Indoor help
#CathedralWindows Hi! I have had this plant since the summer. It used to sit outside of my front door and it did very well outside, but once the temps dropped I brought it inside and it’s not been doing very well since. The edges of the leaves are browning and it tries to grow new leaves, but they turn pale yellow and never reach normal. It was underneath a vent and right beside a window so I moved it farther from the window and farther from the vents. What can I do to help it start growing healthy again? Is it just experiencing some shock from moving inside? Does it need a bigger pot?
I will definitely put it back outside when it warms up again in the spring, but it won’t be warm enough consistently until March or April.
I will definitely put it back outside when it warms up again in the spring, but it won’t be warm enough consistently until March or April.
Last watered 2 months ago
14
@Skylar00 bummer. Calatheas are my personal nemesis, but Nadia seems to be a champ at getting these babies to thrive. @DreamMachine any suggestions?
@IWantThatPlant @Skylar00 you rang? 👀 lol ☺️ Thanks for the tag J ❤️
So Skylar @Skylar00 Any plant will experience some shock and take some time acclimating to the indoors, and calatheas, especially, can be known for being fussy drama queens. 👸 I try to keep things stable, comfortable, predictable, and gentle for them at all times. For me, it is not worth it to move them outside in the summer, but I’m in a much different climate than yours.
So what can you control right now? What temp🌡️ is your house currently, and do you have big temperature drops at night? They really do NOT like cold drafts 💨 so moving it away from the vent and window was a good call. That could have been it, but you’ll only be to tell if he looks better a couple weeks after you moved it back. Plants live at a much slower 🐌 pace than we do, so that’s important to keep in mind when you’re checking to see if your changes are working—it won’t happen right away. Make sure though that he’s still getting plenty of light farther from the window. I have all my calatheas under grow lights.
Do you know your indoor humidity? Were your outside summer temps kinda humid? Crispy leaf tips can happen when the humidity is lower than they like. Calatheas are happiest above 60% but you can train them to lower humidity if you have everything else right. What kind of water did you use to water them over the summer, vs right now—is it the same water? They are very sensitive to the chemicals found in our tap water and crispy brown leaf tips are often a symptom of poor water quality (to their mind). Room temperature rainwater, distilled, or filtered water is best for them (or at least tap water that has been left in its open container for 24 hours so the chlorine etc dissipates.)
I hope this helps! 🫶🏼 Please tag me and let know if it does, or if you’ve checked all these things and you’re still having issues so we can work through them 💕🌿
So Skylar @Skylar00 Any plant will experience some shock and take some time acclimating to the indoors, and calatheas, especially, can be known for being fussy drama queens. 👸 I try to keep things stable, comfortable, predictable, and gentle for them at all times. For me, it is not worth it to move them outside in the summer, but I’m in a much different climate than yours.
So what can you control right now? What temp🌡️ is your house currently, and do you have big temperature drops at night? They really do NOT like cold drafts 💨 so moving it away from the vent and window was a good call. That could have been it, but you’ll only be to tell if he looks better a couple weeks after you moved it back. Plants live at a much slower 🐌 pace than we do, so that’s important to keep in mind when you’re checking to see if your changes are working—it won’t happen right away. Make sure though that he’s still getting plenty of light farther from the window. I have all my calatheas under grow lights.
Do you know your indoor humidity? Were your outside summer temps kinda humid? Crispy leaf tips can happen when the humidity is lower than they like. Calatheas are happiest above 60% but you can train them to lower humidity if you have everything else right. What kind of water did you use to water them over the summer, vs right now—is it the same water? They are very sensitive to the chemicals found in our tap water and crispy brown leaf tips are often a symptom of poor water quality (to their mind). Room temperature rainwater, distilled, or filtered water is best for them (or at least tap water that has been left in its open container for 24 hours so the chlorine etc dissipates.)
