Is Calathea Easy To Grow?

A Calathea isn’t a particularly easy plant to grow but it also isn’t as difficult as some other plants. It would probably fall into a mid range of difficulty in terms of ease of growth.

The Calathea can be difficult to look after but if you are able to adapt to its needs and you have the right amount of light and humidity then you should be able to grow your Calathea. If you provide the right conditions for your Calathea then you should have no bother growing it, so here are some basic tips on how they like to be kept:

Medium To Low Light Requirements For Calathea

A Calathea doesn’t like direct sunlight as it can become scorched or lose its colour. Instead keep it in a bright light that isn’t directly exposed to the sun. If you notice signs to indicate that your Calathea is receiving too much light then try moving it to a different spot in the house or even just a bit further away from the window.

Calatheas Like It Humid

Calatheas are used to tropical climates and won’t do well in a dry household. It might be worth your time investing in a humidifier to help increase the moisture in your home. If you don’t want to do that then you can also try leaving glasses of water around your plants so that the moisture will evaporate into the air. Or you could also try using a mister.

If your plant isn’t getting enough moisture in the air your may notice the leaves developing crispy tips which no one wants on their plant.

Calatheas Aren’t Drought Tolerant

Some plants do better when their soil is left to dry out. The Calathea is not one of these plants, they like to be moist and don’t react well when they are missed out on a session of watering. This doesn’t mean they need to be soaked through but make sure the soil is watered thoroughly and the plant doesn’t become too dry or you will see the affects of this pretty quickly.

Check the moisture of your soil often and if the top section of the soil feels dry then give it a water. Don’t wait for the soil to dry out completely or you run the risk of damaging your plant.

Calatheas Don’t Like To Be Cold

A final point to make is that Calatheas don’t like to be cold. They grow naturaly in quite warm conditions so it’s not a good idea to leave these plants in a cold environment or near a drought.

Try to keep your home warm and if you leave your plants for the holidays see if you can leave your heating system on a heater to avoid your home becoming too cold for these plants. You might also want to think about moving them away from windows and doors where they might be in a drought. This might sound like a lot but if you follow these points a Calathea is relatively easy to grow, and even propagate.

If you’d like to learn more about Calathea care then why not check out our article on how do you prune Calathea?

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