Calathea growing tips that might surprise you 

new to you but i really appreciate this post, as i am now a calathea fan. thank you. i once had a calathea freddie completely die on me. as i was about to toss it- i noticed its roots appeared white, fleshy, and well, alive. i plunked fred back in his pot. happy to say in six-eight weeks, he sprouted anew. going strong now. sometimes the hardest plant to grow is patience.

I bought my first Calathea Orbifolia over the summer. I have it in moderate sun, and water it weekly. It's winter now, and the room it's in is cold with low humidity (31% humidity, and 63 degrees F). So far, it's doing great and has grown four new leaves (one just opened a few days ago)! I hope one day it gets as big and beautiful as yours! Thank you for the great video!

Memo, you can also add aquarium water conditioner to tap water before watering plants. The stuff that dechlorinates tap water. It works for fish, but it also works for plants!!

I love your theory on adaptation of smaller plants to their environment. I have noticed this as well. You are spot on. Thank you for all of the wonderful input.

I agree with every thing you mentioned. I used to struggle with calatheas but that ended after changing four things. first thing was buying younger plants as you said(I think that's true with almost all plants.they get along with my conditions better if I buy them in small size). second I started to use an airy mix but not as chuncky as my aroid mix(for calatheas I mix equal amounts of peat moss, cocopeat, coco chips,orchid bark and perlite. I also add a little vermiculite and activated charcoal). third thing: we bought a reverse osmosis filter for our house so I use that water for all of my plants.four: I put them in bright, indirect light

Your laugh or giggle is absolutely fabulous! It brought a huge crayon to my face and I had to watch it three times. You’re amazing in your knowledge and I appreciate you sharing thank you.

You are an absolute champion. I wish I watched you before all my plant journey.

I water my calathea with aquarium water. That is treated with water conditioner that binds chloramine and metals. No crisping edges!

You really never fail to impress me with how knowledgeable you are!

This was an awesome video post Memo! Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks to helping our plants thrive!

Truly fantastic video. I have several small calatheas that I'm getting ready to repot and your video shed so much light on the do's and don'ts which I expect will give me such a leg up as I work towards having healthy and happy calatheas. I'll be ordering the Liquid Gold Leaf before the night's out. I would love to plant (pun intended) a nice sweet kiss on your cheek. 😊 ❤ I'll keep you posted on my calathea journey. Asking God for many blessings from Vicky in central North Carolina to you. If I haven't subscribed yet, rest assured that I will before I leave. ❤ 😊

Best video on Marantaceae out there and I’ve seen tons. Learned a lot of new info. Thanks. Love your laugh (and nails)!

I totally agree with you. Not only with calatheas, but in general - when I get a tiny baby plant, it is just perfect - no issues and good even grow, while all plant issues I ever had were with the plants I got medium to big size - they seem to have more difficulties to adjust to a new environment and are generally much more fragile and sensitive. So I only buy little baby plants - it makes life easier :-)

You are amazing. Thank you for all the good info. I have calatheas, prayers, and stromanthe. All doing well but with this new info, I bet they do even better! Love from Colorado USA.

This is great! There's so many tips that I've not heard before. Thank you.

I agree with you. I have 14 prayer plants, a mixture of Maranta, Ctnenanthe, Calathea and Stromanthe. I have grown most of them from small 2-4 inch pots. I am a biology teacher and I have a working knowledge of botany. Low light on the forest floor is definitely not low light in an apartment. My Marantacae thrive in medium to bright light. I caved and bought liquid gold leaf ( a pretty penny in the US) after it was recommended by an EU RU-vidr. I have just one prayer plant with crispy leaves and I just got it in the mail 3 weeks ago. I might just cut off all the leaves so it can regrow. It is a small plant but it came damaged from the seller. Great info!

I made a mistake of buying a Pin Stripe as one of my first plants. 1, because of price and 2, because of its look. I left it out in direct sun for about a month, thinking it would be OK 😂 That was 7 months ago and I’ve had the privilege of watching it grow back into its best self.

Love love love this information and the giggles too.

Completely agree with you on the soil topic! I adjusted my Calatheas to much much airier soil and they absolutely took off. I actually had to up-pot one of them a few months later because a rhizome was growing out of the nursery pot! They come in the worst soil!

