Splitting Calathea 'triostar' - an Easter Monday project.

 I bought the original plant from an EHS plant sale - I can't remember how long ago - and it cost me £4.  What great value it's been.  I think it only had 4 leaves, and now, at least four years later, there are four 'shoots' in the pot each with five or six leaves.  

Calathea triostar before it was split.

It was in its original 1.5 litre pot, so I decided to use the same size pot for the separated plants.  I chose Melcourt Sylvagrow peat-free multi-purpose compost to plant them in, my current favourite.  The plant came cleanly out of its pot.  Each shoot comes from a rhizome, so to separate the shoots the rhizome has to be broken.  I did this by gently breaking them apart (you could cut them).

The four transplanted shoots were watered and are now recovering in the (empty) bath, where it is well lit but not directly.  It's an ideal place for them but not very practical in the long run.  Calathea does best in warm humid conditions.  The tips of the leaves can go brown and shrivelled if it's not humid enough, but in a small house there's not much you can do about that!

Fun facts.

Calathea triostar seems to do semaphore with its leaves.  Here's what the leaf positions indicate. Pointing downwards, not happy!  Usually requires watering.  Keep moist but not wet.  

Mostly horizontal, happy!

Pointing upwards, it's night time!  Along with many similar plants the leaves fold giving rise to the  common name 'prayer plant'.