Plant Feature of the Month! 🪴 | New Series Featuring Calathea Makoyana | Episode 2

[@evelynmartinez2475]

😮 She's so beautiful!! Takes my breath away!!! I wish you many more years with her ❤. I had the same thing happen to mine. She was full and gorgeous. Then she caught spider mites and took a hit. I had to start her over. She has over a dozen leaves now. She's still cute, lol. I'm excited to really see her push out this spring.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you, Evelyn! I hope so too! 🙏 Sorry you had to start over with yours but I'm happy she is growing back in now. Wishing you so much growth with yours this season! 💖

[@frankw9836]

all of your plants are so beautiful and healthy

[@PrettyLeafy]

One of my favs! I love calathea and marantas so so much. I live in CO so I have to take extra care of mine. Pon and keeping them close to my humidifier makes them happy. ☺️

[@plantsbymelissa]

I love them too! It's nice to hear when others do as well 🫶

[@davidreid8835]

A very beautiful plant and thanks for the education.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you, David! 😁🪴

[@gardenstatehikes]

such a beautiful plant! i love survival plant stories. what a strong healthy plant!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much! She’s been super happy and I feel so lucky to have this plant right now 🥹💕

[@sylviagutierrez7676]

A beautiful plant,you have kept it so very happy !! 💚🌵🌿🍀💚

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much!! It’s been such a joy to watch her grow back ☺️

[@pinstripesuitandheels]

She is gorgeous! I,love Calathea. I have an adult orbifolia and a juvenile makoyana. Both are doing well, although I'm aways anxious about pests and a lack of light. It's encouraging to see that with patience, plants can overcome many obstacles, even the one that is the inexperienced plant parent. My main goal, for now, is to keep them alive and learn as much as I possibly can.

[@dora9368]

Great comment ❤

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much 💖 Most definitely! I have some plants in my collection I've restarted several times now after fails at growing them. Sometimes patience and dedication is all it takes 🫶

[@dora9368]

I'm going to enjoy this series. TFS 👍🖤🌼

[@plantsbymelissa]

Glad you enjoy it! I am having so much fun with these and looking back through at progress photos and piecing them together 🥰

[@noelle7714]

She’s just gorgeous. I wish I could grow my plants as good as you. 😊

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much 🥹 you definitely can! 🫶🏻

[@ConnieP92]

GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS MAKOYANA Melissa!! I dream of the time mine gets to look like yours 🙏🏼☺

[@plantsbymelissa]

🥹💕🫶🏻

[@lisawagner6076]

I love this plant!! It's gorgeous!! I very much enjoyed this video and will probably refer back to it from time to time!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much! 🙏

[@ThePattiable]

You're so encouraging & I appreciate that about you. ❤

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much! 🥹🫶🏻💕

[@carladurbin5706]

Good morning! Just did a chop back on my rabbit tracks maranta this weekend. Her leaves were yellowing off one by one so fast! I gave her a new pot with new soil. She looks like a pile of dirt with just a few new emerging shoots sticking out. I also left a small three leaf stem sticking out as a little identifier. lol. Sometimes I think they just want to die back for no good reason. I saw no pests but you never know. Could be flat mites.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Good morning! aw, I'm sure she will grow back in some time here. Several of my maranta plants have gone dormant or have hardly grown this winter and my environment is pretty good here. It may have been flat mites that caused some stress but I think you're right though and some like to die back for no reason lol 🫶

[@jamieschriver4813]

The Makoyana is the only Calathea in my collection. It is such a beautiful plant! Yours looks amazing!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you so much! 🥰

[@HieuNguyen-hh7wl]

thank you, i am beginer with this plant and learn a lot from this video

[@plantsbymelissa]

Happy to help! I love this plant ☺️🌿

[@annaa.5863]

I love this calathea as well, great video!

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you very much! 🫶

[@Twinityx]

Thank you so much for all the great tips! My calathea is my favorite plant baby and I recently moved her to a bad spot and suffered the consequences.... she is in recovery now and as a newbie I was doubtful if I was doing a good job, so thank you for sharing your experience with us!

[@kristathompson9888]

Such a beautiful Calathea 💚

[@plantsbymelissa]

🥰🫶

[@JuanellHopper]

Calatheas are so beautiful. I have some. The rufibarba is the happiest

[@skyangelthefan]

I also, 💜 my Calathea Makoyana. All my plants, but 1 are in self watering pots, pon and they get distilled water and a humidifier in the room.

