Calathea and Marantas
Calatheas are generally easy to transition for me in my environment, but seems a lot of people have trouble.
Types: I’m mostly combining Calatheas and Marantas into the same category here for the sake of simplicity. I have not observed a difference in the context of semi-hydroponics so I treat these plants the same way. If you feel like there is a difference, please let me know.
Roots & Transition: These roots are fairly easy to clean off, and they will be white when you can get all the dirt off. I would caution to be more gentle with these roots over something like hoyas or philodendrons because calatheas and marantas are very easily shocked. I’ve had multiple marantas go into shock when moving from soil to soil (normal repotting). With most of my calatheas, I have cleaned off the roots and moved them to LECA. I’ve had 100% success rate but I’ve seen more failures than success in the community.
The fool-proof way to transition these guys is to minimize transplant shock and reduce root disturbance:
Calatheas: Clean off the roots and put the whole plant in water. Once you observe water roots, they’re ready for LECA.
Marantas: Take cuttings and root in water. Once roots develop, they’re ready for LECA.
Care & Maintenance: Calatheas and Marantas are fussy regardless of if you have it in LECA or soil. I suspect many people have issues and the contributing factors are:
Not Enough Humidity - new calatheas and marantas purchased from the nursery are grown in a high humidity environment and once you get it into your house, they may suffer and decline. This is just a thing we deal with and with time and a lot of dry and dead leaves, your plant will eventually adapt - this has taken me 2 years with my maranta and now it’s the perfect plant that thrives in 30% humidity.
Fertilizer - I would recommend using a lower PPM nutrient solution, or withhold nutrients if you’re giving it high humidity and correct lighting levels and still observing a decline. They are not heavy feeders and using an all-purpose nutrient solution may be too much for these delicate guys. Always use 0PPM water with these plants, as they are sensitive to heavy water and chlorine.
Pests - they are prone to attract spider mites which makes the leaves look awful and causes sudden decline.
