Houseplant · Marantaceae

Calathea Medallion

Goeppertia roseopicta

Give it soft water, warm air, and steady humidity, and those medallion leaves open up with the 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 gets its name from those big rounded leaves that look hand-painted, with lime-green feathering over a darker base and a deep burgundy underside. It's part of the prayer plant family and hails from the rainforests of South America, where it grows down in the warm, shaded layer below the canopy. Come dusk, the leaves fold up like hands at prayer, a daily move called nyctinasty.

This is a plant for someone who doesn't mind a bit of fussing. It's rated demanding for good reason, since it wants warmth, steady moisture, high humidity, and water that's free of the fluoride and chlorine most taps put out. Nail those and it stays lush and richly colored. Cut corners, though, and it'll let you know fast, usually with brown, crispy leaf edges.

It stays compact, capping out around knee height, and it grows slowly, so it's happy on a shelf, a desk, or a humid bathroom with decent light. Just keep it clear of direct sun, which scorches the leaves and fades that pattern. Find the right spot and you'll get foliage that few other houseplants can touch.

Care

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

Light

Give it bright, indirect light and keep it out of direct sun, which scorches the leaves and bleaches out the pattern. It copes with partial to full shade better than most, though too little light will dull the color. A spot near a bright window behind a sheer curtain is just about perfect.

Water

Keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy through the growing season, then ease off and let it stay just damp over winter. The bigger thing to watch is water quality, since this plant reacts to the fluoride and chlorine in tap water with brown tips. So reach for distilled water or rainwater instead.

Soil

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

Temperature

Keep it warm, between 61°F and 75°F (16°C to 24°C). It has no patience for cold and wants a steady temperature of at least 61°F (16°C) all year, well clear of draughts, open windows, and cold glass.

Humidity

This one wants humidity above 60% and lets you know it's unhappy with crispy leaf edges when the air dries out. Group it in with other plants, sit it on a pebble tray, or run a humidifier. A bright bathroom often hands it exactly what it's after.

Feeding

Feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertilizer through spring and summer while it's actively growing, then stop over the winter rest. Go light rather than heavy here, because leftover salts pile up in the soil and feed right into that brown-tip problem.

Pruning

No real pruning required. Just remove old leaves at the base as they yellow or brown, which keeps things tidy and steers the plant's energy into fresh growth. Trimming a browned tip back to a thin margin is fine if you're doing it for looks.

Repotting

Repot every 1 to 2 years in spring, or sooner if roots start circling the pot or pushing out the drainage holes, and only go up one pot size. This is also your chance to divide the clump if you want more plants. Keep an eye out for slowed growth or fast drying, both signs it's outgrowing its home.

Size & spacing

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

Troubleshooting

Just about every calathea problem turns up first on the leaves, and most of them trace back to water, light, or humidity. Catch the early signs and you can usually fix the cause before it spreads. Find what matches below, then tweak the care that brought it on.

Severe

Wilting and yellowing with a soft, mushy base

When the soil stays wet for too long, root rot moves in and the plant droops even though the mix is soaked. Tip it out and have a look at the roots, which go brown and mushy instead of staying firm and pale. Cut away the rotted bits, repot into fresh well-drained mix in a pot that drains, and back right off the watering.

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

Faint webbing and a speckled, dotted look to the leaves

Hot, dry air is an open invitation to spider mites, which settle on the undersides of leaves and leave thin webbing behind. Hold a leaf up to the light and you'll see tiny yellow dots stippled across it. Rinse the foliage off, bump up the humidity, and treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, keeping the plant away from the others until the mites clear out.

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 creeping in along the leaves

This is the complaint just about every calathea owner hits, and the cause is usually fluoride and chlorine in tap water collecting in the leaf tissue over time. Dry air and salt from too much feeding only add to it. So switch to distilled water or rainwater, push the humidity above 60%, and flush the pot once in a while to rinse those salts out.

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

Washed-out color and bleached patches showing up

Too much direct sun brings on leaf scorch and drains the bold medallion pattern of its color. You'll notice it first on whatever leaves catch the most light, and harsh afternoon sun is the worst offender. Move the plant somewhere with bright indirect light or partial shade, or just hang a sheer curtain to take the edge off a sunny window.

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 turning up across the leaves

Clear-edged spots and blotches usually mean leaf spot disease, which gets going when the leaves stay wet and the air around the plant sits still. So water down at the soil rather than over the top, give the plant a bit more breathing room for airflow, and pick off the marked leaves.

Fix:

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

Toxicity

Good news for pet owners: 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 might get a mild, passing stomach upset from the roughage, same as with any houseplant, but there's nothing here that'll poison an animal or a child.

Safe for

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

Cats None

Safe for cats, with no toxic principles on record. If your cat nibbles a leaf it might feel a little off from the roughage, but that's as bad as it gets.

Dogs None

The ASPCA gives it the all-clear for dogs. A curious pup can chew the leaves without harm, though a big mouthful might bring on a brief, mild bout of stomach upset.

Horses None

Listed as non-toxic to horses, so there's no poisoning risk if one happens to take a bite.

Rabbits None

Nothing in the leaves is poisonous to rabbits. Stick to just the occasional nibble, since their gut does best on its usual hay and greens.

Livestock None

There's nothing toxic here for grazers like goats or sheep, though as a tender tropical it's rarely going to be somewhere they can reach it anyway.

Birds None

The leaves carry no known toxins for birds, so a pet bird that perches or pecks among the foliage is in no danger.

People None

Safe to keep around kids. It isn't grown to be eaten, but a leaf in a small mouth won't poison anyone.

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 actually covers a couple of different species plus a few colorful relatives in the same group. Here are the ones you'll come across under that label.

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

What usually gets sold as Calathea Medallion is documented by NC State and the RHS as Goeppertia veitchiana, with big rounded medallion leaves patterned lime-green and creamy-white up top and a deep burgundy underside.

Goeppertia roseopicta 'Medallion'

NC State Extension also lists a separate Medallion selection under Goeppertia roseopicta, and this one carries silver-striped dark green upper leaves with purple undersides.

'Dottie'

A roseopicta selection you'll know by its pink central vein, which feathers out across foliage that's nearly black.

'Rosy'

A roseopicta selection sporting bright pink leaf centers ringed by a thin green edge.

How to propagate

There's just one way to get a new Calathea Medallion, but it's reliable once you know what the plant will and won't do.

DivisionModerate

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

Division is the only way to make more of this plant, because it won't take from stem or leaf cuttings. Do it in late spring while it's growing, usually right at repotting time, splitting the rhizome clump into pieces that each hang onto their own roots and shoots. Then just be patient with the new divisions, since they take anywhere from several weeks to a few months to root in and pick up growth again.

Myths

Myth

Calathea and prayer plants are toxic to pets like many tropical houseplants.

Reality

This mix-up comes from lumping calatheas in with their more dangerous tropical cousins. The ASPCA lists both Calathea and the Prayer Plant as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses. You can keep this plant in a home with pets without worry.

Myth

Calathea Medallion is simply a true Calathea.

Reality

Most species that used to be called Calathea, roseopicta and veitchiana among them, have since been shifted into the genus Goeppertia. Kew gives the accepted name as Goeppertia roseopicta, keeping Calathea roseopicta only as a synonym, so the old name hangs on in the plant trade rather than in botany.

Myth

Tap water is fine for a Calathea.

Reality

Calatheas and other prayer plants don't take kindly to the fluoride and chlorine in most tap water, and it shows up as brown tips and edges. Distilled water or rainwater keeps the foliage clean, and honestly it's the one change that sorts out most leaf-tip browning.

Sources