[@lisaanglim9588]

I love my makoyana

[@dora9368]

Me too. I don't have one, but Melissa's is beautiful. She makes me want one.🌿💦🌱💚

[@ansley0716]

So full and beautiful! 💜 mine is in Leca, my only plant in Leca because I couldn’t grow it in soil 😂

[@KC-gj4bi]

Absolutely beautiful 😍 I thought about you yesterday shopping at Lowe’s in Dartmouth, Ma. I found a variegated maranta (beauty Kim) in an urban jungle hanging pot. It was the only one 🤗 I’m thrilled to add to my collection.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Aww how exciting!! Thank you for thinking of me 🥹🫶🏻 I still look for one every time I go to a big box store lol.

[@margimorris7360]

I had a calathea that I thought was a goner. Cut her right back, put her in semi hypo and she's back. I have just up pot her to a much larger pot and she' on her way to becoming big and beautiful again. Love your video's

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! Aw so glad she came back for you 🥹 good job!! 🙏🏼

[@jpgypsyxo]

I was literally thinking the same thing about my collection… Lucky. I’ve literally only lost one plant to spider mites two years ago and that’s it! I’m in New Orleans and almost all of my plants live outside. I hope I’m not jinxing myself but I’ve never had an infestation! 😮 sooo crazy!

[@RossyOrtega-tf2bk]

She's gorgeous!!! Mine is on her last leaf :(. I'm hopeful after this video 🙏🏻.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! They're grow new shoots from their rhizomes underneath the soil in some time 🙏

[@alicewilliams5389]

She is very beautiful

[@plantsbymelissa]

thank you Alice! 🥰

[@annchen7629]

She is beautiful!!! I just got my first peacock plant. What kind of soil does it need?

[@rebeccahenderson7761]

What a beauty!! I love calatheas and ferns! Please do a vid on flat mites and what the evidence was, what you used? I have some plants that have what look like enlarged pores in clusters. I can't see any thrips or spider mites, so wondering if some bad mites?

[@plantsbymelissa]

I made a couple videos on them already! I don’t recommend the use of sulfur - it’s so harsh and not good for your lungs. It may be flat or broad mites. You can use a miticide but I just prefer water and Castile soap now. Once a week for about 6 weeks - they have a lengthy life cycle.

[@rebeccahenderson7761]

@@plantsbymelissaThank you I will definitely try the castile soap!!

[@dora9368]

Melissa I don't like to throw plants away either

[@megannicole2180]

Mine is developing some yellow and brown towards the edges of the leaves even though im watering with distilled water :'( and i keep bowl of water near it for humidity and take into bathroom with me when i shower. Shes so beautiful i just want her to be happy in my home 🥺

[@tinapomfrey5412]

Calathea are my favorite, really all prayer plants are on the fav list. I am struggling with my white fusion. She crisps up even when i just look at her, its seems. I thought that it might be a watering issue, so I transplanted her into a self watering pot, so she never goes dry. My humidity could be better; its about 45-50% now, but its winter, and all my other prayer plants appear well. I just have no clue. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I love your channel, I am a new subscriber, although I have watched you for a while now.

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! 🙏 I miss my white fusion :( I'll have to get another one some day. They're more finicky and I feel like mine looked worse before it started to grow better. I feel like I gave it the same care though. Do you use your tap water? It may have some minerals in it causing the plant to be a little more sensitive or possible flat mites causing some stress. It may just be in a period of dormancy as well.

[@earlbarcelo]

I always thought you bought it big and it just kept getting bigger. Cuz mine is almost 2 years old and it's just a few leaves 😂 granted my cats played near it and broke a lot of leaves as well. 😂

[@plantsbymelissa]

Most of my collection started small - I prefer to grow them out as cuttings or small plants. It's crazy to see the progress on them looking back at older videos on my channel. Mine definitely took a huge growth spurt in 2022 after moving here. The warm temps and humidity definitely helped!

