The tropics of South America are the birthplace of a beautiful houseplant with the unusual name "calathea medallion". This perennial rhizomatous flower belongs to the Marantov family. It should be purchased only by experienced indoor plant lovers. The fact is that the flower is very capricious and requires the most careful care. At the slightest violation of the cultivation technology, he dies.
Short description
What is a "calathea medallion"? This plant is valued by amateur flower growers mainly for its beautiful variegated leaves. Their coloring is very bright and spectacular. The shape of the wide plates of the flower are oval. At the same time, in the center of each of them, another lighter “leaf” with beautiful wavy white edges and a huge number of yellow and pink veins is drawn, as it were. This coloring looks really original.
The leaves of this plant grow in the form of tubules, gradually unfolding. In the morning, the plates are arranged horizontally, and by evening they begin to take a vertical position. Their underside hasdeep pink color.
Leaves - this is the only advantage of such a plant as "calathea medallion". Its flowering is not too spectacular and plentiful. The corollas of this flower have only one value: the seeds formed in them are often used for reproduction. But there are interesting varieties of the flower.
Sometimes on sale there are very effective hybrids of the Calathea medallion plant. For example, varieties with leaves painted in all shades of purple both above and below are very popular among lovers of indoor flowers.
How to choose a seat?
Flower "calathea medallion" refers to shade-resistant plants. Indeed, in the wild, it grows in the lower tier of tropical rainforests. Experts recommend keeping this flower in partial shade. If you put the pot in the sun, then the plant, perhaps, will withstand such conditions that are not very suitable for it. However, in this case, its leaves will not be too bright. It is best to place the flower on the north window behind the curtain. The only exception to this rule are purple hybrids. It is better to install them on the east or west window.
Humidity for this flower needs very high - 90%. Even in a bathroom in an apartment or house, such conditions cannot be created. Therefore, the flower should be sprayed very often. This procedure cannot be neglected. Otherwise, the plant will die.
What should the soil be like?
A pot for indoor flowers "calathea medallion" is filled with a substrate of the following composition:
- peat - 1 part;
- land mixed with humus in equal proportions - 1 hour;
- sand – ½ hr;
- ground charcoal - ¼ part.
You can also buy ready-made soil mixture for plants of the Maranth family in a flower shop. In order for the “calathea medallion” to feel good in a pot, you should definitely pour pebbles and put broken shards on the bottom of the container.
Features of care: how to moisturize?
Water the plant should be quite often, but avoiding stagnant water. Many novice growers make a big mistake by endlessly moistening the soil in a pot. The result of such excessive zeal is usually the death of a flower. The edges of the leaves of the plant begin to turn black, after which they die off.
Water this motley bush only when the soil underneath is dry enough and slightly damp. In this case, you need to use only warm water at room temperature. Cold this plant categorically does not tolerate. Overdrying the soil is also something that should not be allowed when growing a flower such as "calathea medallion". His leaves dry most often for this reason.
Spraying the plant
As already mentioned, this procedure is mandatory when growing "calathea". Spray the plant properly. Moisturize only the air around the leaves. Water should not get on the plates themselves. Otherwise on themburns or dark spots may appear. Spraying should be done several times a day. If there is not enough time, then you can do it a little differently - put the flower pot in a larger container, and fill the resulting empty space with wet moss. Drying of this natural moisturizer in the future should not be allowed. You need to spray the flower, of course, in this case too. However, this procedure can be carried out less often.
How to fertilize correctly?
Feed the plant in the spring-summer period should be about once every two weeks. Complex compositions for decorative deciduous indoor crops are best suited for this. Too much fertilizer "calathea medallion" does not like. Therefore, in the process of feeding, you need to use only half the dose recommended by the manufacturer. In order not to destroy the plant, this advice should be strictly followed. Feeding should begin in mid-spring. Finish fertilizing at the end of summer.
How to transplant?
The root system of the indoor flower "calathea medallion", the care of which is actually very difficult, superficial. Therefore, the plant needs periodic transplants. Young flowers are transferred to new containers once a year. For mature plants, the period between transplants is two years. This procedure is carried out as carefully as possible and exclusively in the spring.
When transplanting into a new container, drainage is first poured, and then the soil prepared in advance, the composition of which is describedabove, put a layer of 2 cm. The roots of the plant are carefully lowered into a pot and sprinkled with the remaining soil mixture. Do not compact the soil too much. Otherwise, the roots of the flower will rot. It is also impossible to deepen the growing point of the "calathea". It must remain on the surface. The pot should not be filled to the top. After transplanting, the plant should be watered and placed in a cool, shaded place for several days.
Methods of reproduction
It is rather difficult to breed this flower at home. But it's still worth a try. In this case, the method of dividing the bush should not be used. His "calathea medallion", which is very difficult to care for at home, does not tolerate it too well. It is better to try to propagate the plant by cuttings. To do this, a small above-ground branch with a growth point and 3-4 leaves should be cut from the mother flower. It should be slightly buried in moist soil and covered with a transparent plastic bag or plastic bottle on top until rooting.
Sometimes the Calathea medallion plant is also propagated in shifts. This planting material should be mixed with one part of sand and two sheet earth, and then, poured into a bowl. Cover the top of the container with plastic wrap. Germination should take place at a temperature of +21 - +25 degrees. After the seeds give roots, they should be sprinkled with two centimeters of soil.
Which pests most often affect the plant?
With insufficient spraying, "calathea medallion" can be affected by spider mites. This pest inhabitsthe reverse side of the sheets and envelops them with many thin white threads. The tick is very small and almost invisible to the human eye. When a pest appears, the plant should be sprayed with some kind of insecticide.
Sometimes "calathea medallion" is also affected by thrips. They form numerous colonies on the underside of the plant. As a result, even the color of the plate changes. For treatment in this case, you can use a soap solution or an insecticide. After spraying, the bush needs to be lightly fed.
Often scale insects settle on the green parts of the Calathea medallion flower. This is the name of small black bugs that feed on plant sap. Like thrips, scale insects can be destroyed with a soapy solution. They should shed liberally all the green parts of the flower.
Plant diseases
It often happens that even with good care, the leaves of the flower begin to turn yellow. This problem usually occurs due to the fact that the owners of the plant overdo it with fertilizers. Also, flower castings may turn yellow due to the fact that it is cold. The air temperature in the room where the plant pot is installed should not fall below 16 ⁰С. The optimal indicator is 25 ⁰С.
There is another problem faced by flower growers who grow a plant such as "calathea medallion". The leaves of this flower curl very often with improper care. Thus, the plant usually reacts to a lack of watering. If the leaves of the flower began to curl, the frequency of moistening the earth under it shouldincrease.
Sometimes the reason for this unpleasant phenomenon is the wrong choice of the location of such a flower as "calathea medallion". The leaves dry, curl and die of this plant often if it is placed next to any household appliances. It can be, for example, a computer, TV, microwave, etc. Place the flower away from devices that emit electromagnetic waves, and take good care of it. In this case, "calathea" will delight you with lush foliage with a pronounced pattern.
