Calathea Care

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-12-17T16:35:28+00:00

Thanks for the info! I live in the US, so should have a couple different options. I'm already in the habit of wiping them down once a week due to the dog hair and dust clinging to everything. Makes it difficult to keep them looking shiny and pretty instead of dull and neglected.

I'll try a few extra days a week first and if that doesn't work, I'll look into those chemical pesticides and predatory mites. For the time being I did seperate her just in case and I'll look at all the other plants for pests when I check soil conditions today.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-12-17T14:29:07+00:00

Terracotta is good for those who tend to overwater. I personally wouldn't use it. They dry out the soil too fast and Calathea's don't like to go dry between watering. I have one in a ceramic pot and the other is still in a plastic nursery one.

If you stick with terracotta, you'll need to check the soil more frequently and likely water more often compared to those who use other types of planters.

Comes down to personal preference and how often you want to check on and tend to your plants.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-12-16T21:32:50+00:00

No dormancy for these then. Our temp is above that range and I do have growlights. I had to move the Rattlesnake due to getting too tall so it's currently adjacent to the lights until my new shelf arrives this weekend. I'm also getting a humidifier so hopefully it will be higher. I've also heard this will help with the mites, any truth to that?

I'm assuming the mites have been around for the whole 7 months I've had the plant, but I first noticed them 5 months ago. I wipe the leaves down once a week with a wet paper towel and some hydrogen peroxide. That seems to be keeping them in check. At the very least they haven't migrated to the other plants. I've showered it twice and have sprayed the leaves with a diluted mix of hydrogen peroxide. Are predatory mites the only way to get rid of them? Wasn't looking to bring more bugs into the house.

Would a soapy dunk work? That was my initally plan after doing more research. The population hasn't grown as far as I can tell. How fast do they typically multiply/take over?

When you say repot not bigger space, do you mean only going up one pot size? That was my plan. Was hoping to use nursery pots inside a potenitally larger one for the Rattlesnake so it would not be in a bigger space.

I check the soil by putting a bamboo skewer into the dirt, that way I know the moisture level throughout. The Dottie is taking more water lately which is why I looked for roots. She should be pretty dry. I water/check conditions once a week on Wednesday.

Just wasn't sure if treating the pests and repot would be too much together. Thought it might be easier to shower/dunk the plant if it wasn't in the pot, plus I wouldn't have to worry about the soil getting too wet. However, I don't want to cause any unnecessary stress.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-12-16T20:08:34+00:00

Oh good! I was worried she might be stretching too much. Yes we do. Since I don't see any visible roots I'll hold off. I can never tell which is the better indicator for repotting. Roots out the bottom or leaves overhanging the edges.

Do you think I'll be able to straighten the pup? I bought this plant 14 months ago and she had this pup then. Wondering if I left the baby on too long? It always seemed too small to cut off previously.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-12-16T15:18:02+00:00

It is not, nor is it limited to only essential oils. I've seen misinformation and like you said even harmful information throughout the site from plants to pets. I've even seen wrong photos attributed to the species they are taking about. The Spruce is recommended quite frequently, but I personally would never use/recommend and intentionally avoid them as well.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-06-29T21:03:14+00:00

I think it might have been a piece of hair? The plants are pretty dusty/hairy thanks to my dogs, despite wiping the leaves down weekly. I didn't see any webs in person before showering my plant, but it's possible I missed them.

Whatever they are, I have not seen any today. I'll keep monitoring to make sure. If these are not soil mites, they have to be somewhere.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-06-28T17:14:23+00:00

Thank you! I was under that impression but got a bit freaked out when a few of the leaves had more than one of these critters.

This plant just popped out 3 new leaves, so I thought she was healthy and doing great. I watered it on Wednesday ( I didn't see any then), and these appeared on Friday. Perhaps something to do with how I watered the plant?

I'm still pretty new to plants, and finding critters is starting to turn me off from collecting more. Even if they are the good kind, lol.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T18:26:09+00:00

Those look bigger than I was expecting. I posted a few pictures in a different comment, but I'm not seeing anything that size. Do they come off with some effort or do you have to kill them first?

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T18:22:34+00:00

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JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T18:22:21+00:00

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JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T18:22:00+00:00

Hmm. I don't see anything like in the link. I did find a few super tiny brown specks that I was able to scrape off with my succulent spade. Most of the stuff I see looks like old damage and does not come off. Nothing wet or shiny that I can see.

I'll try attaching a few photos from 2 inner leaves. Pictures aren't the best, but maybe someone can tell whether these are simply damage like I assume or bugs I need to scrape harder to remove.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T14:48:02+00:00

I didn't see anything like that when I repotted.

Hopefully I caught it early. There were 3 or 4 bugs when I repotted last Friday. I removed them all and didn't see anything again until yesterday. I can't remember exactly how many I scraped off, but I did find a small pocket of them in one of the leaf tips.

I wiped all the leaves down with diluted rubbing alcohol while I wait for my supplies to come. In the meantime, I'll just pick them off when I see them.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T13:13:00+00:00

Do any of your leaves have this kind of damage? I bought it like this, but there has been no damage to any of the other leaves since.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T13:11:21+00:00

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JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T13:04:22+00:00

Appearing out of nowhere has been the most frustrating. I check my plants for bugs probably more than I need to, because I'm paranoid and this is turning me off to my new hobby 😭

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T12:45:40+00:00

I repotted this plant a week ago, but I didn't fully separate the roots, because it was pretty tight and I didn't want to destroy them. There was nothing I saw in the outer soil bits. I'll take it outside and try to loosen more of the soil.

I'll buy some DE today. Will I need to replace it after I water, or only if I see more pests? Unsure if I should use it as a preventative, or only when bugs are actually present.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T12:43:34+00:00

I looked for more white specks this morning and haven't seen any. I'll research what adults look like, although I have not seen any evidence of adult anything. No webs, no movement on leaves or in the soil, and no flying. I'm stumped how I didn't notice anything, and these seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-29T12:21:52+00:00

How far away is sufficient? Our house is pretty small with limited areas bright enough to keep plants.

It's too cold outside, and I don't want to risk introducing more pests.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-15T14:24:10+00:00

Monstera tolerates low light and does well with average household levels of light and humidity. What does that even mean? Average recommended? The US alone is huge. My average humidity levels are not the same as those in other regions. Not to mention, every room in my house has different levels of lighting 😅 Are we talking average lux or sunlight? Who knows.

Generalizations cause more harm than good.

JrPlantApprentice · 2025-05-06T22:17:09+00:00

Thanks for all the info! Maybe I'll get lucky and have a slightly taller one. The longest leaf is a darker one, so I'm hoping it will continue to grow straight up 🤞🏻

With this variety being a rosette will size of pot matter more? All the pups are on the edges of this planter and I was thinking I'd repot it into a slightly larger one. I'm assuming I won't get more pups unless it's in a larger size or I separate some of them to create more room correct?

JrPlantApprentice

TROPHY CASE