Calathea Freddie

Native to Brazil, Freddie is a tropical plant that comes alive with daylight, opening its leaves and soaking up the sunlight, before closing up again at night. It has long, narrow leaves and dark-green veins, which really make it stand out from the crowd.

Calathea plants are said to symbolise new beginnings, which relates nicely to fact that the plant closes its' leaves during night, and opens again afresh in the morning. Clever things!

Although these plants are a little more demanding when it comes to care, they will show you when they are unhappy. For example, yellow leaves are a sign of over-watering, whilst brown leaf tips are the result of dry air upsetting your plant.

Watering:

To keep a prayer plant happy, make sure you don’t let its soil dry out. Check it at least once a week and water it when the top two inches of soil feel dry. It will also benefit from feeding once a month in spring and summer. If you can try using mineral water this will prevent crispy edges. These guys also enjoy a misting.

Lighting: 

He’ll be fine in fairly low light, but you’ll see more colourful growth if you give him lots of indirect light.