How Often To Water Calathea

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How Often To Water Calathea

Knowing how often to water Calathea can make all the difference between having a fussy Calathea that needs lots of attention and having a healthy plant that does relatively well. Calathea need to be watered regularly and they are not a plant that likes to dry out between waterings. The best way to do this is to stick your finger in the top two inches of soil and as it begins to feel dry it’s time for your plant to have a drink.

You might find that watering once a week works for your Calathea during the summer months and you are able to water your plant less frequently in the winter however each plant is different and you might find that your Calathea needs less or more than this.

If you’re finding it difficult to know when your soil is drying out and you can’t work out when to water your Calathea then try using a moisture meter. With this device you stick the probes into the soil and it gives you a reading of how dry your soil is. Don’t allow the soil of a Calathea to reach 1 or 2 as this will be too dry for the plant. Instead the meter should read around 3 when it’s time to water again.

Remember that even though they like to be watered often they don’t want to sit in soggy soil, so don’t overwater your plants either. A classic sign of overwatering is yellowing leaves so keep an eye out for this and if your leaves are staying nice and green then chances are you’re doing ok.

What Type Of Water Does Your Calathea Need?

It’s not enough to know how often to water Calathea but you also need to know what type of water your plant needs. Regular tap water can be too harsh for Calathea and can cause damage to the leaves. Signs of this can be brown marks on the leaves that look like burn marks. If you’re watering your plant fairly often, using a weak fertiliser, keeping it out of the sunlight yet it burn marks are still appearing on the leaves then this can be a sure sign that the water is too harsh and you need to change it up. With this plant we would recommend using filtered water rather than tap water even before you start noticing burning.