I Always prune my plants roots when I notice they stop thriving. it may upset some of them for a day or two but they always get happy a day or two later and start growing like crazy
You have a marvellous sense of humour! You really made me laugh when I was watching this video! Thank you for that and for all the valuable information! :) Cheers!
After searching how I can rescue my Calathea, I found your video and I just realised that my Calathea has the same pot as yours 😂 Gonna show that video to my plant, maybe it will encourage it to grow healthy :D
This vid was such a joy! 😄 The struggles with calathea are real! I've tried about 7 times, with different varieties. They all died. I have a tiny one that is doing well 🤞 I remember your advice about buying plants small. Seems to be working... so far so good! 🎉 Thank you Richard, I always look forward to your vids 😁
It's 3.30am here in Australia, and I'm awake watching your latest video like a needy calathea. Thank you for the info and the giggles. We plant people are *special*. 😊
We are Just simply weird! My son lately said when I visited and told him to give his room some more oxigen( like open a window) he replied" you are just a freaking Plant! 😂I chuckled and kept my thoughts for myself. My home has come to the point where " you can't see the trees through the forest" meaning it's a green place where only a calanthea or red or pink flower is noticed and they Plant friends take in most space and human have to careful wiggle their way to a hidden seat 😂😊
My son gifted me a huge rattlesnake calathea a month ago so this video is right on time! Hopefully with your tips Beyonce (my name for her cuz she's a diva!) will grow full and bushy!
I have 11 calathea now 🤭🥴 my little divas lol they do grow well, but I find they like sunlight more than ppl know. My spouse is just like Mrs Sheffield 😅
When watering you are looking for the soil capacity, within soil there are 3 sizes of pore space that are interconnected miso, micro and macro each one serves a purpose one for water, oxygen and roots.
Very cute educational video. I just saw that calathea at a garden center and was tempted to buy it. I may get it in a few weeks after I return from vacation 😂. Rainwater, distilled or any clean water is a game changer for calathea.
I use tap water to water my plants without browning tips. Browning tips are not from the water (with the exception of some extreme cases) but due to the less-than-ideal humidity. At home growing environment, it is very hard to nearly impossible to have relative humidity over 40-50% without some sort of enclosure like a grow tent or a giant wardian case, and these plants thrive at humidity at over 60% minimum. At this level of humidity, you will start to see molds on the wall and paint or wallpaper coming off. lol If you keep them watered at the perfect interval and aim to maintain the humidity at least 50%, then you will not see browning tips. Again, this will not be achievable for most home growers especially during the winter months when people use heating which drops the relative humidity significantly lower. Another thing, too much light will cause the browning tips and edges. Lastly, fungal diseases will also cause browning tips and edges, but they will look different.
Omg! I have this calathea and it's been limping along since February. It's lost the purple coloration on the underside :( can't wait to try out these tips to help it bounce back
Mine is the same. It was lovely for over a year, then when we had a really hot and sunny spell it started to droop and go yellow. I definitely wasn’t over or underwatering it (I use a moisture meter all the time) All the new leaves are light green with no purple. I’ve moved it to a more shady spot and am keeping everything crossed that it perks up. 😢
Your original tip about the water conditioner some months ago, is one of the best tips I've ever gotten online. (that and the moisture meter of course) . The dechlorinated water made my primadonna plants look so much better in just a few weeks. Among Calatheas I was probably known as a serial killer 😉 so I haven't had any for two years or so, that is until a month ago or so... I bought a Rose-Painted Calathea wanting to redeem myself and my bad reputation among Calatheas 🤣 So far it's growing well and looks healthy. The dark purple leaves with the pink stripes are very pleasing to look at Thank you Richard, for making me see the errors of my former ways and guiding me onto the right track 😂👍🏻 Take care and thank you for another great video
Same here! I have a palm that never got any fuller, because for every new leaf that grew, one dried up and died. Now it's bright green and becoming lush. My umbrella plant has shown extreme happiness with the conditioner too.
