Anyone killed a calathea? I’ve certainly come close when winter set in here (I’m in zone 7). After a bit of research, forums, discussion boards, I’ve learned that these plants crawl along the floor of the Amazon. To me, that means shallow pots, dappled light and humidity, humidity, humidity. I’ve found them happiest in a bowl of water on the bottom of my plant shelf.
Another surprising thing, they are happiest with distilled water. Every time I forget and water with tap water, they start yellowing and dropping leaves. Now, I keep a jug of distilled water right next to them, so I can top them off when the water level gets low.
The common name of the variety pictured above is Herringbone, the one here is a Rabbit’s Foot. For some reason, I am much better at keeping the Rabbit’s Foot happier. The leaf tips are a little crispy and I’m not sure if my cat is messing with it or if I need to up my watering. I should probably add a bowl of water underneath my Rabbit’s Foot.
The Herringbone sits in a bowl of water, which provides ample moisture to the roots and humidity to the leaves. Don’t set the roots directly in the water or they will rot. I layered rocks in the bottom of the pot and then set the nursery pot on top of the rocks.
Any questions about anything I may have forgotten?
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