Calathea Freddie – Care Tips For All Skill Levels

Calathea Freddie is a tropical plant with a unique appearance that makes it an excellent choice for indoor gardeners. Its leaves are shiny, elongated, and greyish-green in color, with zebra stripes and borders in a darker shade.

This comprehensive care guide will go over the hows, whys, and whens of everything your Calathea Freddie requires to keep healthy.

Continue reading to learn where you can purchase this Calathea and its unique characteristics and typical hazards to avoid.

What Is Calathea Freddie?

The Calathea Freddie is also known as Calathea Concinna, Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant, and Freddie Plant. All varieties of Calathea are considered staple plants because of their uniquely patterned foliage. Although being diverse plants, the majority of them are commonly referred to as Zebra Plants.

This perennial from the Marantaceae family is well-known for its stunning striped foliage. It has oval-shaped and greyish-green in color with dark-green stripes and border-colored leaves.

Like most plants from this family, the Freddie Plant is also referred to as a prayer plant. Calathea prayer plants have a habit of folding up and down in response to temperature and light as if they are praying, and this behavior or movement is known as nyctinasty.

As for Calathea Freddie, many claim that its movement is not as pronounced as its cousins, but you get to observe slight changes in its leaf position throughout the day. It did, however, inherit the common Calathea trait of being overly sensitive.

We’ll focus on the best circumstances for growing the Calathea Freddie indoors, but it may also be grown outside in hardiness zones 10-11.

Origin And Family

Calathea Concinna belongs to the genus Calathea in the Marantaceae family. Most summers, you’ll be able to see its tiny delicate white blossoms.

Where To Buy

Calathea Freddie can be purchased in a nursery or a home improvement store, and it’s usually better to buy it on Etsy, where you’ll likely find more affordable options. Etsy frequently provides fantastic deals from plant enthusiasts who cultivate this variety in their homes as a hobby.

Recently renamed Goeppertia Concinna for taxonomy reasons, this plant is still often referred to as its Calathea name by most online stores and local nurseries.

Calathea Freddie has very affordable pricing, starting from $15 for starter plants up to $30 for larger or more mature plants.

Calathea Freddie Plant Size

The Calathea Freddie reaches between 2-3 feet tall and 4-7 inches wide when mature as a houseplant. This plant will look good near an east or west-facing window.

Calathea Freddie Care Needs

Your Calathea Freddie will grow well when it’s properly taken care of. Known for its stunning striped foliage, this plant loves humidity and needs evenly moist soil to stay healthy.

Deeply water the pot, allowing it to drain through the drainage hole. This fascinating plant needs bright indirect light to reach its maximum growth potential in terms of light.

For more specific tips, check out the detailed care guide below!

Care Difficulty

In terms of care difficulty, the Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant is moderate-to-difficult to care for. The most critical factors in its beauty are the well-draining soil and the amount of light.

Growth Rate

The growing speed of a Freddie Plant is typically moderate. Indoors, it reaches a mature height of 2-3 feet.

You may control the height of this plant by trimming it properly during the growing season in the spring and summer.

new baby🪴✨#CalatheaFreddie pic.twitter.com/aYg9DefNv7

— Darliz Alexandra 🌷 (@DarlizAlexandra) March 12, 2021

Potting

You can go for a medium-sized pot made of plastic, terracotta, or clay for potting requirements. An essential requirement is that the vessel contains at least one drainage hole for excess water. It hates soggy soil, so leaving your Calathea Concinna in wet soil could kill your plant for extended periods.

Repotting

To maintain your plant’s health, move it to a larger pot after it reaches a particular size. When you see its roots pushing out of the drainage hole, you’ll know it’s time to repot.

Take special care not to touch or disturb its roots too much as you repot. This plant is ultra-sensitive and doesn’t appreciate being disturbed.

On average, Calathea Freddie grows moderately and needs to be repotted every two years. Because soil loses its natural nutrient components over time, it’s best to repot using ordinary commercial potting soil.

Soil

For the Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant, a standard commercial potting soil is suitable. Add together components such as peat moss and perlite to make a convenient soil mix. Keep in mind that this plant prefers an evenly moist growing medium.

Make sure your chosen soil type accommodates good drainage and aeration so the roots can breathe better.

We recommend the following potting mixes:

pH

Your Freddie Plant likes acidic soil, meaning you should keep the pH level at 6.0-6.5. If you’re concerned about acidity, you can buy a simple pH testing tool to examine your soil.

Regulate excessive pH levels on your soil with sulfur or aluminum sulfate. Improve low pH levels by adding baking soda, calcitic or dolomitic lime, or wood ash.

