Calathea – surprising plant with leaves of exotic beauty which drawing can be compared to professional art painting. Such miracle of the nature cannot but admire. Alas, rather often amateur flower growers face problem – calathea leaves dry. To help plant, it is necessary to know the reasons of this trouble.
Dry air
The calathea – tropical plant, therefore, loves moisture. Too dry indoor air can provoke drying of leaves of calathea. Most often it happens in the winter when steam heating is included. The way out is simple, and it consists in installation of humidifier which is capable to normalize humidity level in the room where the calathea grows. If owing to any reasons it is impossible to establish humidifier, you can hang up damp towels or napkins on batteries, or to place in the room of container with water. Evaporating, it will well moisten air.
One more way to create optimum climate for calathea – to put pot in which it grows, on pallet with haydite or moss sphagnum and to add to it water. Do not forget to spray also regularly calathea from spray with the warm filtered water.
If leaves of calathea have dried up strongly, it is possible to try to save plant, having accurately covered it with plastic bag and having sprayed leaves directly under it. Not to remove package 4-5 days, removing for half an hour in the afternoon, and then putting on again.
Location
Cold or, on the contrary, solar windowsill, the TV or the shelf over the TV, the computer and the other equipment – not the best places for calathea. It does not transfer either bright sunlight, or cold, or dry warm air, stream rising from the switched-on household appliances. Direct sunshine, draft, temperature lower than 16 wasps are pernicious for calathea. In these conditions the tips of its leaves inevitably begin to dry and if not to define it on the suitable place, it will die. Take care of the correct location for calathea. Provide it remoteness from window where it will not be got by direct sunshine. Protect from drafts. The indoor air has to be warm and rather damp. In a word, find golden mean, and the calathea will please you with the healthy look and beautiful as if painted, leaves.
Wrong soil
The calathea needs the easy soil. It is guarantee of its good condition and successful growth. Correctly created soil for this plant consists of mix of the normal earth and coniferous humus in proportion 2:1, small amount of coarse bank sand or perlite which give mixes ease and provide good air permeability. That the soil was rather feeder, it is possible to add to it handful of horse humus.
If all plant dries, get earth lump from pot and check roots. Cut off the begun to rot parts and replace calathea in other pot with the "correct" soil. Process flower and the surface of Epinom soil.
Wreckers
The calathea is very often chosen by web pincers. Do not wait when traces of activity of this wrecker become visible (small spider line, the twisted dry leaves, white or brown raid on them), you carry out prevention. Time or two in week wipe back surface of each leaflet with damp sponge or the cotton pad, the wetted in warm boiled water. This simple procedure allows to delete web tick from leaves, without resorting to the help of poisons.