How to propagate: Calathea

The Calathea can be recognised by its remarkable leaves. Just like a Maranta and Syngonium, the Calathea has clear leaf markings. You can also recognize the Calathea by its special movements. Every evening the plant closes its leaves, which it opens again in the morning. A real dancer!

Propagating a Calathea in 4 steps

Step 1: Disinfect

First clean the knife you might be using.

Keep the knife under hot water and clean them well. This prevents you from unnecessarily transferring bacteria during the propagation.

Do you happen to have disinfectant or pure alcohol? Disinfect the tools after using hot water. Let's get away with those bacteria and fungi!

Step 2: Dig out the plant

It is best to remove the Calathea from her pot and dig out the pup. It is important that the pup is at least 20 cm in size.

Remove as much soil around the roots as possible. This way you can clearly see if and how many roots the pup has developed.

Step 3: Cut off a pup

Carefully cut off the pup from the plant. It is best to cut as close to the stem as possible.

Has the pup come loose? Carefully remove the roots from each other. It is important that a cutting has its own roots.

Does the cutting not have its own roots yet? Then there is little chance that the cutting will survive.

Step 4: Taking care of the cutting

It is best to repot the mother plant and cutting. Place the cutting in a pot with fresh potting soil. Pour a little water around the cutting, so that the soil is slightly moist.

You can also choose to place the Calathea cuttings in water. Although not every Calathea specie is suitable for water propagation.

If you’re going to repot the mother plant as well, we recommend choosing a pot that is 20% larger than the previous one.

After about a month the roots will have recovered and growth may be visible. Keep the soil of the cuttings slightly moist during the first weeks. This promotes root growth. Be careful with too much watering to prevent root rot.