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Calathea - Identify problem(s)?

10 months ago

Got these Calathea Musaica plants as babies, but as soon as a leaf matures... it dies.

I get new growth year round, but I cant figure out what's going on.

Used to have them sitting facing east window - moved because of the yellowing thought maybe they were bleaching. Have tried overwatering and monthly watering - only use bottled water). Pearlite mixed in. Have tried adding potassium. Was sitting next to humidifier, but removed that element. I did tranplant them into a larger pot after summer.

My Calathea Orbifolia is relatively new to my household. Have had it for maybe 1 month. Leaves are curling/browning. Only use bottled water. Pearlite and bark mixed into soil.

Fiddle Leaf is seeing growth at the top, but the leaves have random browning/dead spots that are very brittle. Maintaining great color. Sits still near a south facing window. Room does get a fair amount of light, but nothing direct to the plant.

Can anyone identify this tree? I need to know how to properly prune.

If anyone can offer suggestions or identify my problems, I'd greatly appreciate it!

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Comment (1)

newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
10 months ago
I can't offer too much help, but suggest you post in the "Name that Plant" forum to identify your tree. You can also put it in the Tree forum (as you did), but no one may look at your post as you have named it Calathea.

As for your Calathea Orbifolia, it looks like your pot is too big. These plants don't like to dry out, but a bigger pot is not a good solution---more frequent watering is. I also can see that part of your soil looks wet and part of your soil looks dry. Looks like very uneven watering of your plant. If your roots stay too wet for too long, they may be rotting.
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I dont know why people are so afraid to spray there trees. I have abused the crap out of my trees (not on purpose) just to watch them bounce back and grow beautifully. Try the copper on a SMALL AREA or JUST A COUPLE leaves first. No harm will come of it. If copper does not work, try something else. Organocide is organic and has helped my Citrus trees a ton. It might even be some kind of pest. Just dont overdo it and start with only a couple of leaves until you know how your tree will react. These trees have been around for thousands of years, a little copper isnt going to kill it. It might make the leaves drop if you spray too much so thats why you go small to begin with. Not everyone has the luxury or time to have such a good county extension office such as southern California.
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The browning is quite likely to be just shock from a change in environment. Different light (too sunny), humidity or temperature. Plants growing in an environment adapt to it and can suffer when the environment changes suddenly. You chose a pretty tough customer for someone somewhat new to plants. These plants aren't the easiest things to grow, they are fussy about light drafts etc. I am not an expert on Calathea, but know they get a few leaf spot diseases. You can take samples and send them to your local extension service. It is somewhat pointless to treat with fungicide if you don't identify the problem. A fungicide that kills one fungus can have absolutely no affect on another. The bugs could be White Fly or juvenile leaf Hoppers but without Pictures of the bugs it is hard to tell. Look these two up on the web and see if they look like one of them.
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The images are a tad small to see all the details. That said, a number of the leaves have aphids on them.
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I’m not sure if I’m looking at one problem across several species, multiple problems compounded, or a bunch of individual problems. Mustard spinach, romaine lettuce, garden beans (blue lake), zinnia, tomato... genaral chlorosis on older leaves, ie younger are darker. Lettuce had ridiculous spots - a tray of seedlings that got set aside only had minor patches of spots, and they’ve significantly worsened and spread. Some leaves unaffected. One seedling from that batch appears entirely unaffected, only slightly bigger than all but the most severe spotted ones. Spots do not rub off, nor are they sticky/bumpy/tactile. some completely yellowed leaves with browned areas along edge. Mustard Spinach, Tendergreen Sole un-specaled lettice Container plants, grown from seed, fresh soil. Multiple sowings. Aphids were brutal early summer, but subsequent sowings also exhibit similar problems. ....photo upload issues, will update with more
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