Imagine that you have bought a calathea. They are very beautiful plants that attract attention due to their leaves, the drawings they have and their bearing. But, what if suddenly you have a calathea with drooping leaves? What happens?
If you have also encountered this problem and you are not sure what it could be due to, we will present the reasons why it can occur and the possible solutions to try to recover it.
The reasons why you have a calathea with drooping leaves
Going from a bushy, beautiful calathea to one with drooping leaves can be quite quick. We are not going to tell you that it is overnight. But almost.
And it is that They are very sensitive plants and they also need you to be aware of them so that they can be well. That is not to say that they are difficult to care for. Once they adapt, and you know what their needs are, it will be easy for you and you will even forget about it. But for that to happen before you have to go through some problems.
One of them is to have the calathea with fallen leaves. When that happens, the reasons are usually the following:
Stress
When you take a plant (or it arrives by courier) home, what you have done is completely change its location. Even if you bought it in your own city, the simple change or transport to another location stresses them.
Y these plants are characterized by physically showing that stresscausing the leaves to fall off.
In general, you don’t have to do much more than wait and place it in its permanent location. Don’t move them anymore. Just let it be there and time pass. In this way, you will be able to observe her and give her time to adapt. In about two weeks it should change its appearance.
excess watering
Another reason why you can find your calathea with fallen leaves is because you have gone too far with the irrigation water. They are very dramatic and when you overwater the plant suffers and causes its leaves to fall and remain so for several days. If that happens, you have two options:
The first is to see if the earth is too wet and waterlogged. If so, it is best to take it out of the pot, remove as much soil as possible, and plant it in another pot with dry soil. Do you remember stress? So are you going to stress her more? But that can save your life.
The second option would be to leave it and wait for the water in the soil to dry up before watering again. We already tell you that if the soil is too watery, the best, although more dangerous, is the first, because at least you will have an opportunity so that the roots do not rot.
Low temperature
Calatheas are plants that, although they tolerate mild temperatures, when they are very cold they suffer. They need a temperature above 16ºC and when it is not given, or it was constantly low (or it remains below 12ºC) then the plant suffers, hence the leaves that fall.
In this case you can either raise the temperature where you have it, or change its location.
Raise the temperature? Yes, for example, with humidifiers that heat water and distribute it. They are not common, but they exist.
Too little light
Let’s go with another cause for which your calathea has fallen leaves. And this can be somewhat problematic because it happens whether you give it a lot of light or a little light.
These plants are a bit of a stickler, and need a balance between light and dark. For this reason, if you notice that the leaves are drooping and it may be due to the light, one day observe how much light it gives. It may be that it spends too many hours in the shade, or on the contrary, many with direct light on them.
In general, if it is the latter, you will notice that the leaves are somewhat burned, while if it is due to shade, the leaves will be fine but weak and will lose their color.
Lack or excess of moisture
Finally, we come to the issue of humidity. As you know, calatheas need good humidity. Now, it depends on the species you have. For example, the white calatheas are very delicate because they need environmental humidity and that this is higher than 60-70%. On the other hand, there are others that do not need it as much.
If your plant lacks moisture, it is normal for the leaves to curl up and also appear as if they have dried up.
On the other hand, if there is too much, you will notice that the leaves are covered with a thin wet layer that can rot the leaves and stems.
To control it, it is best to have a thermometer with a hygrometer on hand. since this way you will see what percentage of humidity there is and you will be able to activate or deactivate a humidifier (or spray water on it in more or less proportion).
Suffers from pests or diseases
Finally, we want to talk about pests and diseases. Yes, we know, everywhere they say that they are one of the plants least likely to suffer from them. And therefore, you will think that this cannot be a reason for having fallen leaves. But actually yes.
When the necessary and adequate care is not provided to the plant, they become a good lure for pests and diseases.. There are two that affect them when there is high (or low) humidity, or high or low lighting: white mealybugs and red spider mites.
Mealybugs hide mainly at the beginning of the leaves, on the stems. Regarding the spiders, you will have to follow the cobwebs that it will create. In any case, keep in mind that it is best to apply an insecticide for these pests and do it several times, because they are usually resistant.
In extreme cases, you will even have to cut the plant to avoid greater evils.
Now that you know the reasons why you may have a calathea with drooping leaves, you will be able to act more quickly in case it happens to you. You will not always be able to save her, because as we told you, she is very delicate, but at least you are going to manage to give it a chance. Has this ever happened to you? How have you solved it? We read you in comments.
