The calathea or basket marante is certainly not one of the easiest houseplants to care for. But if you keep it in a favorable location and meet its care requirements, this ornamental plant will delight you for many years.
How do I properly care for a Calathea houseplant?
The Calathea, also known as the basket marante, thrives best in a partially shaded to dark location, protected from drafts and direct midday sun. What is important is high humidity, which can be achieved by spraying the leaves, and temperatures above 18 degrees.
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 the Calathea leaves to turn brown and droop. A window where the basket marante only gets some sun in the morning and evening is good.
But you can also make it quite dark. The Calathea can even tolerate locations where it is too dark for any other houseplant.
The temperatures should not fall 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 there is very high. If you want the basket marante to thrive as a houseplant, you need to create a similar climate.
So that the humidity does not fall below 80 percent, you should regularly spray the Calathea leaves with water. Setting up water bowls is also recommended.
Avoid care errors
There are two mistakes that you must avoid when keeping a basket marant as a houseplant: waterlogging and too much fertilizer.
The root ball must never dry out completely, but under no circumstances should waterlogging occur, otherwise the roots and trunk will rot.
Too high a nutrient supply causes the Calathea leaves to turn yellow. From March to September, fertilize at most once a month with a little liquid fertilizer (€6.00 on Amazon). Immediately after purchase or after repotting, you should not give any fertilizer for several months.
Grant the Calathea a dark phase
Often the Calathea flowers are waiting in vain. You can promote flower production by moving the basket marante to a darker location for several weeks in winter. There she should be exposed to complete darkness for more than twelve hours a day.
Tip
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.