Need help with proper care of Stromanthe

I'm hoping someone here has experience with successfully growing Stromanthe. I have one I purchased at Stop and Shop some months ago and it's suffering. The variety is Burle Marx. It was beautiful and full when I bought it, and now it's quite sad, so tonight I looked up instructions on how to care for it, and it looks like it's not an easy one. Seems it likes pretty much moist, tropical conditions. My room where it is is generally warm, close to 70 most times, not usually below 65, but it's not humid (except during humid days in the summer). The plant isn't in direct sunlight, and I keep it moist. I have been watering with cold, hard water, though, which it doesn't like, so I'm going to get filtered water for it and keep at room temp. I have also put stones in the tray for it to sit on, so there can be water in it to provide humidity directly under it. I'm also going to start misting it on a regular basis. I want it to be happy and thrive. If this one ends up dying, as it might, I will try one more time with it. Hopefully I can get it on the road to recovery.

Karen

Here is a picture of it now.

Here is a picture of same variety taken at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania last fall. At least I think it is the same one.

Karen

On second thought that is not the same variety, but it is a Stromanthe.

Karen

I don't grow Stromanthe but here is the link to info in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59470/

nutsfordaylily: That is a beautiful group of plants. They look more like Calathea than Stromanthe to me: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=calathea&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=images+of+calathea&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Thanks for the info, plantladylin. It does look a lot like Calathea, but they are closely related, and the tag says it's Stromanthe, so that's what I'm going by. It is definitely not prayer plant, as the leaves don't close up at night.

Karen

I have this one. And though I've killed many of it's relatives, I've found it to be very easy.

Mine sits on a banister in our living/dining room....doesn't get any direct light, no misting, no pebble tray, and it dries out quite a bit until I 'remember' to water it...and even with our hard/limey water.

I never use 'cold' water, though....I always keep several watering cans filled (since I've so many plants that need watering at various times) and allow the water to reach room temperature before I use it.

Some of the older leaves will die off here and there, but there's always new growth to replace it.

Maybe it's the cold water that's causing problems with yours, or maybe you're keeping it *too* moist?

Forgot to add that the banister this sits on does have plants beneath it that likely do provide some extra humidity.



This message was edited Nov 13, 2008 8:24 AM

Karen, Thanks for your reply. I get confused with a lot of them. They are from the same family Marantaceae, and do look alike. I sure would love to know the cultivar name of the one in your photo from Longwood Gardens ... it is really gorgeous!

I have never had luck with Calathea ... have tried growing different ones over the years and they seem to live a short while and then start to decline rapidly. I had a small Stromanthe once and it did the same. I guess I need to try to figure out what their likes/dislikes are!

~ ~ ~ Waving, Hey Nan! ~ ~ ~

Wow, Nan, I'm surprised yours thrives so well. The info I've read on it says it likes to stay moist, likes hot, humid conditions, and doesn't like hard water. Anyhow, I could try filtered water at room temp from now on, and regular misting. I also have mine where it gets no direct light from the windows.

You're welcome, plantladylin. I wish I knew the name for that cultivar from Longwood also. Very pretty.

Karen

I have a feeling I have not had much luck with them because I had them located in too much light!

Yeah, from what I read they don't like a lot of light.

Karen

Hey Nan and Lin--I've had what I was told is a stromanthe for a couple of years now--It has beautiful green, white and pink leaves, and it has grown quite large sitting among the violets. Sorry, no pic...

I lied--LOL--try this...it looks just like mine
www.greenculturesg.com/articles/june06/Stroma..
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59470/

Phoebe, are you saying yours is not that one, but looks like it? That's a pretty plant.

That first hyperlink to Green Cultures didn't work.