I hope this helps! 🫶🏼 Please tag me and let know if it does, or if you’ve checked all these things and you’re still having issues so we can work through them 💕🌿
@DreamMachine Hi! Thank you for so much info! All of your caltheas look wonderful!! I brought mine in about a month ago. I live in Kentucky, so we get all 4 seasons here. I got the plant in June, so it was very hot and humid then. The temps and humidity gradually lowered from August-October when it came inside. It is about 68-70 degrees in my apartment, I have the heat on so the air coming from the vents should not be particularly cold. I’m using the same water to water them now as I was, I just use tap water but I let it sit out before watering. The only spot I have for it inside that is away from the vents is sort of far from the window, so maybe I will try some grow lights? I just moved it back about a week ago. Also, I have an ultrasonic humidifier in my bedroom that says the humidity is above 70% in there, the plant is in my kitchen now, but my apartment is only 900 sqft so I would assume the humidity is about the same throughout. How often do you water it when inside? It was pretty thirsty when outside and very hot but that is not the case indoors!
@Skylar00 Doesn’t seem like the water is the issue if it’s what you’ve been using the whole time and you let it sit out. It’s possible the heat (vent) might be causing the issues because although it keeps things at a nice temperature, it also dries out the air. Is it possible to move it to your bedroom with a grow light? But I agree, with a small apartment your kitchen might not be that much lower in humidity. Does your heat go off at night? Wondering if you have a big temperature drop at night time. Tomorrow when it’s light out, could you take some pictures of your calathea? One full on plant picture, one of your soil, and maybe 1 or 2 of specific struggling leaves?
I definitely water less in the fall and winter then in the warmer months. I go by the weight of the pot and/or how the soil looks (I use clear nursery pots with added air holes). When to water will depend on your specific home conditions. I live in a rainy wet place (PNW) so I can let mine dry out almost 💯 And currently that takes anywhere from 8-14 days depending on pot size. In drier areas you shouldn’t let it ever get 💯 dry, but that is also dependent on whether or not you have a humidifier. I’ll look at your photos tomorrow and see what I can see! 💕🌿
I definitely water less in the fall and winter then in the warmer months. I go by the weight of the pot and/or how the soil looks (I use clear nursery pots with added air holes). When to water will depend on your specific home conditions. I live in a rainy wet place (PNW) so I can let mine dry out almost 💯 And currently that takes anywhere from 8-14 days depending on pot size. In drier areas you shouldn’t let it ever get 💯 dry, but that is also dependent on whether or not you have a humidifier. I’ll look at your photos tomorrow and see what I can see! 💕🌿
Also, yes I could move it into my bedroom next to the window and humidifier, but it would also be close to a vent. Unfortunately there’s a vent above all the windows in my apartment. So the only options super close to a window are also under a vent. Or it can be farther from the window and far from the vents. I could get a grow light for it though!
@Skylar00 Wow Skylar! 🤩 🙌🏼 Your calathea looks SO much better than I was imagining! Great job on care so far 👏🏼 👏🏼 And I mean that to be a huge compliment—calatheas are REALLY hard for A LOT of people 🤗
@Skylar00 Because I can see that only the new leaves are coming out like that, and small amounts of other leaf tip browning, I am now pretty positive that the new leaf browning was most likely caused by the transition into heat-dried indoor air. I would suggest plopping him next to the humidifier and/or putting the whole pot on top of a tray filled with pebbles and water, so that the pot is sitting on the pebbles and is NOT directly touching the water. This helps increase the humidity as the water evaporates. 💨 Cluster any other humidity-loving plants around him so that their combined transpiration will create their own planty microclimate. 🪴
Continue to check first every time you water by poking your finger into the soil and only watering when you feel it’s dry about halfway to 75% down. He needs medium-light consistent waterings while he’s still in that nursery soil, which appears to be mostly peat or coco. You don’t want it soggy, or with large dry pockets, water until it just starts to drip out the drainage holes. He needs less water if he’s not by the window or under a grow light. More light = more water, and less light = less water.
While your plant is still in a little shock from the transmission I do not recommend repotting right now. Even though it’s still nursery soil, at this point he’s used to it 🤷🏼♀️ and another change so soon might make him pitch a hissy fit. You can think about repotting in early spring when you see new growth really taking off. When you do, I recommend at least 2/3 of it to be aeration amendments. For example, my calatheas are in a soil-less mix of
-1/3 (washed and buffered) coco coir
-1/3 perlite
-1/3 medium orchid bark
Whatever your substrate choice, if you were to grab a wet handful of it and squeeze, you don’t want to see it clump together. It should be airy and fluffy enough that it falls apart easily, even when wet.
