u/StopSayingTunaFish

There seems to be so many people posting about their new additions to their plant family, but it seems like no one is doing research!

For those of us that are a little well-versed in handling Calathea, we have to speak up and make sure that we are offering consistent and valuable information. This means:

Check those rootballs when you bring these babies home! Folks are excited and super quick to repot but Calathea, like a lot of other sourced plants, have those nasty mesh cages that essentially suffocate them and keep them from growing amazingly.

Clarifying light: stop telling folks direct, kinda dim, etc

Most Calathea enjoy moderate to bright, indirect light… light that casts a soft shadow. They grow across the forest floor, so Mr. Sun is not beaming down on them! Stop trying to interrogate your plant! Keep that light a healthy distance away, but make sure it’s highlighting the baby - not beaming!

Humidity is fucking yall up too! 60-70% period! I saw another commenter say 40% minimum and that’s dangerously low. The Brazilian Rainforest would NEVER! Invest in a humidifier, DIY pebble trays - they help! Misting is literally not necessary if the humidity is on point.

Watering - please pay attention here! Stop using that faucet water! Folks don’t care, I get it. But if you didn’t use that overly chemically treated crap, your plants won’t have those ugly tips and edges! Distilled water is ideal. Natural Spring water would even do the trick - but NOT that purified NewLife crap… stopppppp!

If your plant is in a 2.5-4” nursery pot, bottom water for 5-10 mins. This means sitting your pot in a dish of water to be soaked up through the holes in the bottom of the nursery pot. The whole pot should not be submerged. You only need 3-4” of water in the pan.

If your pot is nestled in a 6”-8” pot, 15-20min is enough. This will also reduce those gnats you see from your overwatering! Generally you’d be watering these babies every 8-10 days.

I use Fox Farms Ocean Floor ($10), but I add a mixed bag of orchid bark, perlite, and charcoal I found at Lowe’s ($6). Works way better than Miracle Gro - which is actually peat heavy and too moisture retentive.

SuperThrive Foliage Pro, not the regular Kelp one, is my go to fertilizer. GT Foliage Focus is more expensive, does the same thing, but it’s usually for the collector level plant parents. SuperThrive Foliage Pro is the perfect formula for Calathea. 1/4 tsp in a gallon of distilled water is the perfect light feeding, checks all the boxes.

I’ll shut up though. My babies are grouped and are thriving this morning. (It’s 4:30P now) This is all but 3 of my Calathea in the video. They’re looking so vibrant and shiny right? I don’t do all the overthinking, lol. I created the rhythm FOR my plants. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here.

Just wanted to share some pics of my Calathea and some of what’s been working for me. I’ve only been at this houseplant thing for a little over a month and I started with 4 Calathea not knowing what I was getting myself into. Still to this day, everyone is thriving! Say hello!

Pinstripe: she just got out her bag recently, gave me that too most leaf a week ago. Was calling her Diana but that felt too long - lol.

Rattlesnake: she’s a slow girl, not a showgirl!

Round-leaf: found this one at Lowe’s 3 weeks ago - 2 new leafs since then + 1 emerging. I don’t mind the battle scars either!

Stella, the super star. She’s been kinda eating it lately. Got 3 in motion now. For the record: Stella and White Fusion are kinda the same thing. One is “Nike” and the other is “basketball shoe.” Don’t ask me which is which!

Roseoptica ‘Eclipse’ - gave me that pretty green one up top a couple weeks ago.

Champ, my $7 rescue from Lowe’s. He was in terrible shape but is definitely a fighter! He looks lazy, but he’s praying. Medallions prefer that moderate light over bright, indirect. Think ‘in the shade’ but not totally dimmed down. I only added the Sphagnum Moss up top because I wanted to help retain some moisture for a while. I knew that I wasn’t going to want to water it right away, so it actually helped in the long run.

Oh, and Freddie has only been here a week. Loving it so far.

What’s working for me:

Distilled water, period. - not the tap + stress coat.

Bottom Watering - all but 2 of these are in a 6” pot. I fill a pan with three inches of water and let them sit in there for 15-20 mins. They are NOT on a schedule. I randomly check for pot weight throughout the week and only water when they’re light and reading at 3 or below on my moisture meter. The Pinstripe gets 10 mins.

I currently use a mix of Tropical Soil + Orchid Bark + Perlite - only adding pumice for the girlies that like a little more aeration around their feet.

Peat moss is usually already included in a tropical mix and shouldn’t be added as it will retain moisture - which leaves the soil too wet for too long in MY opinion.

All but the pinstripe are grouped around the base of my Barrina LS12 Plant Stand which included four 5W lights at 3000k - this is warm light. I’ve since added a Sansi 4-Head clip on to the top. It provides 4000k full spectrum white, which is more natural looking. They are exposed to the lights for 12hrs.

I have a humidifier nearby that is set to AutoOff at 60% humidity. My cats don’t nibble at them, believe it or not!

And the weird plant parent in me tells them everyday: “You have everything you need to grow and I am here to support you!” + some random jungle noise to help them feel at home. 🤭