Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Calathea Zebrina

Steven writes~
I bought a Calathea zebrina plant. I have it in my living room, in a fairly shady place, but it does not seem to be doing well. The leaves are curling up and going brown and dry around the edges. I thought it might be too dry, so I increased the amount of waterings, and now it gets watered every day, but it is not improving. What else should I be doing to help it, and prevent it from dying?

Your plant is suffering from low humidity. It is not so much the soil that is dry but the air. You need to add moisture to it until it adapts to your inside environment. If you can set outside in a shaded area for a couple months, it would enjoy that. Otherwise, you will need to add water into the air.

Place the plant into a saucer filled with pebbles or small stones. Keep water in that saucer up to the bottom of the pot but not so that it is sitting right into the water. This water will continually evaporate and give the air around the plant extra moisture. You may also set containers of water all around your house plants especially in the winter when our homes' air is even drier. As the water evaporates, add more, but keep these containers clean and bug-free.

Place some clean spaghnum moss around the base of the stem to serve as a mulch.

Plant Type: Perennial
Environment: Suitable for the home or a greenhouse
Description: Leaf blades broad, about 15'' (38cm) long, deep green with clearly defined yellow
    areas down the midrib and across the veins at an angle to the midrib.
Origin: Brazil
Foliage: Yes
Flowering: No
Fragrant: No
Growing Ease: Requires a little extra care
Temperature: 60-85 degrees F, 16-29 degrees C
Humidity: High humidity

Data from Plantcare.com