Water

Calathea Concinna requires regular watering, and over watering increases the risk of illnesses such as root rot. If you rarely water your plants, the roots may become dry, especially on hot days. Calathea Concinna should be grown in an evenly wet growth medium.

Calatheas are a little finicky, and they are susceptible to substances found in tap water, such as fluoride and calcium, when it comes to water. Allow tap water to sit for up to 24 hours overnight to allow contaminants to disperse. You can also use distilled water or rainwater as an alternative, and another approach is to use filtered water.

There is an easy technique to tell if your plant needs to be watered. Check the pot with a wooden stick or a pencil to see if there is still moist, muddy soil adhering to it. Alternatively, you can simply feel dampness with your finger. When the top inch of dirt on your plant feels dry, it’s time to water it.

Excess moisture can be removed by using a porous pot with drainage holes and an aerated, chunky soil mix.

Light

This houseplant prefers bright indirect light for approximately 6-8 hours a day. Too much light and its leaves will lose their color and get burned. Too little light and its leaves droop.

If you’re concerned that your Calathea Freddie isn’t getting enough light, consider moving it closer to a window or utilizing artificial lighting. Here are some basic options to think about:

This plant can also thrive in medium-light conditions, and you can place it in any low-light spot in your home. Avoid putting your Calathea Freddie in direct sunlight for a long time, which could severely damage or even kill it.

Fertilizer

The Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant’s growing season is in the spring and summer. During this time, fertilize your plant once a month using a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer.

You don’t need to fertilize this plant during the winter when its growth naturally slows.

Propagating Calathea Freddie

If your Calathea Freddie has grown too tall, you can cut the stem back and save the cuttings for propagation! We’ve provided step-by-step instructions for various propagation methods below.

Meet my house plant Psalm🌱. He’s a Calathea Freddie aka the prayer plant. I got him a month ago he already has new leaves 🥰 pic.twitter.com/Ghhsuk85my

— Missy (@missyvernier) July 30, 2021

Division

Freddie Calathea can be passed down through a process known as division. While this method is most suited for vegetables with different bulbs, tubers, stolons, rhizomes, and suckers, it can also be utilized for houseplants with clumping stems.

1. Dig. Remove the plant from its container. When working with plants and dirt, always wear gardening gloves.

2. Separate. You should be able to observe where the roots and stems parted on their own. Pull them apart gently with your fingers. Remove the seeds where the parts meet.

3. Repot. Place each portion in fresh pots filled with the same soil as before.

Humidity And Aeration

Calathea Freddie is a fascinating perennial that loves high humidity like most tropical plants. We recommend keeping the air humidity levels around 70% or higher for best results.

In addition to taking water through its roots, your lovely plant will require nourishment from the moisture in the air. You can keep bowls of water around to evaporate or invest in a humidifier that will provide more regular humidity for your plant. Another option for increasing humidity is a pebble tray.

Temperature

Your Freddie Plant will prosper in a warm area, so keep the temperature between 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Like other Calathea plants, this tropical houseplant will benefit from constant temperatures throughout the year. When watering your plant, avoid using hot or cold water. It should be maintained away from sources of heat (such as heaters and vents) and cold temperatures (such as open windows during the winter months).

Flowers

Although a rare occurrence in an indoor environment, you might be able to witness your Calathea Concinna producing insignificant white flowers under the right conditions. Each blooms on a long stalk-like inflorescence that grows out from the center of the plant. Outdoors, this plant blooms most summers.

Non-Toxic

Humans and animals are not poisoned by the Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant. Ingesting it would not harm dogs or cats, according to the ASPCA. The plant contains no components that are harmful to humans. Still, it is best to keep it out of reach of children and pets.

Pests, Diseases, And Other Problems

Even with competent care, things can go wrong on occasion. Pests and diseases are unavoidable aspects of gardening, and as a whole, the Calathea Freddie is not a disease and pest-resistant plant.

Learn how to diagnose common problems and how to help your plant recover from them in the sections that follow.

Spider Mites

Houseplants can occasionally bring unwanted guests into your home in the form of pests, and the spider mite is one such example. Although the larvae are not visible, adult mites can be seen scampering around when disturbed.

Spraying diluted neem oil on your plant’s leaves can help eradicate spider mites at their larval stage. There are also organic Pyrethrin sprays that are effective in killing adult mites. When spraying any pesticide indoors, make sure you choose products that are non-hazardous for humans when inhaled.

White Flies

Whiteflies, which are soft-bodied winged insects, may be drawn to the Calathea Concinna. While adult whiteflies are usually harmless, they will lay eggs that hatch into larvae to feed on your plant’s leaves.

Another cause of browning leaf tips is a lack of moisture. Water your plant properly, and increase the humidity in your home.

