Houseplant · Marantaceae

Calathea Medallion

Goeppertia roseopicta

Offer it soft water, gentle warmth, and steady humidity, and the medallion leaves open into their full painted pattern.

Light

Bright indirect

Warmth

61–⁠75°F · 16–⁠24°C

Hardiness

USDA 11–⁠12

Mature size

12–⁠18 in · 30–⁠46 cm

Pet-safe
Calathea Medallion

Overview

The Calathea Medallion takes its name from broad rounded leaves that look as if someone painted them by hand, lime-green feathering across a darker base above a deep burgundy underside. It is part of the prayer plant family and hails from the South American rainforests, where it lives in the warm, shaded layer below the canopy. Come evening the leaves fold gently upward like hands at prayer, a daily motion called nyctinasty.

This is a plant for anyone who enjoys a little tending, and there is no shame in being new to it. It is rated demanding because it asks for warmth, even moisture, high humidity, and water free of the fluoride and chlorine that come from most taps. Meet those wishes and it stays full and richly colored. Miss a few and it lets you know early, usually through brown, crispy leaf edges, which are easy to put right.

It stays compact, reaching about knee height, and grows slowly, so it settles happily on a shelf, a desk, or a bright, humid bathroom. Keep it out of direct sun, which scorches the leaves and fades the pattern. Find it the right corner and you are rewarded with foliage few other houseplants can match.

Care

The short version: give it bright indirect light and never direct sun, with soil kept evenly moist using distilled water or rainwater. Hold humidity above 60%, keep it warm, and feed it monthly through spring and summer, and you will do just fine.

Light

Give it bright, indirect light and keep it clear of direct sun, which scorches the leaves and bleaches the pattern. It copes with partial to full shade better than most plants, though too little light dulls the color. A spot beside a bright window behind a sheer curtain is just right.

Water

Keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy through the growing months, then ease back and let it stay only damp in winter. The thing that matters most is water quality, since this plant answers the fluoride and chlorine in tap water with brown tips. Reach for distilled water or rainwater instead.

Soil

Pot it in a well-drained, peaty mix rich in organic matter, with a little vermiculite or perlite mixed in for drainage. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0, slightly acidic to neutral, suits it nicely. You want a mix that holds moisture yet never sits waterlogged.

Temperature

Keep it warm, between 61°F and 75°F (16°C to 24°C). It cannot handle cold and likes a steady temperature of at least 61°F (16°C) all year, kept well away from draughts, open windows, and cold glass.

Humidity

This plant longs for humidity above 60% and shows its upset with crispy leaf edges when the air turns dry. Cluster it with other plants, stand it over a pebble tray, or run a humidifier. A bright bathroom often gives it just what it loves.

Feeding

Feed it monthly with a balanced liquid fertilizer through spring and summer while it is growing, then stop for its winter rest. Go light rather than heavy, since leftover salts gather in the soil and feed the brown-tip trouble.

Pruning

No real pruning is called for. Simply take off old leaves at the base as they yellow or brown, which keeps the plant neat and turns its energy toward fresh growth. Trimming a browned tip back to a thin edge is fine for looks.

Repotting

Repot every 1 to 2 years in spring, or sooner if roots circle the pot or push out the drainage holes, moving up only one pot size. This is also your chance to divide the clump for more plants. Watch for slowed growth or quick drying as a hint it has outgrown its home.

Size & spacing

It stays small, reaching about 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) tall and spreading 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30 cm) across. That slow, compact habit makes it easy to set on a shelf or desk without it ever crowding the space.

Troubleshooting

Nearly every calathea hiccup shows up first on the leaves, and most lead back to water, light, or humidity. Catch the early signs and you can usually settle the cause before it travels. Find what you are seeing below, then gently adjust the care behind it.

Severe

Drooping, yellowing leaves above a soft, mushy crown

If the soil stays wet for too long, root rot can creep in and the plant droops even while the mix feels damp. Slide it out of the pot and look at the roots, which go brown and soft instead of firm and pale. There is still a path back: trim the spoiled roots away, settle it into fresh well-drained mix in a pot with drainage holes, and water more sparingly from here.

Fix:

  • Stop watering and let the medium drain
  • Unpot, trim away soft rotted roots, and repot into fresh well-drained mix
  • Use a pot with drainage holes and water only when appropriate
Setback

Fine webbing and a speckled, stippled look

Warm, dry air can tempt spider mites in, and they settle on the undersides of the leaves with a thin webbing trailing behind. Hold a leaf up to the light and you may spot tiny yellow specks across it. You can turn this around: rinse the foliage, raise the humidity, and treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil while keeping the plant set apart from the others until the mites have cleared.

Fix:

  • Rinse foliage and increase humidity
  • Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating as directed
  • Isolate affected plant to limit spread
Cosmetic

Brown, crispy edges along the leaves

Take heart, because this is the most common worry growers bring to a calathea, and it is almost always fluoride and chlorine in tap water gathering in the leaf tissue. Dry air and salt from too much feeding only add to it. The fix is gentle and forgiving: pour distilled water or rainwater, lift humidity above 60%, and rinse the pot through now and then to carry the salts away.