Karen

It appears that stromanthe 'Burle Marx' and calathea 'Burle Marx' are the same. Google gives 185 hits for stromanthe 'Burle Marx' and 678 for calathea 'Burle Marx'. It looks like stromanthe is a synonym for calathea (and vice versa?).

http://www.oglesbytc.com/oglesby_details.asp?TF_ID=23424583

Well, from what I've read in different sources about this cultivar, there seems to be some confusion on what to call it. I can be listed as Stromanthe, Calathea, Ctanthe and Maranta (the latter being the family of plants it is in). Oh, well. Some sources say not to let it dry out, others say it should be watered infrequently, though they all say it likes low light and hot, humid conditions. It's a native to Brazil and was named after a famous landscape architect from there named Roberto Burle Marx, who was a son of German immigrants.

Karen

Karen,

Your 'Burl Marx' is grown as a ground-cover here in Tampa and it goes dormant in winter and comes back in the spring. It likes it hot, not just warm but hot, 80+ in the day. It can take some direct sun when it is in the ground. It likes the sun early or late in the day.

Your right about it not liking hard water, but, it will do OK if you give it some rain water or melted snow (:-) once in awhile to wash out the minerals. If you can feed it with kelp meal, mine really like that best as a fertilizer.

If it really starts to look bad I would suspect it is going dormant. Short days and cool temps are not the conditions it likes. Let it dry out completely and restart it when temps start to go up. Or buy a heat mat and set it in a tray with pebbles and water for humidity and increased warmth.

Good luck.

Dale, thanks for the helpful advice. I will certainly get a pebble tray for it, and I'm going to use filtered water to water it. I am going to let it dry out before I water it again. You could be right, it may be going dormant. Your Burle Marx looks great, though it has a completely different pattern than mine.

Karen

Karen--that pic looks like mine--I am getting a camera next week. As soon as I learn to use it, I will post a pic of my plant.

I look forward to seeing a pic of yours, Phoebe.

Karen

Camera came via snail-mail, and I have no clue how to use it, but...as promised...

Nice, Phoebe, that's very pretty! Looks better than mine. Mine is still not looking good, but my Rex begonias are doing well. Here is one that is especially nice.

Karen

Thanks--love your begonia. I do not do well with them. I have a Baby Dress begonia with 3 long necks that appears very unhappy. Not sure what to do for it...

Beautiful begonia ('Purple Snow') which can be very difficult at times as can a lot of rexes during winter.

Let your stromanthe/calathea dry out some between watering.

Hc, your stromanthes are very nice looking.

So far I have not had trouble with that rex begonia of mine. I didn't know it was called 'Purple Snow'. I have a different one that recently dropped most of it's leaves. I got it about a year ago, and when I purchased it I had the nursery repot it for me. It lost most of its leaves after repotting, but then grew them back again, and they were gorgeous. It has 3 large leaves on it now, and one new one just coming in. I love seeing the new leaves come in. They're so vibrant.

Karen

It took a long time for me to find the name of that particular rex begonia and I've remembered it ever since (I think Antoon of Holland hybridized it). Rexes usually defoliate in winter and most folks think they need more water and eventually rot them with too much kindness.

http://www.kwekerijhoefnagels.nl/assortment.html

As you can tell by this picture of some of my begonias that they are my OCD.

OMG! Your collection is amazing, and beautiful! How on earth do you keep up with a collection that size? How do you keep them in winter?

I move them into the basement for winter. I may have around 500 pots or more. I run about 60+ shoplights 14 hours a day. I have 10 chrome shelves (6 foot high, 4 foot wide, and 18 inches deep with 4 to 6 shelves) and 5 wooden shelves I built (6 foot high, 8 foot wide, and 2 foot deep with 3 shelves - well the floor counts as a shelf). There are several large plants that just have to get whatever light is available from windows and shoplights near by. Here is an example from my large utility room of both chrome shelves and wooden ones.

You have an amazing set up! Very ingenious...A beautiful obsession! I'm sending my friends from the AV forum here to see it...

phoebesviolets....I've tried the one you've pictured twice, because I love that foliage.....can't grow it, nothing I tried made it happy.

Huh! I abuse mine! It is next to, not in front of a window that does not get sun in winter(almost North), forget to water it, almost never feed it...you get my drift...I bought it from a local nursery in a 4" pot Maybe 1 1/2 years ago.