[@earlbarcelo]

@@plantsbymelissa I actually repotted mine on better soil when I saw yours on Instagram! I hope mine grows as pretty as yours! 💚

[@Akimills_84]

💚🌱💚🌱💚

[@cheesechaos]

Is that all one plant? I'm still not used to the growth patterns. I think new stems (petioles?) can grow from the central "crown"? So eventually a single plant could fill out the whole pot. I believe this is one of the Calatheas that got moved over to Goeppertia. I feel like not many like the new genus, haha. Mine is really leggy and stretched out, but I think I prefer it that way. It's got some short leaves, some medium height leaves, and some really tall ones. It's not filled in at all. Since it's so spread out, light can easily pass through the leaves. I think I actually like the undersides of the leaves better than the topsides, with light shining through.

[@plantsbymelissa]

The undersides are very pretty! Mine has filled out in time - it grows new shoots from the rhizomes. I have heard of the Geopperita genus but have always known this one to be a calathea. I heard sansevieria got reclassified to dracaena but I will not call them that haha.

[@Plantloverliana]

I absolutely love Calatheas. Some of mine are doing well and some I have overwatered ! I love this one you have.. would i be able to ask you what mix of soil did you use for her ? ❤ ThankYou for sharing your video. She is stunning!❤

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! I don’t use this mix anymore since it has peat moss. I make a soilless mix now. But this medium is fox farm ocean forest and I added perlite, orchid bark, charcoal and some leca - which I don’t use now :)

[@Plantloverliana]

@@plantsbymelissa ThankYou so much. I appreciate your response..love your videos! ❤️

[@cristinaardelean5064]

❤

[@libbyharper4320]

Melissa, beautiful ! I noticed the leaves on all your plants are so shiny. Do you use any kind of leaf shine? Love your videos

[@plantsbymelissa]

Hey there! I’ll use water and Castile soap to clean leaves when I don’t have mites on them :)

[@mgdcairo]

An amazing thing. My Calathea plant is almost dead. Only one leaf remains with burnt edges. yesterday I sprayed it with spider pesticide. Is there any hope? Please tell me the ideal type of soil, as I heard an engineer from India say: sand with compost only, and I did that! I also did not understand well, does it need strong or weak lighting? Thank you very much 🌹

[@tiffanydagostino4624]

I can totally relate right now with my calathea currently being a pile of dirt as she came down with a bad infestation of spider mites 😢 do you have any suggestions for keeping humidity levels up for her? My levels stay under 30% which I know is super low and I don’t have a greenhouse or cabinet or anything. I keep her in the bathroom right now to also help! Thanks for everything you do 💖 I’ve learned so much from you 💚🪴

[@plantsbymelissa]

I used to use large size plastic ziplock bags as a makeshift greenhouse! It works out well to keep humidity near 100%. I blow the bag up some and keep it in a spot that receives light and it pretty much takes care of itself. You'll have to slowly acclimate it out though. You could also get a plastic tote bin with a clear lid and same idea 🫶

[@tiffanydagostino4624]

@@plantsbymelissa thank you for your response 😀 I’ll def try the bag method! Thanks again

[@iwanbonsaibeginner5385]

😊👍

[@JoyceDarden]

I got one yesterday from lows. It was in water so I put it in dirt. I don’t think it liked the dirt.

[@MyLocsMyPlants]

💚💚💚

[@plantsbymelissa]

🤗🥰

[@lisaanglim9588]

What is stresscoat and where would I find it?

[@plantsbymelissa]

Hey Lisa! I've been using this here after I filter the water. I can't say for sure it helps but I feel like it has www.amazon.com/dp/B000255MZG?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzmeli0992-20&creativeASIN=B000255MZG&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.28JOY1BVWMKEK&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin&th=1

[@lisaanglim9588]

@@plantsbymelissa Thank you Melissa

[@shay61]

Hello. If you Google the stress coat; you can find it in your area. I but mine at the pet stores, it's cheaper than Amazon. Petco to be exact, often on sale. Also my tree fern fiber and coco coir is more reasonable vat the pet stores. Good luck all😊

[@carolstuff]

💚🌱

[@TheRealSlobo]

What is that app that you are using?

[@dollycaldwell4938]

Calatheas will be the death of me......along with alocasias.....this plant is beautiful

[@plantsbymelissa]

Thank you! 🥹🙏🏼

[@Wanderlust2602]

Same!!!!! 100%%% I can't and won't give up on them, but they hate me and just want to die in my care no matter what I do