Yes! I agree about the smaller plants growing into your environment! I find that once they have grown out and possibly lost the original leaves and grown new ones in your exact environment they then seem to be happy there after.

Wow that orbifolia is absolutely stunning.. 😍 Thanks a lot for sharing such valuable information about them..

This is the absolute best video on calathea care out there. I had completely given up on calatheas, as many other people, but I have fallen in love with the warscewiczii, and I am compelled to try again. I’ll probably follow your advice and start with a smaller plant. Thank you kindly for such an informative video! 🪴

Just found you and I really enjoy your channel!!!! Thank you for all your knowledge and videos! 🌿💜🌿

Thank you for this...I'm always looking forward to watching your videos.

Great video 😊 thanks for sharing and have a great day and happy houseplanting 🌱🌿😊🤗

Thank you for this information. I’m a new plant mama to Calathea and my latest 3 purchased at an indoor plant grower all came in an aroid mix and I was kinda scratching my head about that. Now I’m going to leave them as they are. Also your giggle is totally cute!

Thank you so much this video has really helped me

Great video. I bought all mine as babies...no crispy leaves..I treat mine like other common house plants. I use tap water, no humidifier. They don't like to dryout was the main thing I picked up on, and I also use an aroid mix that includes a handful of premium potting soil to hold onto more moisture. Such gorgeous plants.

Very interesting. Thank you for those tips!

I love that you brought up the arrowroot family! It still blows my mind when I think about it now. I'm such a plant nerd, lol. But when you think of the assortment of genuses, the offshoots of the family, they start to show similarities - showy blooms (and quite unusual blooms too). Rhizomatous, tuberous or bulbous growth. And the family trait that unites them all - All cannot handle excesses of fluoride, salts, chlorine, in addition to the many heavy metals: - maranta - stromanthe - ctenanthe - calathea aka geoppertia - strelitzia aka birds of paradise - heliconia aka lobster claw - bananas - turmeric! - cardamom! - GINGER - galangal - arrowroot - canna? can't remember but would not surprise me.

That orbifolia is sooo gorgeous! I’m so jelly

Very helpful! Thank you!

Really helpful video as I’m new to keeping houseplants, and also live in the UK.

You are a wealth of knowledge and I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. Have just subscribed. Cheers! Darryl

Enjoyed your video. For me bright shade and an airy mix of 50% cacti/succulent mix and 50% course pumice is working great. Also an organic fertiliser, and allowing the plant to dry 5cm down before watering again.

G'day from Down Under 🦘and many thanks for the great tips Memo! I'm looking forward to watching my juvenile Orbifolia acclimatise to my conditions and hopefully grow to be as gorgeous as yours. Since switching to worm castings as a fertiliser she's already given me new growth. It's spring now here so REALLY excited about the potential growth for all my houseplants but in particular my Orbifolia and my Makoyana (Peacock) which although have some crisping, haven't died on me yet🙏 🐨

Thank you that was lovely information!

Very interesting point about the Liquid Gold Leaf. Perhaps, it is worth noting that aquarium supply shops sell tap water conditioners that remove chloramine, it may be worth trying these with plants. Try Aqua Safe by Tetra - it is not expensive and a little goes a long way! Hope this suggestion helps some one. :o)

Thank you so much!! This makes sense. I too have struggled with the drainage from the heavy soil. It never dries!

You have the BEST laugh/giggle... should be made into a sound bite.

My first plant was gifted to me about 1 year ago was a mature calathea ornata. she's still alive and doesn't seem to be too sad but I've had zero growth this year. I have reported once right at the begining but I'm not a soil wizard yet so that'll be worth figuring out. I will definitely try out the gold leaf thing you mentioned! thanks for your video very got a lot to think about now x

Great video! Thank you! I have seen the bit about buying young, small Calathea's on a couple of different plant channels. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but it sure makes sense!

Your plant is absolutely beautiful. I just received a 6 inch orbifolia and I just ordered a second one. I plan to put them in the same pot. My goal is to get them to grow as big as yours!

