- Calathea as a houseplant - the right location
- High humidity is important
- Avoid care mistakes
- Grant the calathea a dark phase
The Calathea or Korbmarante is certainly not one of the easiest houseplants to care for. However, if you keep it in a favorable location and meet its maintenance requirements, this ornamental plant will delight you for many years.
The calathea is an attractive houseplant
Calathea as a houseplant - the right location
- Partial shade to dark
- no direct midday sun
- protected from drafts
- high humidity
- not too low temperatures
Direct sunlight causes calathea leaves to turn brown and droop. A window where the Korbmarante only gets some sun in the morning and evening is good.
But you can also make them quite dark. The calathea even tolerates locations where it is too dark for any other houseplant.
The temperatures should not drop below 18 degrees. The calathea only tolerates cooler temperatures for a very short period of time.
High humidity is important
The calathea is native to the Brazilian rainforest. The humidity is very high there. If the Korbmarante is to thrive as a houseplant, you need to create a similar climate.
To ensure that the humidity does not fall below 80 percent, you should regularly spray the leaves of the calathea with water. Setting up water bowls is also recommended.
Avoid care mistakes
There are two mistakes that you absolutely must avoid when keeping a wicker plant as a houseplant: waterlogging and too much fertilizer.
The root ball must never dry out completely, but waterlogging must never occur, otherwise the roots and trunk will rot.
Too high a supply of nutrients causes the leaves of the calathea to turn yellow. From March to September, fertilize at most once a month with a little liquid fertilizer. Immediately after purchase or after repotting, you should not give any fertilizer for several months.
Grant the calathea a dark phase
The calathea often does not flower in vain. You can promote flowering by moving the wicker to a darker location for several weeks in winter. There she should be exposed to complete darkness for more than twelve hours a day.
tips
The calathea is quite easy to propagate. To do this, either cut shoot cuttings or divide the root ball when you repot the plant in spring.