Yes, you heard right. We all love a Calathea for its gorgeous foliage but we also know how hard you have to fight for that foliage.
Calathea needs a proper humidity level and knowledge on how to water it. The soil should stay moist but not wet and it is also better not to get dry. This is tricky and not every plant parent understands when it needs to be watered.
Other than that, the plant has to be moistened regularly but it's not needed if you have a humidifier on.
Nevertheless, many plant parents do not recommend getting a calathea if you are not ready to take proper care of it, I thought I would do everything the right way.
To be completely honest with you, a calathea did not work out well for me. My "Angela" already had damaged leaves when I got it and no matter how much I tried to love it, I hated it in the end. I will never get another Angela after that. It had spider mites, its new leaves turned brown before being uncurled and it probably did everything to me to stop loving it. Frankly saying I never really loved that thing even in the beginning.
My Calateha Orbifolia was another nightmare. Yes, it looked amazing at first but it never gave me new growths and it dropped the biggest leave after I fertilized it. With Orbifolia I knew I just followed the trend after seeing it everywhere on Instagram and Pinterest. It looked amazingly big in other parents' hands and I thought mine would be the same way. Nope, it didn't. A Calathea Orbifolia is a no-no for me anymore.
The next one is a Calateha Zebrina. My gorgeously-looking Zebrina Albert. Yes, I name some of my plants :) I had a relatively big plant that gave me new leaves pretty much regularly until it met a spider mite. The leaves become derpy and the plant looked sad. Then the leaves started yellowing. I got rid of the mites but after fighting for its health, I stopped loving my Albert. Actually, Zebrina was not as bad as the other two but I would not get it again. The beauty of the leaves does not worth the fight for me.
A Calateha White Star.
My beautiful white star was the biggest in my collection. It was half of my height and looked stunning. I wanted one so much that I didn't care I could have problems with it. I think the spider mites started with the White Star. No matter how many times I tried to get rid of it, the situation only got worse and worse until all the leaves are gone dead. Besides, I had it for a couple of months and it never had home leaves. No matter how beautiful the White Star is, this Calathea would never live in my place again.
My last and most loved one is Calathea Lancifolia.
This one is the easiest for me. No spider mites so far, no dropping leaves, no nothing. So far the lancifolia behaves perfectly fine. It is my drama queen. If you are familiar with calatheas you know the way they raise foliage at night and get it back down during the daytime. So among all the calatheas I have had, the Lancifolia does it in the most amazing way.
Well, update: I got a Calathea White Fusion. Yeah I know I know never say never right. It got spider mites in a month. The old leaves became crispy and it doesn't want to give me new growth. I'm done with Calatheas that have thin leaves. Enough is enough.
What is the easiest Calathea to care for?
I've been asking myself the same question again and again and I don't have an answer.
To me, the absolutely easiest one is the Calathea Lancifolia
On reference, I didn't have any problems with Calatheas that have thicker leaves. Well, except for spider mites but those are much easier to get rid of when the leaves are thicker.
Those are:
- Calathea Makoyana (Peacock plant)
- Calathea Roseopicta
- Other species with thick leaves
Those that have velvet kinda leaves are really hard to maintain with no crispy leaves and what most important, really hard to get rid of spider mites.
Anyways these are my two cents.
What to know before buying a calathea?
Even after telling you about all the troubles you might have with a Calathea, you still might want to get one and I don't blame you. It is a gorgeous plant. I love the way it looks I just wouldn't get another one for myself.
- Be sure you can provide a proper level of humidity. It can be a humidifier or misting it every day or maybe your place has lots of humidity because of where you live. All that works for calathea. Most of them need 70% and up humidity.
- Be ready to keep the soil moist but not wet. Also, do not let the soil get dry. This is tricky but once you understand your plant you will get used to the watering schedule.
- Spider mites. Spider mites love a Calathea. Buy everything you need to kill them the same day you get a plant. There is a chance you'd avoid the mites tho.
- The plant loves to be far from the window but still gets some sunlight. It does well under poor lighting conditions but not when it's too dark.
- Distilled or filtered water. Those are very sensitive to water you are going to feed them with. Make sure you use distilled or filtered water.
Do not let these things keep you away from getting a Calathea. Just be sure you know about all the aspects of proper plant care as they are simply gorgeous.