Thank you for addressing lighting as I have experienced phenomenal growth in my silver swords giving them high light with a specific plant light, and resisting the temptation to repot them to the degree that they are still in their original growers pot after tripling in size in 9 months. I believe they originally started from a semi mature top cutting. Their newest leaves are 12-13 inches long. .I periodically look to see if roots are coming through the bottom and there are none showing. The new growth is producing robust arial roots.

I really believe your theory about the baby plants! My triostar stromanthe was a baby when I bought it and got so crispy. Now all new growth is much bigger and barely any - to no crispy edges!!!

Useful info!

I love the plants

I really like how you present your content - I find some plant videos out there have a lot of waffle and are a bit hard on the senses. You have a new fan 🌱

Love your video! Very helpful info. I have that same plant (Calathea Orbifolia) in LECA and is doing really good. I use Dyna gro n filtered water. Hope mine gets as big and beautiful as yours! Subscribed to your channel for more! Happy growing! 🪴🌱😊

I have a couple of prayer plants, and definitely agree with you on the "younger" plant and "coloration" tips. My rufibarba, makoyana, and maranta all came to me as 4 in pots and acclimated well with less leaf loss and crisping. My orbifolia and rosey were 6in plants and looked pretty bad. The rosey completely died back and resurrected as a tiny plantlet. We'll see if this pulls through...

I'm hoping my younger calatheas make it. I really do like the bright colors so we'll see what light/humidity they like. I've got a moisture control (not cacti mix, just control) so hopefully that helps as it doesn't seem to hold water as much as other soils. I hope the little ones perk back up soon because they are so pretty.

my pin stripe is in a terrarium along with a white fusion. They will probably never come out. I have had luck weening some others to my average house humidity once they have sized up a bit. I believe they suffer tremendously before purchased after leaving the greenhouse, but take quite awhile to display their troubles. Aquarium stores have products that remove chlorine, etc. but salt build up from fertilizers have the same effect. Best thing about them is that their price is so low that you can keep trying until you get it right.

Wow thank you so much for the knowledge! I never knew adapting when they're young is easier for calatheas. That explains why most of my calatheas die!

Thank you for that. Presently my red-veined maranta is struggling. The ends were yellowing. I changed the soil to an aroid "Mollie" non-soil and removed them from their clay pot into a plastic nursery pot. Crossing my fingers and toes that I caught this in time and that what I'm doing is right.

Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) is a pretty cool plant! Also, the pinstripe has given me more grief than every plant I own combined. The calathea medallion, however, is doing wonderfully.

Thank you for this... I thought I'd tried to save a healthy calathia from Target... it started dying as soon as 3 days after I brought it home...😮 Apparently, it was a very fussy variety, emerald calathea. I gave it a very light drink of filtered water, kept it in a west window not in direct light. Nine days later... crispy black leaves...😮 I'm a moderately successful plant grower... I guess we can't always make it work... 🤷‍♀️

I think that it should be mentioned on videos what you keep your temp/humidity at and it's good you mentioned about light as this is often not mentioned in advice and it's good you mentioned about buying small and letting the plant slowly get used to its surroundings buying a big plant for instant gratification or to show off is such a bad idea as I know only too well. Unfortunately I don't have enough light that comes into my 50s bungalow so I'm trying a grow light as my plants weren't doing at all well this winter and to be honest not sure about the results yet as plants take a while but it hasn't done any harm. I would like one of your blog's to be about grow lights.

Oh wow ur calathea is beautiful

I grow an ornata and vitata outdoors for 5 years now. I'm in a semi arid environment (Texas) and they get direct sunlight (which is very harsh here, UV 11 basically everyday from June - Sept, and 8+ the rest of the year) for 2 hours in the afternoon. I grow them in the same soil mix as my peppers ( sand, pure compost , vermiculite in equal parts). I water with a hose and we have high chloramine and minerals levels.... No brown tips, grow very well outside of winter. I do bring them in at night if temps are forecasted below 45f. I have left the ornata out in a freeze and it died back to below the soil. By spring it was putting out new leaves. I think ppl don't give these plants enough credit tbh.