Fix:

  • Switch to distilled water or rainwater
  • Raise humidity above 60% with a pebble tray, humidifier, or regular misting
  • Flush the soil periodically to leach out accumulated salts and avoid over-fertilizing
  • Trim off badly browned tips for appearance
Cosmetic

Faded color and pale, bleached patches

When direct sun falls on the leaves it brings leaf scorch and quietly washes the lovely medallion pattern away. You will see it worst on whichever leaves catch the most light, and afternoon sun is the harshest. Nothing here is lost for good, so move the plant into bright indirect light or partial shade, or soften a bright window with a sheer curtain.

Fix:

  • Move to a spot with bright indirect light or partial to full shade
  • Avoid direct sun, particularly afternoon sun
  • Filter strong light with a sheer curtain
Cosmetic

Spots and blotches across the leaves

Separate spots and blotches usually mean leaf spot disease, which gets a foothold when foliage stays wet and the air around the plant is still. It is an easy one to settle: water at the soil rather than over the leaves, give the plant a little more breathing room for airflow, and gently remove the marked leaves.

Fix:

  • Avoid wetting the foliage when watering
  • Improve air circulation
  • Remove affected leaves

Toxicity

Pet owners can breathe easy, because the Calathea Medallion is safe. The ASPCA lists Calathea and the prayer plant as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, with no toxic compounds on record. A pet that chews a leaf may get a mild, passing stomach upset from the roughage, as with any houseplant, but nothing here will poison an animal or a child.

Safe for

People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds

Cats None

You can relax about cats, since the record shows no toxic principles. A leaf nibbled here and there might leave a cat a touch queasy from the roughage, and that really is as far as it goes.

Dogs None

Dogs are in the clear on the ASPCA list. A curious pup can chew a leaf without coming to harm, and a bigger mouthful might mean nothing worse than a passing tummy upset.

Horses None

Horses are covered too, listed non-toxic, so there is no poisoning worry if one happens to take a taste.

Rabbits None

Rest easy with rabbits, because nothing in the leaves will poison them. Let them have only the occasional nibble, since their tummies are happiest on their usual hay and greens.

Livestock None

Grazing animals such as goats or sheep face no toxic compounds here, though as a tender tropical it seldom ends up where they can reach it.

Birds None

There are no known toxins in the foliage for birds, so a pet bird that perches or pecks among the leaves is perfectly fine.

People None

It is a kind choice around children, with nothing poisonous in it. The plant is not grown to be eaten, yet a leaf in a small mouth will do no real harm.

As with any plant, ingestion of large amounts of foliage may cause mild, transient gastrointestinal upset that is not due to toxicity

Varieties

The Medallion name is shared by a couple of different species and a few colorful cousins in the same group. These are the ones you are most likely to meet under that label.

Goeppertia veitchiana 'Medallion' (syn. Calathea veitchiana; 'Medaillon')

Most plants you find sold as Calathea Medallion are recorded by NC State and the RHS as Goeppertia veitchiana, with big rounded medallion leaves painted lime-green and creamy-white above and a rich burgundy beneath.

Goeppertia roseopicta 'Medallion'

NC State Extension notes a separate Medallion under Goeppertia roseopicta as well, this one wearing silver-striped dark green leaves above and purple beneath.

'Dottie'

A roseopicta selection you will know by its pink central vein feathering out over leaves so dark they look nearly black.

'Rosy'

A roseopicta selection that shows bright pink leaf centers held within a slim green border.

How to propagate

There is just one way to raise a new Calathea Medallion, and it is dependable once you know what the plant will and will not do.

DivisionModerate

Late spring, typically at repotting during active growth · Several weeks to a few months for new divisions to root and resume growth

Multiplying this plant comes down to one friendly method, division, since it will not take from stem or leaf cuttings. Wait for late spring while it is in active growth, usually as you repot, and ease the rhizome clump apart into sections that each carry their own roots and shoots. Be patient with the new divisions, because they can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months to root in and pick up growth again.

Myths

Myth

Like so many tropical houseplants, calatheas and prayer plants must be toxic to pets.

Reality

It is easy to mix calatheas up with the riskier tropicals they sit beside, but they are not the same. The ASPCA lists both Calathea and the Prayer Plant as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses. You can welcome this plant into a home with pets and not worry.

Myth

Your Calathea Medallion is just a true Calathea.

Reality

Many of the plants once filed under Calathea, roseopicta and veitchiana among them, have since been moved into the genus Goeppertia. Kew gives the accepted name as Goeppertia roseopicta, holding Calathea roseopicta only as a synonym, so the familiar old name lingers in the trade rather than in the botany.

Myth

Ordinary tap water will do for a Calathea.

Reality

Calatheas and the other prayer plants take the fluoride and chlorine in most tap water badly, and it surfaces as brown tips and edges. Distilled water or rainwater keeps the leaves clean, and switching is the single kindest change you can make to stop most tip browning.

Sources