front of a window but one day it was cold and I opened the window do you think the cold air burnt it?
Please help me
Thank you
Did the brown edges appear shortly after exposure to cold air? These plants definitely hate cold temperatures and drafts. How long was the window open and how cold was it outside?
@Raffaele, my plant was under some air con for a few hours only and now the leaves are drooping. Can I Save it?
Hi Anna, just give it time and it should bounce back if you're providing good regular care and you're keeping it warm now.
Hello Raffaele,
I have a calathea rufibarba which is not doing very well, I've sent a photo to your email for reference.
The leaves were burning closer to the window so I moved it a bit further back, it was doing well for some time but now most of the leaves are turning brown. The soil -when I test it with my finger- feels moist so I wouldn't water again. Should i re-pot in a smaller pot with only the healthy leaves? Should I water more regularly or less often? Or should I just remove the dead leaves and wait for sunnier days? I live n Scotland so no much sun sees my plants unfortunately. Please help me I'm afraid I cannot help it 🙁
Thank you,
Eva
Hi Eva, I'm sorry if I didn't see your email. I can't seem to find it. Would you mind resending the photo? It would help to see the plant.
Hi there! Desperately seeking help for my beloved calathea rufibarba. "Barb" was growing extremely well until I made the mistake of moving her to sit with my other calatheas. Her leaves started discoulouring; instead of a uniform purple underside, they are now speckled and brown. She no longer "prays" at night and is sad and droopy. Once I noticed something was amiss, I moved her back to her old spot, but she is not bouncing back. Should I trim off the discoloured leaves? Is she a goner? Happy to send a pic. Thank you so much for any recommendations you may have.
Hello Talia! Yes, photos would help and I also have questions. Please include in the email how the conditions changed from where you used to have Barb to where you moved her. Light, temperature, etc. Anything that you can observe that changed. I will try my best to help!
@Raffaele, Thank you kindly! Can you please point me in the direction of your email contact address? Thanks again.
Just use the contact form on my site in the menu 🙂
I have a calathea where a new stem was sprouting but now has dried out at the tip. Plant is next to a humidifier at all times and the usual humidity is 60-70%. The top of the new stem is now all dry. Is there a way for the new stem to recover or should I remove it altogether?
Hi Pauline. I would just cut off the brown tip and leave anything that it still green. It's hard to say without seeing a photo. Are you maintaining good soil moisture? Not to dry and not too wet? It could be watering related.
What should I do with the leaves that have brown edges?
Cut off the whole leaf? Leave them? Or something else?
If the leaves really bother you, you can cut them off. If you can stand them, just leave them on! If you have a lot of leaves with crispy edges, you don't want to cut all of them off your plant. If it's just one or two, it's fine to do that.