I was recently asked what’s the secret to growing Calathea, otherwise known as temperamental beauties!
There is no hard and fast secret with these plants. They kind of remind me of my kids ... they will have a full blown tantrum because the sun came into their room the wrong way one morning, but not be bothered by it at all the next.
Calatheas are pretty much the same- you think you can be doing everything right one day and then boom, the next thing you know it decides everything you’ve been doing is wrong and that’s it. Calathea heaven here we come.
Growing Calatheas inside has been a lot of trial and error for me and I have found some do better than others. First and foremost you need to remember these plants are native to Tropical Americas, so if your house isn’t like a hot humid beach in the Caribbean, you are always going to have some issues.
Calatheas love warm humidity and lots of natural light, but not full sun, so inside you will need to place it in a really well lit area, that’s warm (some houses are cold, think the middle of summer temperatures and air conditioning), and if the air is dry, you’ll need to create some humidity.
I have one room in my house where the morning light streams in and this is where my Calatheas calls home. I make sure they never sit in water - I water them when they are dry, but not too dry, more like ‘I dried out yesterday give me a drink today’ kind of dry.
I have also found with some of them that if I put a little bit of sphagnum moss around the top of the pot and keep it moist, this helps increase the humidity. I spray the foliage about once a week to make sure the leaves don’t dry out and my spray bottle also has a weak solution of Triple Boost. This enables me to feed my plants at same time as keeping up the humidity .
I find that if the tips of the leaves turn a little brown, that’s him screaming at me saying “I’m from the tropics and I demand humidity’.
They really hate the cold, so they may go dormant or even die down in winter if your house becomes too dark and cold. Don’t panic, remember we don’t live in the tropics, so plants adapt. Just remember to not overwater during colder months and try to find the warmest spot you have in the house.
I don’t over pot my Calatheas either, meaning I only ever pot them up to next size pot when they are bursting at the seams of first pot and I only use the best quality potting mix when I do it.
If they do start to look a little worse for wear, they guys can be cut back to ground level just before it gets warm, then simply fertilise and they should shoot back really quickly.I fertilise mine with slow release organic fertiliser, Organic Link, about once every three months.
I really love these plants and while their list of needs seem long and maybe too difficult for some of you, it’s just a matter of finding the perfect spot. The trick with any indoor plant, is find its country of origin and how it grows there, then try to recreate that at home.
I have found these plants work really well indoors in a planter, like a kokedama and in my closed and open terrariums. They can be very versatile and easy to grow, if you are willing in the beginning to put in the effort.