I have this rattlesnake plant and it’s looking kinda rough? The leaves are crispy and kinda sad looking? The pot has drainage and sits either near my window or a few feet away in bright but now direct sunlight. How can i help it and make it happy again 🫠
Well, I think I have the biggest rattlesnake plant I’ve ever seen so I’ll try to help you out. For mine I make sure it never dries out because it likes to be moist all the time. Not too much light and definitely no direct sun. Mine is under artificial light but not close. All Goepertias prefer high humidity but the rattlesnake is about the only Calathea that can do okay in normal humidity (40-50%). I feed it a diluted plant food I mix in the water about once a month. For yours, it looks like it has plenty of healthy leaves. I would cut off all the ugly leaves and pick out all the brown dead stuff. That will promote new growth. Mine puts out 6-12 new leaves almost all at once and then it rests for a few weeks and shoots out another bunch. It will fill out quickly and get pretty tall. If your humidity isn’t very high you will probably see brown tips but they don’t show up very well. I have a humidifier in one corner of my house where I stick all my high humidity plants so mine gets 50-55% humidity in that corner. I can’t grow any other Goepertia in my house. They die from dehydration, but the rattlesnake has hung on and seems pretty happy. Here’s mine. Yours will look like this too. Mine is three years old.
Also check for spider mites. If you see any webs on the leaves or on top of the soil you will need to treat right away. And check all your other plants too. I’m suspicious you might have spider mites. And I can also see a few spots with yellow margins which can sometimes indicate fungus so I’d treat for that while you’re at it. Here’s what I’d do exactly. Inspect for bugs. Even if you don’t see any (some like thrips are very hard to see), spray the bajeezuz out of it (totally soak it) with some sort of insecticidal soap spray. I use Bonide Dead Bug. It kills everything. Then I’d cut out all the damaged leaves but you need to kill the bugs first. Spray the surface of the soil really well with Dead Bug. Get some Bonide systemic Insecticidal granules and put some of that on the surface of the pot soil and use a stick or something to kinda work it into the soil a little bit. Then water with a solution of one part hydrogen peroxide and 4-5 parts water. Then for the fungus issue, I’d give it a spray down of copper fungicide. You might need to repeat the copper if you see more fungus but one treatment might be enough. You might not have fungus but it won’t hurt the plant to spray it. None of these steps will hurt your plant at all even if you don’t have bugs so I’d do them anyway for good measure.
3 Mi piace I think your plant will be fine because it does still have quite a few nice leaves still. Don’t give up!
2 Mi piace
Hello - is this copper fungicide something that can be purchased or made at home?
0 Mi piace I buy it at my nursery or hardware store in the garden department. Here’s a photo. Beer is so you can see size. 😊
It also comes in a ready to use spray bottle.
0 Mi piace It sounds like you have it in a good spot for lighting. Just no direct sun. 😊😊😊🪴🌱🪴🌱
1 mi piace
All of Gigglzngreenz advice is solid. I’m a little worried if that’s a terracotta planter as it can pull the moisture away from the plant. My rattlesnake plant is about the only calathea I can keep alive
Your rattlesnake looks almost identical to mine!! Don’t you love it?!
1 mi piace I DO!!! 😍
0 Mi piace
🤤so beautiful!
1 mi piace I’m in the same boat and struggling. I will try this advice too. I’ve had my rattlesnake for a year or so and it just declined in health and I can’t figure it out. I never see any insects but I will treat with fungicide and neem also. Good luck to you
1 mi piace Amie206 is right about the Terracotta pot. You probably should switch to a plastic pot set down into a cache pot. Or a glazed ceramic pot with drainage so it doesn’t dry out so fast.
1 mi piace