I will try your way, hope to be successful 😊

Hello, I use tap water always. I pour the tap water into my watering jug (sometimes with fertiliser, but not always) and I leave it on 🔝 of my Rayburn to get warm in the winter, for about 24 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less) and I never have problems with chlorine etc. You don’t need a Rayburn for this, just setting it aside will do the same. 😉

I was thinking about getting them younger also. Might help. Most of mine are gone. My oberfelia had to be moved to the greenhouse 🤞. Another great video!!!👍👍👍

Good advice: buying the babies and not the teens. I’m really impressed by the size of that specimen considering the size of the pot.

I’m so glad I found this! This has been my experience as well and people thought I was crazy! 😂 BUT I still can’t keep a white fusion alive 😢 and my marantas have permanent mealy bugs that I can’t get rid of 😢 Any tips? 🙏🏼

White Fusion has thin leaves, but Medallion and Dottie. The Ornata is fairly thin, but it's also shiney and smooth. All the purple bottom Calathea, I've had very good luck growing. But the Orbifolia went south at the end of autumn, so I separated it into 3 plants and took the baby bulbs to grow new plants. It will be a few weeks before the babies sprout. But for a Calathea that's not doing its best, dividing and propagating should result in healthy plants. That said, I've found 30-50 cm tall Calathea (medium-size) are easier to keep nice than growing one from a baby plant. I've never purchased a large Calathea, but I believe what you say about a big mature plant having some difficulty acclimating to a new environment. Tap water only matters for Calathea if it has flouride and appreciable amounts of chloride. If those are in the water, let it sit in a bucket for 24 hours before watering. The advantage of untreated well water are minerals and you get the same result from tap water that has sat for 24 hours before watering. I use distilled (reverse osmosis) water and they do very well. However, you must have a high quality potting mix - I use white peat with shredded bark. If you use a fast-draining aroid mix, you can run into trouble when the seasons change. It sounds like your aroid mix isn't as fast-draning as other recipes. Also, with Calathea, you should add some soil, which is usually not included in a true aroid mix. * Regarding light, Calathea like bright indirect sunlight. Don't know where you got the impression that they are a low-light plant. NIce video, thanks for the tip about Liquid Gold Leaf. I will definitly try that for by Orbifolia!

Yes! The pinstripe Calathea is difficult. I have been struggling with mine forever and ponder giving up on it often. Then I think of what our can be and determine to make it thrive. It is so moody. I'm hanging in there though...

I had spider mites initially but haven’t seen any for ages. BUT… I have battled with thrips!!!!! I’ve wiped the leaves and puffed diatomaceous earth on the surface of every single pot. So far so good. I think I’ve got rid of them!!🤞🏻

Interestingly, I've had far more success with very large calatheas I purchased than smaller ones (which all died). The large ones (the size of yours) all have survived mishaps and thrived for 2 years. I amended the soil with perlite and coco noir, and YES, keep brighter indirect is key. I'm going to try the Liquid Goldleaf fertilizer, thank you!

Thank you for the tips! Also I like your accent :)

Glad to come across with this video, my calathea orbifolia is not happy

Gardening Is Fun And Healthy!The More Plants I'm In love With The More Trouble I am Afraid Of The Neighbours!

I water mine with rain water, she loves it!

Your information is so detailed and motivates me to buy calathea, even as a starter. When calathea is droopy with yellow and brown edge, what does that mean? Thank you!

I thought I had to let my calathea dreams die, but I think I'll give them another try! I LOVE the tip on starting with them young. I want to try the liquid gold leaf, but it doesn't ship to the US. Do you have any recommendations on US available products?

Loved this...❤❤ how many times did u repot it in 2 years.??

Great video. I have all of my prayer plants (a whole mixture of), including a Calathea White Star and a White Fusion in PON and they love it. I purchased them all as babies last year in the autumn and they are all growing well. I have a humidifier for a few of them but the humidity is set to only 50% and so is doesn't come on very often. The others are all in bright indirect light throughout my home without a humidfier. I have a water distiller, as we like our drinks made with soft water, and so they all have distilled water to drink. I give them liquid gold leaf too. All of the new leaves are perfect, no crispy edges, no wilting, no unhappy plants. I am sure that they are all doing well because they are acclimated to my home but, I do believe that if the watering is correct humidity is less important.