I have two umbrella plants, a big three stemmed bushy slightly variagated one and a medium sized very variegated one... They are among my favorite plants and they love the magic potions (aka dechlorinated water) For years I was told and believed that low humidity was the problem, it matters to some extent, but 'clean' water matters a lot more Happy growing with your plants 😃
@@TheNetsrac I know that Mr. Sheffield is anti-mist, but I've got central heat and good circulation in my sunny rooms, my plants enjoy a "morning mist" every day, like they got a taste of morning dew.
@@waskelweewabbit1453 It might depend on the climate you live in, I tried it it, and it made no difference on my plants. If it works for you, that's great 👍🏻
I have this and am living her. She does get some brown tips but looks healthy otherwise. I hope she grows to be like yours. I'm so loving your calathea!!
Ever hear about air pruning pots. It would make for a good experiment to see if they're good for long term house plants. The idea is that it stops root circling and makes the roots grow more in the center of the soil and less around the edges.
I just bought a Calathea four days ago and rather spontaneously so because i found my Croton still/again throwing its leaves so assumed it wasn't getting enough light (now i hope it recovers, Crotons have wonderful leaves but also its autumn and idk how it affects the Croton). Has been the fourth time I've used the art of hacking off a plants feet due to unwillingness to spend any more money on bigger pots and so far all of them loved it, especially one of my ferns whose leaves were getting tired. A day afterwards they looked as strong as never before. I admire how fast it got back up.
Dude, I have the same plant, in the same pot and its looking sad so I came to RU-vid and find this video. Thank you so much! I'm gonna get chopping those roots and give the plant a little love.
Mine comes outside all summer along with most of my house plants. They grow so much while they're outside. Even on the north side of the house, they get brighter sun than they do indoors.
Thank you so much Mr Sheffield, I really really enjoyed watching you tell us all about Calathea, and I found this fascinating and useful and helpful too. I’ve just brought a very small Calathea plant, that I’m hoping will grow as well as yours. Please stay safe and well too xxxx Mags ❤❤❤❤
Thx 4 your sharing. I have given up on calathias after buying 6 kinds and all dying. I have watered them using rain water to no avail. The only thing I have not done is cutting the roots. Maybe I will give it a try someday.
I used to cut my potted rosemary every year, because I could not have a bigger pot on the balcony of my former hous, now I have a garde so I don't do it anymore. I cut on the bottom and the sides roughly 3cm. Rosemary will grow back without problems.
Agreed. Hopefully, include plants that aren't succulents. I gave up on calatheas because I could never maintain high enough humidity levels in my apartment.
Thanks for the tip of how to prune Calathea rufibarba. Great timing berceuse I purchased a mature plant recently. Those are beautiful Calathea rufibarba bloom.
I recently was given a very poorly doing Calathea from my friendly-so far I am keeping her happy. She just has super crispy brown leaves that were a pre-existing problem. I’m hoping I can get a new leaf to grow first before I start hacking anything off. And then Monday my SO’s boss let me take some of their work calathea! This one was much healthier but they hated how fussy it was LOL. I said I would happily take some of her off their hands!!
Beautiful and amazing calathea thank you for sharing beautiful and amazing plants lovely I do love watching your video you also have an amazing collection of plants
Vit C (aka ASCORBIC acid) breaks the bond of chloramine into chlorine and another compound. Then you can let the water sit and chlorine will dissipate. Also only take a pinch per gallon.
I just got a fairly tall one in Lidl, that looks really well. Thought I'd partner it up with my alocosia which is also lidl's and doing well. I'll need every one of your videos! Wish me luck!
I have cut the roots by a third many times over the years, and the plants do just fine. The only problem is after doing this a few times, the plant grows so big that it begins to look a bit foolish in the smaller pot . . . These plants love to be bottom-watered as well, and yes to the stress coat because of the lousy water here in my apartment. That Stress Coat works wonders. And saves money as well. The other question I have is when to stop the plants' feeding? Everyone says the winter months - does that mean starting to withhold the feeding in December and resume again in March? Amanda from Planterina has hinted that she feeds every plant that is showing active growth, even in the winter. She cuts back the feeding half in general. What do you think? Your videos tend to be interesting! Thank you so much, Nancy from NJ . . still feeding!
