u/jarias2001

I think it’s a calathea warscewiczii. It’s velvety. It thriving with lots of sun and not the greatest humidity (much to my surprise)

I planted a rhizome with almost no roots in Leca with a bit of orchid bark and regular substrate. I’ve got the rest of my rhizomes in substrate (as it comes from the shop) and the only one growing leaves is the Leca one.

Why do I struggle so much trying to grow this plant? I didn’t expect Leca to work out but here we are.

The last leaf turned out kind of wrinkly, I fear it has pests but I haven’t seen any so far. It’s pushing a fourth leaf already.

I water it a bit, sometimes with fertilizer and sometimes without. I leave half a centimeter of water at the bottom of the cup and let it dry until the substrate is just a bit moist.

Today i had to cut the tips of the plant because is infested with thrips, but it was doing pretty well so far. I expect it branches out in a few months

The cutting was left to cauterize for two weeks and it rooted in Leca. Once it rooted, the roots expanded rapidly. Lately, the growth was a bit stuck because of me being lazy to fertilize the waterings.