I also recommend holding off on fertilizer for a little bit (perhaps a month, if you have recently fertilized) If you start seeing another new leaf, you can go ahead and give it a weak 1/4 strength dose. Giving fertilizer to a shocked plant is kind of like giving a treat to an animal that is really scared and anxious, like they need to calm down first, THEN treat.
And finally I think a grow light would be beneficial since windows=heat vents at your place. I have one of these, that I think might work really nicely for you since it is a clamp-on style and it won’t take up valuable floor or counter space! https://a.co/d/0QXvdxo (pst— if you wait until tomorrow, Amazon might have a “black Friday” sale for it!)
I hope that wasn’t overwhelming!! I really like nerding out on plants, but if that’s too much I’d be happy to give you more of a bullet-point explanation 💕🌿 🫶🏼
Continue to check first every time you water by poking your finger into the soil and only watering when you feel it’s dry about halfway to 75% down. He needs medium-light consistent waterings while he’s still in that nursery soil, which appears to be mostly peat or coco. You don’t want it soggy, or with large dry pockets, water until it just starts to drip out the drainage holes. He needs less water if he’s not by the window or under a grow light. More light = more water, and less light = less water.
While your plant is still in a little shock from the transmission I do not recommend repotting right now. Even though it’s still nursery soil, at this point he’s used to it 🤷🏼♀️ and another change so soon might make him pitch a hissy fit. You can think about repotting in early spring when you see new growth really taking off. When you do, I recommend at least 2/3 of it to be aeration amendments. For example, my calatheas are in a soil-less mix of
-1/3 (washed and buffered) coco coir
-1/3 perlite
-1/3 medium orchid bark
Whatever your substrate choice, if you were to grab a wet handful of it and squeeze, you don’t want to see it clump together. It should be airy and fluffy enough that it falls apart easily, even when wet.
I also recommend holding off on fertilizer for a little bit (perhaps a month, if you have recently fertilized) If you start seeing another new leaf, you can go ahead and give it a weak 1/4 strength dose. Giving fertilizer to a shocked plant is kind of like giving a treat to an animal that is really scared and anxious, like they need to calm down first, THEN treat.
And finally I think a grow light would be beneficial since windows=heat vents at your place. I have one of these, that I think might work really nicely for you since it is a clamp-on style and it won’t take up valuable floor or counter space! https://a.co/d/0QXvdxo (pst— if you wait until tomorrow, Amazon might have a “black Friday” sale for it!)
I hope that wasn’t overwhelming!! I really like nerding out on plants, but if that’s too much I’d be happy to give you more of a bullet-point explanation 💕🌿 🫶🏼
@DreamMachine THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This is soooo helpful! I have a small humidifier that I put next to it and will keep an eye on it the next few weeks to see if that helps. and i’m going to order that grow light you sent. Would you recommend putting it back outside in the spring or keeping it inside?
@Skylar00 my pleasure!! ☺️ I think that should be up to you! It seemed to thrive out there last season, but personally, I would probably just see how it does inside until then and then make a decision when the time comes. I hope my tips help!! Please keep me updated, I would love to know how it’s doing 🤗
@DreamMachine Yes it definitely did really well outside! I had it in the breezeway of my apt, so it was a shaded spot, where it got direct sun for a few hours of the day (like in the evening) and indirect the rest of the time. No more browning edges but some leaves are still dying. It’s been next to a small humidifier for a couple weeks now and I just got a grow light during black friday! so it’s had the light for only a couple days now.
@Skylar00 it’s looking pretty good considering its change from summer conditions! Nice for getting a grow light 💡 on BF. So did I 😁
Since last we talked I really got into silica/silicon as a “supplement” if you will, for all of my plants. It does a lot of good things like helping plants make transitions and generally strengthening them, and making them more resilient. I’d highly recommend it if you’re interested!
Since last we talked I really got into silica/silicon as a “supplement” if you will, for all of my plants. It does a lot of good things like helping plants make transitions and generally strengthening them, and making them more resilient. I’d highly recommend it if you’re interested!