I have one of these and didn’t know what it was for the longest time because it wasn’t labeled at the Walmart nursery! I was surprised to learn it was a Calathea because it is much more robust than others in that genus which curl up at the first hint of underwatering or spider mites! I’ve been meaning to report it, but perhaps I will try the root pruning instead.
Thank you for another awesome video, Mr S. The perfect blend of great advice and your unique humour as always! 😂 Would love to hear your expert tips on what to do/avoid to care for houseplants in different seasons. I just got an online delivery of 4 new plant babies and 3 of them are worse for wear after their cold journey! I should have listened when I watched your video on that. Good to know it’s ok to prune any time of year though. Will be giving my newbies a trim.
I love the funky little flowers, I wonder if my zebra can do this. I rescued it as a near dead pup on sale and now it's tough. Survived -5°C over many winter days but by a window.
I tried the root chop with my tickle plants and not impact at all. And as far as the flowering this appears to also only happen for with natural sunlight. There is just something about the sun that these artificial light don’t give off. We shield the from “harmful” rays but from my experience the plants seem to thrive a lot more outdoors.
Calathea goals right there. I bet if you changed the light schedule it would flower again. A lot of plants are signed either by an increase or decrease in natural lighting to trigger flowering.
We tried using water conditioner because we had brown spots on a lot of plants, and sadly two months later we can now toss most of our plants out. I guess not all water conditioner is equal.. I was so hopeful
I have 3 prayer plants Rosa came to me Thur the mail so water logged water was running out of the box she had 7 leaves now down to 2help I wipe my other 2leaves down with diluted black coffee they are doing great
Thanks so much for your so useful advices ! I watched your video with extreme interest because my Calatea has quite all crispy and brown leaves. Do I need to cut them off ? Is it too late ? 😢. Thank you so very much for your precious advice ⚘️🌿
I litteraly was sitting with my Red Calathea, watching this vid, and hoping for advice.......and then the root-butchering began!!! I hid my plant away from the casual savagery, lest she get the screaming willies 🙀
As someone who both owns plants and is also a fish keeper I love this tip cuz it saves me, but lol at the same time it also kind of worries me that plant hobbyists are going to buy out the product that’s meant for the fish hobby. You would think the plant industry would have their own line of dechlorinator product by now 😂
Hello Mr. Sheffield! Thank you so much for your vids - so educational and fun to watch. Can you please confirm if the water conditioner can be used on all other indoor plants OR if this is only recommended for Calatheas? Keep the vids coming!
That particular calathea was the one that lasted the longest in my house but even that got the boot eventually. I gave it to a friend to seems to fare better with them. I have a stromanthe which is sort of calathea adjacent and it seems prerry happy but that's the best I can do.
About two weeks ago I finally summoned the courage and did my first ever root pruning. Did this on my Calathea orbifolia, who was root bound, but I loved her look in this exact pot. Ever since, she's been looking devastated like she can't believe what I did to her. All leaves drooping sadly. Crossing my fingers that she'll recover 😥
Hello! I use the same water conditioner you showed, but what proportion do you use? The instructions say 5ml per 10 US gallons, but I believe it’s directed to aquariums
My calatheas were doing amazing this season.. then i got thrips :( i had to cut off so many leaves to try to save them.. infestation aside.. i buy baby plants as they adapt easier, often fertilizer but more diluted than recommended ratio, indirect light but bright place have been working very well for me.
What about fluoride? As far as I can tell, aquarium water conditioners will remove chlor(am)ine, but none can remove fluoride. Is your tap water non-fluoridated? Or do you think there's just not enough in "normal" tap water to harm your calatheas? Thanks ever so much for sharing your insights!
