Calathea Roseopicta has become a popular ornamental plant between gardeners and home designers all over.
The Calathea Roseopicta plant is often used as a prayer plant and belongs to the Marantaceae family. It features large dark green leaves that are round-shaped.
The Calathea Roseopicta is blessed with a flashy, rubbery sheen that when viewed under proper lighting, provides the plant with a divine glow.
It can be grown and cared for indoors as well as outdoors and it is often considered a tough and sturdy plant.
The plant can be found in tropical regions of Brazil. There have also been sightings of the prayer plant in other South American countries like Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
| Botanical Name | Calathea Roseopicta |
| Common Names | Rose painted Calathea |
| Origin | South American Countries like Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia |
| Family | Marantaceae |
| Plant Type | Perennial, Evergreen plant |
| Full Size | 20 inches to 23 inches |
| Sun Exposure | Bright but Indirect, Partial or Shaded Sunlight |
| Soil Type | Well-drained, rich soil mix |
| Toxicity | Non-toxic to both animals and children |
Calathea Roseopicta Care
Calathea Roseopicta is a high-maintenance plant that might not be the best start to a beginner
With a better understanding of the basic light, water, soil, and temperature requirements, caring for the roseopicta plant should be an easy affair.
Calathea Roseopicta Sun Requirement
You can get the best from your Roseopicta Calathea by providing it with enough access to bright but indirect sunlight.
Avoid direct sunlight as much as possible, as the leaves of the Calathea Roseopicta plant could become scorched with prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.
A great place to store the Calathea Roseopicta plant would be in a room that meets these requirements. Keep it a few feet away from a northward, eastward or westward facing window.
You could make use of a light curtain to provide shade from intense direct sunlight. Or growing your Calathea in a room with artificial lighting could do a remarkable job for the potted prayer plant.
The Calathea plant requires enough bright light, so on days where natural sunlight might not be adequate, you should consider a complete relocation of the plant to the window. However, monitor the plant to know how long it stays in the open.
Calathea Roseopicta Water Requirement
An important part of the Rose painted Calathea care is water. For this, you would want to be extra careful in ensuring the delicate roots of the exotic plants don’t get soggy.
A soggy root is bad for the Calathea rose plant, as it opens the potted plant up to dangers from fungal attacks.
What you should aim for when watering the Calathea Roseopicta should be soil that is kept moist at all times.
Monitor the plant often to know when it requires water. A great practice would be to feel the top part of the soil with a finger before watering.
If the topsoil texture feels dry, then you might need to water the plant again. Once a week should be a good time duration for watering the Rose Calathea plant.
When watering, you would want to avoid the leaves and water the soil alone. Ensure the water used is of room temperature and contains no chlorine so as to avoid stressing the plant’s roots.
Calathea Roseopicta Soil Requirement
There are two major requirements for the use of when it comes to making the perfect soil mix for the Calathea Roseopicta.
- The soil used has to be well-draining soil
- It has to be well-aerated, providing the roots access to sufficient oxygen
In addition to these, the soil mix used should have a little water or moisture-retaining capacity to keep the potted plant moist at all times.
You can achieve this by mixing potting soil with part perlite and a part peat moss to get the desired effect.
The goal is to have water that is being poured into the soil, sink-in within a few seconds. If for some reason you notice a puddle, then your soil mix is a little dense and you would need to create a better mix.
Calathea Roseopicta Humidity and Temperature Requirement
Calatheas also love high humid conditions, just as they get in these tropical regions they are native to. What you want to do when growing the Calathea Roseopicta indoors is to keep the humidity level at nothing less than 40%. A humidity level above 60% would be perfect.
You could do this with a humidifier or perhaps group a few houseplants together, including the Roseopicta while providing adequate spacing in between them.
The appropriate temperature level to leave your Roseopicta Calathea plant in should range between 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Calathea Roseopicta Fertilizer Requirement
Calathea plants grown in a nutrient-rich soil mix might not require fertilizer at all. If they do, it would be little.
This is because the gorgeous Calathea houseplant requires little feeding to grow strong and healthy. If you are going to use a fertilizer, it should be either an organic safe fertilizer or a synthetic fertilizer that has been diluted to half of its initial strength.
Avoid fertilizing the Calathea plant during its cold season. Aim more for its growing season, don’t use excess fertilizer, and make it a habit to deep water the soil often to get rid of the fertilizer residue.
When deep watering the soil, ensure that it passes through the draining holes located at the base of the pot.
Propagating the Calathea Roseopicta
The Calathea should be easy to propagate. However, seed propagation might be slow and stem cuttings don’t work. A suitable way to propagate the Calathea Roseopicta would be through division.
Pruning the Calathea Roseopicta
Pruning should be a regular affair for the Calathea houseplant. Dead leaves should be trimmed off using sterilized scissors or knives.
Be careful not to hurt the plant while pruning, trim the plant at the base of the leaf. You could also check the plants for pests and diseases while you trim.
Toxicity
Calatheas is a non-toxic plant for children and pets, however, it doesn’t mean the prayer plant should be eaten as it might lead to stomach discomfort.
Common Health Problems of the Calathea Roseopicta
The Roseopicta plant is known to suffer from a lot of diseases and pest infestations, this is part of the reasons it is regarded as a high-maintenance plant. Some of these pests and diseases are;
- Root Rot
- Cucumber Mosaic Virus
- Spider Mites
- Aphids
- Mealybugs
- Scale
Frequently Asked Questions
Roseopicta Calathea plants are quite common in South American countries
The Calathea Roseopicta plant can be found in most online stores like Amazon and Etsy.
When it comes to high-maintenance Calathea plants, the White fusion Calathea should be the hardest.
A small pot should be fine for your Calathea roots, they do however require oxygen.
The Roseopicta is a fast-growing plant and could reach full maturity in a year.
