Patterned-leaf tropicals that fold their leaves upward at night: rattlesnake calathea with wavy spotted leaves, and velvet rufibarba. The humidity plants — worth it in a bright bathroom or kitchen.
Calatheas are grown for leaves that look printed: the rattlesnake calathea’s long, wavy leaves carry dark green ovals on a light ground with purple undersides, and rufibarba’s narrow leaves are velvety to the touch with maroon backs. Both raise their leaves at night and lower them by day, a slow daily movement you can watch. They are beautiful plants and, in Arizona, honest ones: they need humidity and they need decent water, and they show every shortfall on the leaf edges.
Give them what they want — a bright, humid room, filtered water, no direct sun, no vents — and they are steady, rewarding plants. We commonly carry both rattlesnake calathea and ‘Rufibarba’. The rest of the bench is on our Houseplants page.
These are the calathea varieties we commonly carry. Availability changes week to week and season to season, so call (480) 987-3308 or stop in to see what’s on the bench today.
Calathea rufibarba, the velvet or furry feather calathea: slender, fuzzy dark green leaves with maroon undersides on a full, upright plant. Sold at about two feet. Handles dry air a little better than the thin-leaved types.
Rattlesnake calathea (Goeppertia insignis): long, narrow, wavy-edged leaves patterned with dark green spots on a lighter green ground, purple beneath. About eighteen inches tall. One of the more tolerant calatheas.
Looking for one that isn’t listed? Ask — we can usually suggest a close match or tell you when it tends to come around.
The care tag was written somewhere else. This is the Queen Creek version.
Calatheas want 50 percent humidity or better; our houses run 15–25. That gap is the whole story of calathea care in Arizona. Group them with other plants, stand the pot on a tray of wet pebbles, run a small humidifier, or give them a bright bathroom or kitchen window. Keep them completely out of the airflow from air-conditioning and heater vents. Brown, crisping edges are the dry-air signal.
Medium to bright indirect light: a north window, a few feet from an east window, or a south window behind a sheer. Direct sun bleaches the pattern and scorches the leaves in an afternoon here. Too little light and the plant slows and the pattern fades; a calathea that has stopped moving its leaves usually wants more light or more water.
Spider mites are the calathea pest in dry air — fine webbing under the leaves and a stippled, dusty look. Rinse the foliage in the shower every couple of weeks, keep the humidity up, and treat early with insecticidal soap. Check new plants before grouping them with others.
Keep the mix evenly moist, never soggy and never dry: water when the top inch is dry, every four to six days in summer indoors and about weekly in winter. Our hard tap water burns the leaf edges brown; use filtered, distilled or rain water. Room temperature, not cold. A well-draining mix in a pot with a hole keeps roots from rotting.
A peat- or coir-based mix with perlite — moisture-retentive but airy — in a pot one size larger than the root ball, with drainage. Repot every two years in spring; divide crowded clumps then. Feed a balanced liquid fertilizer at quarter strength every three to four weeks from March through September; over-feeding browns the edges as surely as hard water does.
Calatheas are non-toxic to cats and dogs — one of the few dramatic-foliage plants that is. Outdoors they want deep shade and still air, which in Queen Creek limits them to a covered patio in the mild months; dry wind, sun, summer heat and any cold night all damage them, so most live inside year-round.
Yellowing, spots, no new growth — snap a photo of the plant and its window and we’ll diagnose it at the bench. Advice is free.
We stock indoor potting mix, orchid bark and perlite for the chunky blends aroids and epiphytes want, balanced houseplant fertilizers, insecticidal soap and neem for the usual mealybug and mite visits, and moss poles, hoops and saucers. The pottery yard has terracotta, glazed and lightweight pots from 4-inch up, plus hanging baskets and cache pots.
Dry air, hard tap water, or both — the two most common calathea problems in Arizona. Raise humidity with a pebble tray or humidifier, move it away from vents, and switch to filtered or distilled water.
Yes — calatheas and their prayer-plant relatives are non-toxic to cats and dogs.
When the top inch is dry, every four to six days in summer indoors and about weekly in winter. Evenly moist, never soggy; filtered water if you can.
Calatheas raise their leaves at night and lower them by day, following light — the “prayer plant” movement. A plant that stops moving usually wants more light or is thirsty.
Thirst or low humidity. Water thoroughly and raise the humidity; the leaves should relax within a day. Persistent curling with damp soil points to root damage or salts — flush the pot with filtered water.
Only on a covered, fully shaded, wind-sheltered patio in spring or fall, and even then it prefers indoors. It cannot take sun, dry wind, summer heat or cold nights.
Calathea live on the houseplant bench; any staff member can point you to them. Locally owned, and a short drive from San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa.