root rot on Calathea Lancifolia
Quick answer
If your Calathea Lancifolia has root rot, the most likely cause is: Calathea lancifolia's fine, shallow root system rots quickly when the potting medium stays waterlogged or the pot is left sitting in standing runoff; Murray's Beginner Houseplant Garden treats Calathea (which the same book explicitly lists Calathea lancifolia under) as a diva plant whose soil must be moist but never soaking and whose roots must never sit in undrained water.
Start here:
- 1. Water only when the top 2 inches (5 cm) of the calathea potting medium feel dry, then let every drop run out through the pot's drainage holes so the root zone is never left standing in water.
- 2. Repot into the diva-plant mix Murray recommends for calathea: 50 percent regular potting compost blended with 20 percent charcoal and 20 percent orchid bark so the medium stays airy and moist without becoming waterlogged around the lancifolia roots.
Why Calathea Lancifolia gets root rot
calathea lancifolia
Calathea lancifolia's fine, shallow root system rots quickly when the potting medium stays waterlogged or the pot is left sitting in standing runoff; Murray's Beginner Houseplant Garden treats Calathea (which the same book explicitly lists Calathea lancifolia under) as a diva plant whose soil must be moist but never soaking and whose roots must never sit in undrained water.
How to reverse root rot on Calathea Lancifolia
- 1
Water only when the top 2 inches (5 cm) of the calathea potting medium feel dry, then let every drop run out through the pot's drainage holes so the root zone is never left standing in water.
- 2
Repot into the diva-plant mix Murray recommends for calathea: 50 percent regular potting compost blended with 20 percent charcoal and 20 percent orchid bark so the medium stays airy and moist without becoming waterlogged around the lancifolia roots.
Keep root rot off this Calathea Lancifolia
Use a pot with reliable drainage holes, empty the saucer after each watering, and keep the calathea lancifolia mix on the porous side (compost plus charcoal and orchid bark) so surplus water always drains away before the roots can suffocate.