Is my plant getting too much light? It’s sitting on the f...
3ft to light, direct
8” pot with drainage
Last watered 4 months ago
4
@Plantdad6210 @GuruGermander65 without knowing what’s going on with the soil and watering rythym one cannot tell overwatering from one yellow leaf. The overwatering misinformation going around has actually led to a huge insurgence of people severely underwatering their plants!! Eek 🥺
If this calathea/geoppertia, which natively lives in the understory of tropical rainforests, is getting 3-6 hours of direct sunlight a day, 2 feet from a south facing window, and the info card says last watered 10 days ago, all those things put together would lead me to think 💯 not overwatering. I’m going to need more information though. What does your soil feel like right now? Is this the oldest leaf? Is it happening just on one leaf or all over? Can I see some photos of the whole plant?
If this calathea/geoppertia, which natively lives in the understory of tropical rainforests, is getting 3-6 hours of direct sunlight a day, 2 feet from a south facing window, and the info card says last watered 10 days ago, all those things put together would lead me to think 💯 not overwatering. I’m going to need more information though. What does your soil feel like right now? Is this the oldest leaf? Is it happening just on one leaf or all over? Can I see some photos of the whole plant?
First, damaged leaves won’t recover from the damage, so your best indicator of doing something right is not seeing any new damage (daily photos can help with this) and the healthy parts of your leaves or new growth looking glossy and erect.
Your light is likely mostly fine, though some of the random splotching and yellowing do imply it could be getting too much in some spots… it is hard to tell, because your plant is not otherwise thriving in this moment, but some of the damage looks like it would coincide with reflections concentrating sunbeams which can result in burns… my understanding is these plants need bright indirect light, so moving it back from the window by a foot or two may help with the parts of it that look like possible sunburn.
The bigger issue is it appears to be getting too much water. I say this specifically because of how the edges are dying around the entire leaf (not concentrated in one spot), which implies it’s in the roots. That is a pretty big pot, so consider getting a moisture meter (you can get one of the cheap green ones on amazon for like $8, just keep it clean and dry between uses) to help you check if the soil deeper in the pot has dried out enough to need more water. Consider also giving it a smaller volume of water at any given time than you have been doing. You could also try using filtered water when watering to gauge whether your plant is sensitive to things in your tap water (some are).
Your light is likely mostly fine, though some of the random splotching and yellowing do imply it could be getting too much in some spots… it is hard to tell, because your plant is not otherwise thriving in this moment, but some of the damage looks like it would coincide with reflections concentrating sunbeams which can result in burns… my understanding is these plants need bright indirect light, so moving it back from the window by a foot or two may help with the parts of it that look like possible sunburn.
The bigger issue is it appears to be getting too much water. I say this specifically because of how the edges are dying around the entire leaf (not concentrated in one spot), which implies it’s in the roots. That is a pretty big pot, so consider getting a moisture meter (you can get one of the cheap green ones on amazon for like $8, just keep it clean and dry between uses) to help you check if the soil deeper in the pot has dried out enough to need more water. Consider also giving it a smaller volume of water at any given time than you have been doing. You could also try using filtered water when watering to gauge whether your plant is sensitive to things in your tap water (some are).
I give it distilled water only a tad bit of super thrive liquid plant food also it’s in a self watering pot. I have moved about 8 feet away with humidity next to it. Also I use a water moisturizer meter to. #
