Skip to content
The Little Botanical stacked logo

Calathea Care Guide

Calathea Care Guide

Calatheas are all about gorgeous leaves, bringing colour and movement into your home. The patterns can be pin-striped, rose painted, or even peacock patterned. Each leaf pattern makes your Calathea unique.

Did you know? The Calathea’s also known as the prayer plant. That’s because its leaves fold together at dusk to look like praying hands. During the day, they open up again, allowing the plant to get as much light as possible.

Water

Water your Calathea at least once a week to keep the soil nice and moist.

Position

Put your plant in a well-lit spot that receives indirect light.

Plant Feed

Feed it with a generic houseplant food once a month during spring and summer.

Things to do

Calathea

The Calathea enjoys indirect light. It also loves plenty of humidity, so keep those leaves misted. It needs slightly more water than other plants. Water it at least once a week and keep the soil damp. Be careful not to let the soil fully dry out.

The underside of the leaves is just as interesting to look at as the top. If you can, put it somewhere you can get a glimpse of both, a shelf or tabletop is perfect.  With good care, new leaves will grow during Spring/Summer. They initially appear tightly curled and flatten out as they mature.

Calathea

Lower dry leaves are common and these can be trimmed off close to the stem to encourage new growth. If your plant is suffering with a few brown tips, it is okay to trim following the shape of the leaf.

Things not to do

Calathea

The Calathea spends most of its life under the dense jungles of South America. As such, it prefers to be warm. Keep it away from cold draughts so that it doesn’t get too cold.

Don’t allow the soil to dry out. The tips of the leaves can turn brown, can curl inwards or visibly splay outwards when the plant is thirsty. Ensure the soil is kept moist and that the plants leaves get enough humidity to prevent this.  The leaves love being misted, especially in summer.

Calathea

In contrast, yellowing leaves are a sign that you’ve overwatered the plant. Trim these leaves off and check there isn’t any water sitting in the bottom of the ceramic. Simply drain off any excess water in the sink and reduce the frequency or amount of water.

More about the Calathea

Sign up for 15% off

Shipping icon - outline of a parcel
Free delivery on orders over £65 - Post code dependent
Dispatch icon - a curved arrow
We dispatch Monday - Thursday
Personalisation icon - a pencil graphic
Personalise your plants

As Seen In

Tag us @thelittlebotanical

Facebook icon Instagram icon Pinterest icon

© The Little Botanical


VAT Number: GB 193 7170 45

Add this product to a wishlist?

Save your favourites - log in to add items to your wishlist

Register or Login