---
title: "My rattlesnake calathea has these random marks on the leaves. It’s…"
description: "My rattlesnake calathea has these random marks on the leaves. It’s not everywhere but these leaves i cut. I got this plant 1.5 months ago from a local place…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/0hNrplWd0llqxLV0v1eP5s"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "Day"
published: "2026-04-16T14:20:34.133087Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/ZyQKDA4ZUQAhSauZ9l6i_YSB1fU4BL60h920TB8F0w4/5AK_XbUjQdCfq4RF8GDTWA.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md)

# My rattlesnake calathea has these random marks on the leaves. It’s…

_Posted by Day on 2026-04-16_

My rattlesnake calathea has these random marks on the leaves. It’s not everywhere but these leaves i cut. I got this plant 1.5 months ago from a local place and repotted it due to having fungus gnats. no more fungus gnats present! yay. i have it under a grow light on my plant stand. i water when soil is 2 inches dry and fertilize whenever plants tells me. i use distilled water and fertilize with a 20-20-20 when prompted to. Any idea??? thank you! Other wise it dances at night and day and all day long honestly!

![Attachment 1 of 3](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/ZyQKDA4ZUQAhSauZ9l6i_YSB1fU4BL60h920TB8F0w4/5AK_XbUjQdCfq4RF8GDTWA.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 2 of 3](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/ZyQKDA4ZUQAhSauZ9l6i_YSB1fU4BL60h920TB8F0w4/yMeupZKvRsOeR2j3np6t-w.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 3 of 3](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/ZyQKDA4ZUQAhSauZ9l6i_YSB1fU4BL60h920TB8F0w4/P9J6l6yMSHuwCpPUyWhw8Q.webp?size=large)

## 2 comments

### Plant Dad commented on 2026-04-16

My rattlesnake plant is my favorite plant in my collection! Great plant!! I'm going to throw out a couple of possibilities from experience I had with mine with similar spots. It potentially could be a watering issue, humidity issue or fertilizing issue. I have noticed that this plant, or calatheas in general, can be kind of sensitive to fertilizer. When I cut back on fertilizer, the spots stopped appearing; Now I fertilize when I remember. Then the spots starting showing up again because the humidity dropped too low for too long and the spots started coming back; If humidity drops below 45% I put it in my guest room and use a humidifier until the ambient humidity gets higher. The biggest issue I had with this plant was watering; I just couldn't figure it out. Keep moist bit dont let it get soggy. Let it dry out a little but not too much. Blah Blah Blah. A huge game changer for me with this plant was putting it in a self watering planter. When I did this, it was able to withstand slightly lower humidity and the soil was constantly damp which is exactky how they want it. Any other plant I have that is in soil that says they like the soil "consistently damp but not soggy" I still let dry almost completely out and they are fine. But this one always gave me attitude until the self watering planter. Hope that helps.

#### Day replied on 2026-04-17

thank you ☺️ 🫂 🙏🏻

---

_Source: the Planta community (https://getplanta.com). Reading is open to everyone. To post, comment and like, get the Planta app: https://getplanta.com/download_