Hello all, ...from Europe again :). I hope it is all right to revive this topic almost a year later. Helen, I hope your plant still thrives. I happen to have some problems with my Stromanthe that I thought were rather similar. I took some actions already, it is too early to see the results though. Then I read through all of the above comments and still not sure. I got my plant around a year ago, it was rather small, and grew rapidly. It did have some very little dry ends since the beginning, nothing major. This is how it looks now. Constantly growing new, healthy leaves, but it only takes a couple of weeks tll they all become so dry on ends. I did remove alot of leaves already. I keep the soil moist and mist leaves every day, sometimes even a couple times a day. I give it showers monthly. The humidity in my flat is usually 50%. For a long time I believed it was the humidity issue. Could it be just that? On the other hand I do have Calathea lancifolia (which I believe has similar humidity preference) and it is doing fine. Maybe there is something wrong with the soil, thought, since it was planted in all purpose soil. Yesterday I repotted into a slightly bigger pot. Got rid of most of the soil while trying not to mess with the roots too much. They looked very healthy but started to overgrow the pot. I made a new mix (sort of). Since it is very hard to get the basic ingridents here, for "base" I used store bought soil with Osmocote fertilizer and it said "super light" on the package. They do not give actual information on the ingredients here though. It only said it is a 'peat soil' and is reach with humus. I am defnitely no expert on soil, all I can say it indeed was light and soft to touch, maybe it had some peat moss in it (?) and some perlite already, not much though. This is how it looks like, different to what it was in before for sure. To that I added alot of perlte (around 40 %) and just a tiny bit of orchid mix. I planted the Stromanthe with this mix I made in terracota pot. I am not sure if I did the right thing with all that. The soil soaked up alot of water. I would be very happy if anyone could comment on that.

Hello, I purchased a calathea not long ago and read that it can be placed in a low-light area. I've done more reading and now know that it needs filtered light so I've moved it in front of my east facing window. The stems have gone extremely limp because I had it in a dark area for a while, also that room tends to be colder. I've pulled the plant out of its pot to check for root rot however I'm not sure what that actually looks like. Some of the roots looked black so I cut them off and put the plant back into its terracotta pot. I've used a chunky potting mix so I think I've got the soil choice right. Also one leaf has turned yellow. I think this is because of over watering but i am trying my best to keep the soil moist and not wet. Also some leaves have dark brown dried edges... I took some photos of the roots in hopes that someone will be able to know if my plant does have root rot or not. Also I've propped up the stems because they are so limp. Any advice would be so helpful!!

Sorry, but I just don't have the time to read through ALL OF THAT MATERIAL to try to help you. Pls. do calm down, tho' you say you have -- panic never solved anything, tho' I can understand being upset to lose a plant. First & most important get it out of the glass container, into a normal pot W/ A DRAINAGE HOLE. That is a MUST, not negotiable. You were told untruths, this is NOT an easy plant, this is a moisture loving tropical, requiring high humidity levels, not so easily gotten in most homes. Where in the World are you located? The names of plants you posted sound foreign, like some where in Asia (maybe) or Africa. You need an easy starter plant w/ lower light requirements, maybe a Pothos, Sansevieria (Snake plant) or Aspidistra (Cast Iron plant) but all 3 are pointy, so your superstitious Aunt will not want them either. This is not a beginner plant, the pot must have a hole, the soil you have is unlikely to be the right kind for that plant. The rocks on top aren't helping anything (tho' I understand that maybe you like them). The soil is staying wet since there's no drainage hole by which to drain. Watering in small sips is usually bad for plants. I'm sorry, I regret that this sounds mean & severe, but you were taken advantage of. Vendors have financial motivation to mislead you & that's just what seems to have happened here. Pls. search online for easy, starter plants for a beginning gardener to start w/ & go from there. To research trying to fix this plant, since you know it's called a Calathea; Marantas are related & take similar care. I'd read up on them some more.

I bought my calathea pinstripe 1.5 weeks ago. It had a few blemishes when I bought it like any natural thing. I repotted it and gave it a good watering until water came out through the drainage hole. I haven't water it since repotting because the top soil still feels damp. The pot sits on top of a saucer filled with gravel and water for added humidity even though lately the humidity in the room has been about 45-60% but the problems started before adding the saucer. The plant most definitely does not get direct sunlight. Some of the leaves have pink pinstripes like it should and some have white. I don't know if that has got to do with anything, but I've included pictures of some of the problem areas. I know this plant can be difficult so I need help on what to do based on the issues pictured below.