Organic alternatives include neem oil, horticultural oil, and insecticidal soap.

Scale Insects

Scale insects may appear as lumps on your Calathea Freddie’s stems or leaves. Once they’ve latched onto a plant, these tiny beetles, which might be green, gray, brown, or black in color, usually remain sedentary.

If the infestation isn’t too bad, you can discourage scale insects from attacking your plant by diluting a teaspoon of neem oil in four glasses of water. Using a spray bottle, liberally mist the plant.

Although neem oil and horticulture oils will not kill the bugs, they will undoubtedly hurt them. There are numerous insecticide sprays against scales regarded as safe to use indoors.

The “Freddie” plant (Calathea Concinna) enjoying the lil humidifier and some music with me in my office 🎶 💚🪴 pic.twitter.com/aMs3fSOuyT

— Kourtney (@Speshal___K) October 4, 2021

Aphids

Aphids are tiny insects that consume the sap of your Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant. Some aphids are crawlers, while others are winged. They can be any hue, including brown, black, red, green, white, etc.

Aphids live on the undersides of leaves, unfurling shoots, and weak places on the stem. If you encounter these insects (which are generally in a group), act swiftly before they spread to other houseplants!

To begin, wrap the dirt in a plastic bag. Then, using soap and water, thoroughly clean your plant. You can even use a sponge to ensure that all surfaces are thoroughly cleaned. After washing, place your plant in a shaded area with sufficient airflow so that the soap does not burn the leaves.

If the aphids come back, spray your Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant with neem oil, horticultural oil, or rubbing alcohol. Remember to dilute these products first.

Mealybugs

Mealybug infestations are somewhat common on Freddie Plant. Act quickly if you notice these tiny parasites (typically recognizable by white puffs on the leaves) on any of your houseplants.

Pour isopropyl alcohol on a cotton ball, then rub it over the leaves and stem of your plant. Neem oil also works well as a prophylactic spray.

Brown Leaf Tips

A buildup of salts and minerals in the soil is a common cause of browning margins on your Calathea Concinna leaves. This usually occurs when you apply too much fertilizer or utilize chemically treated tap water.

Lack of moisture is another cause of browning leaf tips. Water your plant as needed, and increase the humidity in your home.

Drooping Leaves

Drooping Calathea Freddie leaves are usually an indication that your plant is thirsty. Once hydrated, your plant will usually perk back up in this situation. It may also assist in raising the humidity.

Take care! Plants infected with pests may initially have droopy and curled leaves, but they will gradually acquire other symptoms such as spots, reduced development, and a general loss in health. If you suspect pests, always check the underside of the leaves.

Yellow Leaves

If you see yellowing leaves on your Concinna Freddie Prayer Plant, you might need to consider several factors to determine the culprit. You might be watering your plant too little or too much. Or perhaps it isn’t getting enough light. Did you fertilize your plant recently? Are there sudden changes in the weather?

Of course, bottom leaves that turn yellow can also indicate that your plant is growing and the leaf’s energy has been spent. In this case, simply pluck off the yellowing leaves so the plant can focus on increasing new green leaves.

Root Rot

Overwatering, inadequate drainage, or fungal spores on the soil can cause root rot in plants. Root rot is difficult to treat, so it is best to take precautions.

The best way to prevent rot in Freddie Plant is to ensure that the root system is not consistently exposed to wet conditions. Always check for soil moisture before watering your plant. Use a chunky soil mix to allow airflow in the roots. Most importantly, use a porous pot that has drainage holes.

Similar Plants

Love Calathea Concinna? Here are some other similar popular indoor plants you should try:

Calathea Ornata – Due to its bright and colorful stripes across its leaves, this plant is also known as the “Pinstripe Plant” or “Peacock Plant.” The Ornata is a tropical-looking evergreen perennial that’s a must-have for any tropical garden.

Calathea Makoyana: This plant is a show-stopper as one of the most beautiful Calathea indoor plants. It will captivate the attention of everyone, especially non-plant enthusiasts, with its tall, thin stem and finely sculpted leaves.

Calathea Beauty Star: has gorgeous dark green leaves with silvery streaks and a bright purple underside. Its name definitely speaks for itself.

Calathea Orbifolia: This evergreen perennial is a must-have for its vast leaves with gorgeous white/silver-green bands. It’s excellent for filling empty areas and bringing life to any place.

Conclusion

With its stunning striped foliage, Calathea Freddie is a gorgeous ornamental plant that looks stunning indoors. You’ll have no issue cultivating this plant if you follow our care recommendations!

Have you got a Calathea Concinna? We want to see it! Send photos to [email protected] so that we can share them on our blog.

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