Calathea Fasciata is an easy choice for those who are foliage lovers! It is a popular indoor plant. With its big, round, and shiny thick leaves with deep green prominent veins and purple underside, the Calathea Fasciata makes for a strikingly attractive plant. The unique and exotic dark and light green striped outlook of the plant foliage has been a source of attraction for plant lovers and growers. This plant is beautiful enough to make anyone admire it and decorate any corner of your house. You will never refuse to grow this plant after surveying the dark and the light green pattern on the leaves.
Calathea is also known as “Prayer plant” due to the daily movement of its leaves called nyctinasty. A large variety of plants in this family move their leaves up at night or fold them like praying hands. These leaves are lowered during the day, because of this tendency of the plant it has earned the title of “Prayer plant.” They do produce flowers however they are not large or decorative.
Calathea Fasciata is also non-toxic for both humans and animals. This is an added benefit and makes the plant a preferable domestic plant as you don’t need to be worried about keeping the babies and pets away from your beautiful plant!
Calathea Fasciata Care
Calathea Fasciata is an easy-to-grow plant and requires less maintenance as compared to other plants. When taking care of it, we always must bear in mind its natural habitat, which would naturally be the tropical Americas. You can grow the plant both indoors and outdoors based on your convenience, as long as you live within a temperate climate, with temperatures ranging 10 to 30 degrees Celcius. It is a perfect indoor plant, and all you need to do is provide the plant with optimum growth and care conditions.
Lighting Requirements
As a rule of thumb, continuous exposure to direct sunlight can result in the burning down of foliage of the Calathea Fasciata, and it also impacts the appearance of the plant. The right light that helps this plant grow is bright indirect light; you can also let the plant grow in partial shade. The perfect place to let your beautiful plant grow includes a north-facing window or any other site with bright and indirect light. Shielding sunlight is necessary to allow this plant to grow well. According to the view of experts, you must rotate the plant by 90 degrees after every week, as it ensures the healthy development and appealing appearance of your lovely Fasciata.
Watering and Humidity Requirements
Since the Calathea Fasciata is originally from the tropical climate and therefore adapted to be surrounded with rain regularly, it prefers having a regular but moderate water supply even as a potted house plant. Additionally, it needs moist and well-drained soil. Make sure that the upper 4 inches of the soil are dry before you water the plant again. Avoid keeping the soil soggy or overwatered as it is a gateway to all kinds of problems of the plant. The perfect soil to place for the Calathea Fasciata is porous and well-drained; you can use a commercial potting mix. However, Calathea Fasciata grows exponentially in African violet soil or any other commercial potting mix. It is also very important to choose the pot wisely: the pot for your Calathea Fasciata plant must have holes at the bottom. Using this pot will help in draining the excess water from your plant.
Your Calathea Fasciata also needs approximately 50% or higher levels of humidity in order to ensure the survival of the plant to meet this prerequisite of high moisture in the atmosphere one must monitor the moisture levels and if a drop in humidity is observed then artificial measure must be taken to increase the levels. You can achieve this in different ways:
- One can mist the plant daily especially in dry weather or on hot days. But one has to be meticulous while misting to avoid mold and fungus to appear on soggy foliage.
- A tray of water with decorative pebbles can be placed under the pot to increase moisture.
- Another method is to install a humidifier in the space where the plant is located.
Calathea Fasciata can benefit from fertiliser; it does require more fertilizer in the Summer as compared to Winter. The perfect choice of fertilisers is a slow-release fertilizer or a balanced domestic plant in liquid form.
How to Propagate Calathea Fasciata
You’ll love your Calathea so much that you will want to have more and more of it- the good news is that this plant is easy to propagate, and one of the standard methods of this plant’s propagation is by division of root division. Choose a healthy adult mother plant to propagate a new plant. The following methods will help in propagating:
- It would help if you kept the root divisions in a warm and moist place. It will help in the perfect growth of your baby plant.
- Cover the pot with a plastic sheet to make it stay warm.
- Ensure that you must not place the plant in direct sunlight, as they love to grow in low sunlight exposure.
- The best time to propagate the plant is either in spring or summer.
- You can also propagate the plant by water or by using stem cuttings.
You can also propagate your Calathea Fasciata in water. It can readily root in water so that you can place the stem cutting in water as well.
Like most common indoor plants, Calathea Fasciata requires frequent pruning. Mostly, you should do this if you want to keep your plant in the size and shape that you desire to have. The foliage can also be trimmed, as it adds to the neat and tidy look of the plant. Pruning allows to reduce the demand that the Calathea Fasciata has for developing a larger root system, which is especially important with roots being in a confined space.
When you purchase your Calathea Fasciata, if the pot is too small, you should repot it as soon as possible, so it has the place to grow adequately. After that, you should repot it every 2 to 3 years in a pot that is slightly larger. The best time to do it is in the spring, during its active growing season. You should water it thoroughly the day before repotting. Among the main reasons why you should repot your Calathea Fasciata is to help prevent root rot and other fungal diseases.
Common Problems
Of course, not matter how much you follow the rules outlined above, your Calathea Fasciata can still feel a bit unhappy at times. Amongst the most common problem, we can usually find leaves curling, drooping, turning yellow, or developing brown edges. Let’s see how to solve these simple problems so your Calathea Fasciata can enjoy a long and healthy life!
Leaves curling: leave curling in the Calathea Fasciata could be either for lack of water or low humidity. You should probably work on getting more water to it. If you think that maybe the temperature is a bit off, then move it to some shadier but not too dark spot. Mind the temperature, making sure it’s moderate.
Drooping leaves: usually a sign of underwatering, which fortunately offers an easy solution. Soak the soil with plenty of water for a few minutes and allow water to drain out completely. Your Calathea should be back to its old self in a few hours. You should also trim away the crispy, dead leaves so that the plant puts more of its energy into growing new leaves instead. Also, schedule a regular watering schedule for your Calathea to prevent underwatering from happening again. Calathea Fasciata leaves that droop due to underwatering can recover in a few hours after deep watering. However, severe drought may damage plant cells and even lead to wilting.
Leaves turning yellow: yellowing leaves is the classic sign of overwatering, and it’s a common cause of Calathea Fasciata’s leaves turning yellow. The plant wants consistent, slightly moist soil at all times. However, if you make them sit in a soggy pot, their leaves not only turn yellow, but the roots can be affected. Immediately check the soil if you see yellow leaves and also investigate the roots. Make sure there are no mushy, brown areas or a smell of decay that signals potentially deadly root rot.
Leaves with brown edges: some of the reasons why the leaves of the Calathea Fasciata are turning brown on the edges can be water quality, low humidity, dry soil. Also, maybe it’s close to some drafty areas, or even in a chilly environment overall. Remove entire brown leaves using sharp gardening tools. You need to remove those as they will not turn green again. Make sure that between each snip, wipe the blades of your tools with rubbing alcohol. Also, trim the plant in stages. It’s not recommended to remove more than 20% of your plant at once – it could be a shock for Calathea.
Where to Find Calathea Fasciata for Sale
Calathea Fasciata can be bought online, with prices ranging from 13 to 25 $.