With it’s feathered or leaf like appearance on the leaves themselves, your guests will certainly be intrigued by your Calathea Medallion that you take great care of year round.
But for that to happen, you need to know how to actually care for this plant whether growing indoors or outside in your garden.
Thankfully it’s not too difficult to get started and caring for a Calathea Medallion is actually pretty easy once you know what you’re doing and get the hang of things.
So let’s get right into it.
Lighting conditions
Native to tropical environments, Calathea Medallion will require plenty of bright but indirect light for most of the day.
A little bit of direct light here and there will also be fine but this shouldn’t be the primary type of light for this plant as the leaves can get burnt quite easily.
This can cause brown leaf tips, curling leaves and just generally scorch the plant with enough time so you really want to stick with indirect light for the most part.
Ideally as long as it’s daylight out, you should be giving your plant indirect light for the entire duration to keep this calathea growing happy and healthy while also looing great.
This can be done virtually anywhere outdoors that gets light but is also pretty well shaded or indoors by a window of your choice.
Just be sure that your Calathea isn’t too close to any window as direct light can be intensified with windows and increase the chance of damage being done.
Placing your houseplant a few feet away from any given window should do just fine.
How to water Calathea Medallion
Your Calathea Medallion isn’t super picky about watering but one thing is for certain, it doesn’t like to stay soaked for long.
This is common for the vast majority of plants anyway.
Ideally you will water thoroughly and enough to keep the soil slightly moist at all times but not waterlogged or bone dry either.
The best way to do this is to water when the top inch or two of the soil has completely dried up as this will mean the lower level of the soil is only a bit moist and not soaked.
It can vary how long this will take and this is the reason why you shouldn’t really water on a set schedule but rather water judging on the soils dryness.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s better to have an underwatered plant than it is to have an overwatered one as that can cause all sorts of problems like root rot, drooping leaves, yellow leaves, etc.
So you can expect to water more frequently in the warmer months like during the summer and much less during the cooler seasons like the winter.
Also if you live in a pretty dry location, you will most certainly need to water more often than someone else who lives in a more humid environment.
You may even need to just grow indoors depending on how dry the location is as these plants need humidity to thrive.
So as a recap, just water when the top inch of soil has dried out, water thoroughly, and also be sure you’re using drainage holes in your container if that’s how you’re planning on growing your Calathea Medallion.
What kind of soil to use
For your Calathea Medallion, you want to be using well draining soil that also can retain some moisture at the same time.
This will help prevent overwatering and root rot issues by draining well and allow your plant to thrive by having some level of moisture present at all times.
A good mix for this Calathea will be a well draining soil mix containing peat moss and perlite as needed for that extra push in drainage.
You could do a 1/3 split with these ingredients and be good to go or adjust as needed depending on the factors on how you plan to grow.
Either way just be sure the soil drains fast while being able to be slightly moist at the same time.
Temperature requirements
One thing is for certain, Calathea Medallion likes to be grown in above average temperature locations and stay warm the entire time.
Ideally you will grow this plant in temperatures ranging from 60 degrees to 85 degrees Fahrenheit for the best results.
Anything in the low 50’s and below will begin to cause serious issues for this plant as they physically cannot grow in cold temperatures like this.
This is where it can get tricky growing outdoors as daytime temperatures can be vastly different than at night.
So it may be for the best to keep this calathea as a houseplant as indoor temperatures in most homes are where the ideal range is anyway and you don’t have to worry about huge fluctuations of the temperature.
Humidity
As mentioned before, these plants need high humidity levels to thrive and grow their best.
Think really anything above 50% humidity and more so in the 60% to 80% range.
While this may or may not be a struggle when growing outdoors, if you’re growing indoors then you have some options to mimic how this plant would be in it’s native environment.
Some ways to increase humidity levels indoors include keeping this plant by water sources such as sinks or near dishes that can evaporate water nearby.
You could also keep a container of water sitting near the plant so the water can evaporate super close by.
Or if all else fails, you can try a quality humidifier to get to the desired level.
Repotting Calathea Medallion
A Calathea Medallion could use a good repotting every few years if you just want to use some fresh soil, propagate or if there has been issues going on such as the plant becoming root bound or outgrowing the container.
If you have noticed the roots growing through the drainage holes or if the soil has been drying out super fast then it may be time to repot your Calathea.
A good time to do this is during the spring as you can also propagate during this time, making the process very efficient.
So to repot you will need to do the following.
First select a new container that is only one pot size bigger than the current one.
Next carefully remove the plant and it’s rhizome and roots.
Now is also a good time to check to roots to see if they are still healthy firm and white and you can trim back any roots that don’t look this way.
Next fill the new container a third of the way full with new fresh soil mix and then place the plant just like you had it before and then fill in the rest with more potting mix and organic materials for drainage.
Resume normal care from here.
How to propagate Calathea Medallion
Propagation of Calathea Medallion will be done by division of the rhizome which is the horizontal tuber that holds the roots if you didn’t already know.
To do this you can use some clean gardening shears or scissors to cut the rhizome in 2 to 4 inch sections, while making sure each cutting contains healthy roots.
As mentioned before, the spring is a great time to do this just like repotting.
Now select a new container with fresh potting mix and place one or two cuttings just below the soil or around half of the width of the cuttings.
Now water the soil sparingly to give the roots a chance to grow properly.
How often should I fertilize?
You can certainly fertilize your Calathea Medallion, just be sure not to use too much or do it too often as either can lead to an excess buildup of salts over time and cause fertilizer burn to the roots.
Using a 1/4 strength of a fertilizer of your choice once a month or every two months will be ideal during the active growing season and don’t use any during the winter as it will be a waste.
This is all you will really need to give your plant a boost while preventing over fertilization.
Pest solutions
Over time you may end up running into some pests along the way which can be annoying as they can damage your plant over time.
Pests such as mealy bugs, spider mites, aphids and scales are not out of the question and will feed on your plant, stealing nutrients and causing all sorts of problems if they are not dealt with.
Some signs of pests on a Calathea Medallion will include white spots, brown dots, spider like webs, holes in the leaves, curling leaves and other signs.
Thankfully if you suspect you have a pest problem, a good solution that I like to use is some good quality neem oil as it can combat most pests quickly and help keep them away in the future.
Plus if you ever run into fungus issues, the neem works quite well for that too.
Just be sure to only use it at night or in full shade so it can dry without burning the leaves.