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Any suggestions on how to help nurture my striped calathea back to… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Miss Pots

Any suggestions on how to help nurture my striped calathea back to good health? I haven’t had it for very long, maybe a few months, it’s in its original pot I bought it in, it gets partial sun in my bathroom, near shower so also gets some humidity/steam there as it states humidity helps. I try to water in every two weeks or so. Pot has drainage. I’ve moved it closer to the window to get some direct light vs only indirect light. Does it need fertilizer? Should I cut off the yellowing/brown dry leaves? Thank you for helping me with this beautiful gal!

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5 likes 11 comments

11 comments

  1. chya worms

    some of that looks like pest damage, i would try and look under leaves, in soil, etc for little bug bros and then find the best way to treat them based on what you identify them as. if that’s not it, i would try making sure the pot not only drains but the water that does drain isn’t just sitting in the catcher with the pot :)

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    • Miss Pots

      Thank you!! What do you use to identify pests and find a course of action! Should I put rocks or something in the bottom of the plant stand/catcher to make sure it’s not sitting in the water?

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    • chya worms

      so for the bugs i usually just look up common houseplant pests and see if any of them look alike and then look for any ways to get rid of them. for example if i find that the damage on the plant and behavior (egg laying sites, if the bugs latch to the plant etc) of the bugs matches and looks like fungus gnats, id look for ways to get rid of them. rocks in the bottom of the stand will help get the actual pot out of water, but is a way to up humidity. if i remember correctly from mine, these plants like humidity anyway so you shouuuuuld be fine? if things are still going awry after a little bit, try dumping out the standing water in the plant stand probably like fifteen minutes after watering

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    • Miss Pots

      Thank you! I’ll give it a shot

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    • chya worms

      no worries :) good luck!

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    • Leah

      Just making sure, r u meaning put rocks inside the pot under your soil medium? If so, I’ve learned through a lot of bad experience that’s a horrible thing to do lol I know some say it’s good to do but I firmly agree w those who say don’t do it. It does the exact opposite of helping w drainage. It creates a water shelf that leaves the roots sitting in water.

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  2. brianna

    The dry curling leaf edges is due to lack of humidity, it can survive without ideal humidity you’ll have the slight dry/crispy curl on the leaves.

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    • Miss Pots

      Thank you! Unfortunately I live in an often dry climate and my home is pretty air tight so not conducive to humidity. I can try to mist it more but outside of that I may just have to let them be dry and curled up?

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    • brianna

      Misting could help it’s worth a try! I have a calathea that i just trim the older leaves off when they get really bad and let the younger ones grow in. Feel free to trim those two yellow leaves off, once they lose their green they’re mostly just sucking nutrients from the rest of the plant.

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  3. Monroe

    Are you using tap water or filtered? Calatheas are sensitive to lime in tap water. It may not be the biggest of your issues but it can cause for unhappy calatheas

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  4. Plant Mom

    I have had two of these plants and they have been the hardest ones I have ever had. No matter what i have done they fail to thrive-repotting, location, humidity doesn’t matter. Hope you gave better luck with yours

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