I live in the tropical region and I still get crispy leaves. I find that if you put them in a cluster with other plants, they don't crisp up as much. And yes, I use aroid mix too. I can validate all yr tips. 👍

The exact reason why i never buy adult plants anymore.. had to learn it the hard way over several years already way before the plant craze took off (being into plants since 2010-2011).. nowadays all my baby plants from back then are such amazingly big and robust adult plants, especially the calatheae and aroids..

Love the video!! I definitely try the recommended soil mix. I've got a question; I have two calathea ornata that I bought in two different places. They have been "living" together since August/September last year and everything is fine, apart from the occasional little leaf that turns brown at the tips (they came out this year in February) I would like to replant them and put them together, is this advisable?

Memo, I watch your movies from the beginning. A little ahead of me ... But I have to write to you that I LOVE it You talk about plants with such love and have so many valuable ideas. Thank you! thank you! thank you ♥ Greetings from Poland p.s. my orbifolies also don't have crunchy leaves: D

LOL! i always take mine in the bathtub and spray it all over with tap water also. its doing great and my south australian water is full of clorine and very highly alcaline so go figure..i have to say i have just about killed my 4th freddie and my dottie also two other lime green and some other prayer plant i forgot the name of..orbofolia tho ive had into its second summer..bought a second one and treat it the same and both thrive.

Like like like😊🙏❣

What would you suggest to treat should there be any browning within the middle area on the leaves?

I've tried less and more mature Orbifolia but I can't seem to figure them out...and I keep ALL kinds of prayer plants with lots of success. Including, Ctenanthe Triostar, Calathea Rufibarba, Rattle Snake, Peacock, Vitatta, Silver Star, Roseopicta, and several Maranta...Orbifolia on the other hand, are another story entirely which is too bad because they're really beautiful. :-(

How often do you apply neem oil to your calathea? And may I know the ratio of your soil mix. Thanks for these learnings!

What is the water hardness level in your area?

💕💕💕💕

Thanks for the video. @9:25 - curious as to why you leave the older brown-edged leaves as they are as opposed to cutting them off or trimming them, given that all the upper leaves are so perfect. I assume there's some reason for leaving them to do whatever they do naturally? I've had great luck with crotons and snake plants but no success with calatheas so far. I have two places where I could put the next one I get: in a bathroom that has more light and humidity but more fluctuation in humidity and temperature, or in a much more stable room with only grow lights and snake plants. After seeing so many videos that say it's the changes that really cause trouble with calatheas I had a theory that if I just put a calathea in my snake plant forest with grow lights it might not brown. Any advice would be appreciated.

Can someone tell me if you are supposed to prune these plants ? do i need to remove the old leaves to help it grow ?

I just use fish tank water conditioner on my collection with tapwater pretty awesome results super easy super cheap

This is great. I made the mistake getting a Ornata as one of my first plants - together with a pretty big Stromanthe Triostar. The Ornata hasn't done very well and it has alot of crispy edges, the triostar has been doing better, still some brown tips, but not too bad. Will defo get some babys tho!

I am struggling with stromanthe Triostar, killed one, another one looks going the same way.. please help 😩

"all of my calatheas are in a very very light airy _______ mix." I couldn't understand that key word! Help is appreciated!

I have to ask.. does your Orbifolia close up at night? Never saw one do this.. :D I put my Calatheas into my Aroid mix, too. Works well :) Greetings from Germany Linda :)

You can off gas chlorine & chloramine b6 letting the water sit over night, or use aquarium water if you have fish. The same treatment that removes chloramines to make water safe for fish works for plants, and fish waste is natural fertilizer

I have many calethias but I am the most frustrated with my rattlesnake. I have had the plant for three years now and have only ever seen one new leaf grow. I understand these grow by rizomes such as ferns do but I really need some advice here. It came in a 3 inch pot and it is still no bigger

I knew there was a reason why I wanted to eat those potatoes!

After watching one popular RU-vidr from Indonesia I decided to try his "jungle floor" mix. It was not easy to get all the components, especially rice straw ashes but I got them. Now I have two orbifolias growing side by side. One in the "jungle floor", the other in the normal aroid mix. The result is absolutely the same! The size, the color, etc.

Which else do u have. That u find nice to grow other then oberfelia

It is funny about tap water. I have a huge spider plan which is my second one because I killed the first one 😳. Compare to the first spider plant, my second one grows non stop with same tap water.