How do I care for my Red Calathea?

The GORGEOUS Red Calathea is our plant of the Month for May 2019. It is our first ever Luxury pet-friendly plant of the month, and we think you'll agree it's a strong start! Here's what you need to know about caring for this plant.

Native habitat
South-American rainforests.

Light and position in the home
This plant loves indirect light but does not enjoy direct sunlight as this will burn the leaves. North, East or West-facing rooms are suitable. It won't thrive in a dark location.

Flowers and foliage
The main attraction of this plant are the leaves, but it may occasionally throw up small white flowers.

Watering
Coming from rainforest, this plant enjoys humidity. Keep the soil slightly moist soil most of the time, but do not allow it to remain wet or waterlogged.

Temperature
Temperatures between 18 and 24 degrees Celcius are ideal for this plant.

Did you know?
Calathea Roseopicta 'Dottie'. is another of these plants whose leaves move go up and down depending on the light and the time of day. Leaves will go up at night, and down during the day. For this reason, it's also often referred to as a 'Prayer plant' because the movement of the leaves resembles the action of human hands in prayer. However, 'prayer plant' is quite a general term, and is used to refer to several different types of Maranta and Calathea.

Where these plants are native, their leaves are sometimes used for holding small items, and wrapping things like fish.

Why I chose this plant
If you've seen the pictures of this plant and the insanely bright colours of the leaves, I'm sure you will understand instantly why I chose this plant. In my opinion, it's one of the most dramatic and striking plants around.

Despite it's dramatic appearance, the red Calathea is super easy to care for and has the added bonus of being non-toxic to cats, dogs and humans.

I've been trying to find a way to include the Red Calathea in our plant subscriptions for a while, and now with the introduction of our new Luxury pet-friendly plant subscriptions, I finally had the chance to do so. I hope you agree that we're off to a great start.

To get yours, go here.