Calatheas. They have the reputation for being literally impossible to keep alive. And if you manage to at least not outright kill them, they look super sad. Crispy leaves, no growth, and more dead than alive. You also just didn’t like the plant to begin with, because it always has been super fuzzy about everything.

Into the trash it goes!

No… wait!
Maybe reconsider the bad reputation.

I find them actually not hard at all to cultivate successfully.

Let me explain.

Substrate

Let’s begin with the soil.
That’s the first thing you did wrong. You used dirt.

Marantacae, the whole class of diva plants, where all those Calatheas, Marantas, Ctenanthes and whatever words with red dots below belong to, are native to rainforests.

They literally need daily rain showers, or else they throw a tantrum and die.

So, just water your plant all the time…right? NOPE. You will kill it with root rot, because soil needs dry periods for proper oxygenation.

So… skip watering? Yep. But do it 5 minutes too long, and the plant gets crispy and again land in the trash.

And now, what else?

✨ H Y D R O ! ✨

Give them some LECA clay balls and let them sit in an inch of nutrient solution.

I plan to post a guide/ experience report on semi-hydro soon for more details.

With that method, they are constantly hydrated and you literally never have to worry about root rot or fungus gnats. Also no more guesswork thanks to the water level indicator!

They need to be watered every two weeks or so and that’s it.

Air humidity

I’ve read a lot that you’ll need at least 70, better 80% RH, which is basically only achievable in terrariums and greenhouses, and DAILY misting, or else they get burnt tips.

That’s total BS imo!

They are fucking houseplants. They need to survive in normal house conditions, often 50% or way lower, or else they shouldn’t have been born as houseplants.

Burnt tips are only a problem if they live in soil. Forget to water once, and they’ll burn. This happens in soil all the time, and in hydro rarely. Just don’t let the indicator drop below zero and you’ll be fine.

If you have high RH that’s great. Then they don’t crisp up quite as fast and extreme. As long as there’s enough moisture around the roots even 30% RH is absolutely fine.

Survival strategy (just in case!)

You may now wonder: how do they survive in nature when they’re THAT much of a diva?

Answer: POTATO 🥔

You see those bulbs? Maybe they remind you of arrow root if you have already seen one. THATS BECAUSE IT’S THE SAME FUCKING THING. (almost)

Their survival strategy is basically:

  • “Oh, comfy here!” (Good conditions with moisture and stuff)
  • Literally explode with growth and pump out as much leaves as possible
  • Get as much light as literally possible somehow
  • Convert light into small tubers (those potato thingies that contain starch)
  • “Oh, everything sucks now, where’s my fucking rain?”
  • Literally die in the most unfashionable way possible (suck up all water and nutrients from the leaves and get it into the potatoes)
  • Wait until
  • “Oh, comfy here!”
  • …
  • Repeat.

Basically, leaf damage is normal. Normal, but not what we ever want. Keep everything consistent!

Lighting

People say Calatheas are “”“”“Low Light Plants”“”“”. Buuuuullshit.

What the heck means “low light”?

We live in fucking concrete caves. Even the darkest shadow outside (in a bush or whatever) is like 10x brighter than your window.

They have adapted to grow on rainforest floors with “very little” light. But they still need some.

Sheer curtains are great for that. They reduce the incoming direct light, and diffuse it.

If the leaves are getting dark green, or the pattern fades, it’s too dark. Give them some light.

They need the energy to create new tubers, where new leaves also sprout from.

But don’t overdo it. Unfiltered sun is too much for them.

Give them a bit of light, and they’ll survive. But if you give them lots of diffused light they’ll literally explode with new growth!

Water quality

One last word about watering. I personally use reverse osmosis or rain water as a base, and always add a bit of hydroponic fertilizer every time.

I never “water”, I “refill the nutrient solution”.

You don’t need RO water, but I highly recommend it to you. It will make your life easier, trust me.

If you use tap water (if you have clean drinking water of course, no chlorine or whatever!) flush the reservoir every few times maybe to avoid mineral accumulation or nutrient lockout.

Calatheas are amazing imo! They look stunning, and they have relatively low light requirements because they tilt themselves automatically towards light sources.

I hope you found it helpful and maybe you’ll like them soon too!

EDIT: a small overview of my collection. Most of them are ~1 year old, often less, and started from a small plug :)