Oh, hc, that purple begonia in your picture with the dark veining is the one I have that's defoliating lately. In fact, when I checked that website you posted the link to, I looked at the one called Fireworks, and that looks like it. I have not changed the way I'm watering, so will keep it on the same routine as usual. I let it get just about dry or actually dry before watering again.

My God! What beautiful begonias, and so many different ones. I wish I had more space in my house to grow more of them. I just love them. I might just have to make more space. I really like that website. They have some great pictures on there. I think my 2 favorites were Iron Cross and Tiger. Would love to add those to my collection. Collection? Ha! I only have 2 so far. I guess I need to add more.

Karen

Hi Karen,

If you get started on begonias you might end up in the loony bin or poor house (just kidding).

The purple one in my first picture is 'Mikado'. The leaves are larger than 'Fireworks'. Rexes will usually defoliate in winter so don't be alarmed. Your watering sounds pretty good but I wouldn't let them dry out too much (but don't keep them saturated either). It's almost a guessing game at times.

Iron Cross is a difficult begonia to grow for most folks so I would suggest something easier to begin with. 'River Nile' is a great starter plant for almost everybody. There are so many more that will grow without much fuss too.

Here is one of my 'River Nile' plants.

'If you get started on begonias you might end up in the loony bin or poor house (just kidding)."

Been there....done that---several times over, been into all types of gardening since childhood! LOL!

Haven't we all? From veggies to perennials (bearded iris was a big fascination at one time) to tropicals, C&S, etc. Now I'm hung up on begonias.

My rexes two years ago:

Nothing crazy about beautiful plants!^_^

This message was edited Dec 11, 2008 11:12 AM

Hey hcmcdole,
You're just the person I'd like to talk to. May I ask a few begonia questions?
I have the "River Nile" begonia and indeed have found it an easy plant. So far I've just left it in it's original pot, since last February, kept it indoors and have only added water. The plant is very full and I'm thinking of repotting to one size larger in the spring. Necessary? What and when do I feed it?

Do you have any other easy begonias to suggest?

Hey Semp,

If you want a bigger plant then move it up. If you want a bonsai sized plant then move it down. It is not necessary to repot unless it is declining or you think it would look better in another pot. You can break off some of the wayward rhizomes and start some new plants if you want to do this as well.

As for feeding you will hear all kinds of advice. Slow release and/or water soluble is the recommended way to go. Slow release is good to add at repotting time since you can mix it in the soil. You can also sprinkle it on the surface and scratch it in as well. From what I have read and heard water soluble can be used every time or once a week or once a month but should be 1/2 or less strength from the fertilizer manufacturer's recommendation.

I typically don't use any in winter but start using it again in early spring. In summer I vary it from none to every watering. I've used granular fertilizer as well but this should be done carefully and only with mature plants - young plants will probably be stunted or killed - use only at your own risk. Lessons learned.

Here is what granular fertilizer did for my Caribbean King (at least I believe this may have been responsible plus a huge pot). This is an 18 inch pot and I started with a gallon size just 5 to 6 months earlier.

ARE you familiar with B. Baby Dress? Other than it is a mini--I do not know what kind it is considered. Mine had long necks that probably need re-rooting---what do you recommend?

'Baby Dress' has driven me wild. I assume you got it from Rob's Violets. If I try it again I would keep it in the original pot until it put considerable size on, under lights, and probably in a terrarium type environment. That is where I now have 'Chantilly Lace', hydrocotylifolia, and 'Last Laugh'. I thought I had lost my previous 'Chantilly Lace' so I ordered a new one. Well, my old CL has come back very nicely. Hydrocotylifolia has gotten some size on it now and I have a couple of starts from it in other locations so I may risk moving it up. 'Last Laugh' is growing very nicely too.

Another one I got from RV was 'Shamus' (the second time around). It started out as a very small plant (about 2 inch pot) but then finally started to grow. This is what it looked like last year. I removed most of the top growth and started at least a dozen more from that.

Sounds like I did the right thing without knowing for sure. Was thinking I got it from Logees, but I checked, yup--it's from Rob.s! LOL--they come to the CT Flower Show every year, and I am there!