Goeppertia Species, Rose Painted Calathea

My poor calathea has had the bad luck of being infested by mealybugs. I have treated it, but I'm not sure it will make it. It also may ha...Read Moreve had too much light. And the water here is very hard, so I recently began to collect rainwater.

hello fellow gardeners
i chose a purple plant to match my purple fingers and i must say that it certainly is a lively one. it spre...Read Moreads itself about in the day and becomes erect in the evening showing off its purpleness to all and sundry,
It really is a bit of a bounder in the corner of my teepee in its purple pot and needs constant attention and watering.
overall i would recommend this plant to all my new friends in daves garden, so go forth fill your pots with this gorgeous calathea i like to call Rose
ta ta

This is a gorgeous plant, very exotic-looking. It's very "alive" and once you find the right spot for it you'll see it develop a day/nig...Read Moreht rhythm. It's definitey a sucker-- I have to water it constantly. (In fact, I've already brought it back from the dead twice, so at least I can vouch for its hardiness!) From what I understand, brown/dried-out edges and leaf points come from watering it with hard water; this plant hates calcium. If you live in an area with very hard water, you need to use bottled water. If you've soft water and it's still not doing the trick, then you need to leave the water sitting out overnight. I've honestly done fine with water out of the tap where I am. Any leaves that have gone brown or crispy get snipped near the base and new ones will grow, but not so much in the summer. The plant can live forever if you remember to keep the soil moist. However, you need a pot that drains well, otherwise the root ball will rot.

It seems that everytime a new leaf grows, one or two die. Also, the tips of leaves are dried and brown. Can someone help?