How to Grow and Care for Pinstripe Calathea | Gardener’s Path

Soil

Members of the Marantaceae family require a rich, peaty growing medium to stay hydrated. However, they also require excellent drainage.

G. ornata tolerates soils that are slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, with a pH ranging from 6.1 to 7.8.

And since prayer plants are prone to brown tips, it’s best to avoid growing mediums that include perlite, since the fluoride content in this common ingredient can cause tip burn.

My preferred peat-free potting mix for these plants is actually a combo – I like to mix one part coconut coir to help retain moisture with one part De La Tank’s Houseplant Soil Mix.

This provides good drainage as well as ingredients that will promote healthy growth, such as compost, biochar, and humic acid.

De La Tank’s Soil Mix

You’ll find De La Tank’s Soil Mix in one-, eight-, or 16-quart bags from Arbico Organics.

If you don’t already have a supply of coconut coir (also known as cocopeat) on hand for gardening use, you can purchase it in a compressed block, which makes it more space efficient.

Prococo Compressed Coconut Coir Block

You can find 10-pound blocks of compressed coconut coir also available from Arbico Organics.

Water

G. ornata prefers moist soil, so don’t let it dry out much between waterings. I like to water my prayer plants when the surface of the soil has just barely started to dry.

Use a houseplant watering can to evenly hydrate the surface of the soil, watering until liquid runs out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

Wait until the water has finished draining before returning it to its decorative pot or placing it back on top of the drainage saucer.

You might also want to try the bottom watering method for this plant.

Humidity

Prayer plants require higher than average humidity, and pinstripe calathea is no different.

Aim for humidity that is between 40 and 60 percent. If you live in a climate with humid summers, you should be all set and won’t need to add any more moisture to your air.

During wintertime and for those of us in more arid climates, a few extra measures can help.

I grow humidity-loving houseplants such as pinstripe calathea in my arid climate by keeping them grouped with buddies, and placed in terrariums.

The houseplant buddies help to raise the ambient humidity, and the terrarium helps to hold the moisture in. (It also helps to protect my plants from my curious cats.)

Fertilizing

Prayer plants prefer a gentle fertilizing regimen, so I like to use worm compost tea to nourish them.

If you don’t have worm compost bins of your own (yet!), you can fertilize your houseplant using worm compost tea sachets.

To use this method, you soak these “tea” bags in room temperature water and feed your plants while watering.

Teadrops All Purpose Houseplant Fertilizer

You can find organic worm compost tea sachets from Earthworm Technologies via Walmart.

Where to Buy

You can find pinstripe plants in nurseries and garden centers that carry a good selection of houseplants.

Or you can shop online!

Pinstripe Plant

You can find pinstripe plants in six-inch pots from Fast Growing Trees.

Beauty Star

‘Beauty Star’ is a cultivated variety of G. ornata.

Its dark green leaves have flushes of pale green between the midrib and leaf margins, forming a light green background behind delicate creamy pink stripes.

The stripes appear in a wispy, feathery pattern and the undersides of the leaves are deep purple.

This cultivar tends to grow only up to 18 inches tall and wide, with pink flowers.

‘Beauty Star’

You can purchase ‘Beauty Star’ in six-inch pots from the American Plant Exchange via Amazon.

Maintenance

You’ll only need to prune your pinstripe calathea if you want to shape it up a bit or if it gets the occasional brown leaf tip.

Like other prayer plants, G. ornata is quite sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations and it’s not uncommon to find brown leaf tips, even on well-cared for specimens.

Feel free to prune off brown tips with a pair of sterilized scissors. You can wipe the scissors down with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to sterilize them.

If you get quite neglectful and miss a watering or two, you might find entire leaves that have gone crispy.

Trim back the dead leaf as close as possible to the soil surface.

There are many causes for brown leaves on prayer plants – learn how to troubleshoot this issue in our guide.

When it’s time to water, this is a good opportunity to give its leaves a quick cleaning.

Wipe each leaf down with a damp paper towel, top and bottom, and make sure the leaves remain relatively dry.

As a fairly slow grower, pinstripe calathea will only need to be repotted every two or three years – do this in spring when it is actively growing.