Calathea White Fusion (Calathea Lietzei) Growing Guide

The Calathea white fusion, called ‘Calathea lietzei’ in the field of botany, and the ‘peacock plant’, given its beauty, is one among many plants of the calathea family.

The calathea white fusion plant is also called the ‘prayer plant’ because its leaves curl inwards during nighttime. As a houseplant, it is unparalleled - the familiar stark white streaks on top of deep green leaves brighten up any space beautifully.

Read on for a complete guide on growing calathea white fusion and caring for it. 

How to Grow Calathea White Fusion

Calathea White Fusion Propagation

Calathea white fusion is a sensitive plant, so germination and taking care of seedlings is a very laborious process. Hence, you should propagate calathea white fusion by getting a plant from the nursery and growing your own at home.

To effectively propagate the plant, you should first consider that it grows best during springtime. This makes the few days before spring the perfect time to propagate calathea white fusion, so it grows beautifully.

Spring season propagation also prevents plant shock, which the calathea is quite prone to as a species.

How to propagate calathea white fusion:

• Prepare a new pot with fresh soil, and loosen the parent plant from its soil. 
• Inspect the roots of the parent plant for the freshest roots and stems, and trim off any that look unhealthy from the parent plant. 
• Gently and carefully section the plant, holding away from the area you want to cut for your new plant.
•  Use sterilized steel to prevent rust and dirt from contaminating the root ball of your plant. You can even use your hands to pry away the new stem from the parent plant gently.
• place the plants carefully back into their respective pots, checking to ensure the root ball hasn’t been ripped or harmed. 
• Water liberally and leave under indirect, bright sunlight.

The calathea fusion is a high-maintenance plant, so you need to be well-versed in what it needs and when. The striking foliage of the peacock plant needs time and energy, so understanding the plant is vital in not killing it.

The calathea white fusion is confusing- it needs water, but not excessively. It needs sun, but not too much. Dust and dirt, especially indoors, also harm the plant, so the leaves of calathea white fusion need to be wiped down frequently. 

Since they are porous, they need to not only be cleaned of dust, but you must also avoid any and all contact with leaf shiners and other harsh chemicals.

If you are seeing just a tiny bit of curling and yellowing around the tip of the leaves, there’s nothing to worry about. Since the foliage is delicate, it doesn’t always look perfect, and when taken care of, the curling and discoloration should disappear.

Calathea White Fusion Light Conditions

The calathea white fusion needs a lot of filtered white, bright light. This specific kind of light is a must because, without it, the variegation on the plant doesn’t develop correctly.

This diminishes the growth of the plant and causes stunted growth. Excessive light is not desirable since it results in dehydration, lead curling, and fading plant markings.

Too little light is also not an excellent environmental prospect since it also causes underdevelopment of the plant and causes issues with the variegation.

If the only avenue of light falling on your plant is sunlight, use blinds and curtains to diffuse the intensity. Avoid south-facing windows and ledges to prevent direct, prolonged exposure to sunlight.

Calathea Lietzei Soil Conditions

Calathea white fusion doesn’t require very particular soil conditions, so you can use soil created for other plants to grow white fusion as well. Any dirt that retains moisture well is good for calathea white fusion.

The soil mixture should also be peaty, air and lightweight. Other elements you can add to make soil conditions conducive to the growth of calathea white fusion are perlite, a root growth stimulator and orchard bark.

Watering Calathea White Fusion

The calathea white fusion plant prefers reasonable water, but waterlogging and soaking the soil is the immediate step to killing the plant. Extremely wet conditions make the plant susceptible to pests, so avoid watering them more liberally than necessary.

Ensure that the pot in which the plant is kept has holes for drainage of excess water, and routinely check the moisture conditions of the soil. Only about the top inches of your soil should feel moist, but if the soil near the surface feels dry, you need to water the plant.

Curling leaves may indicate hydration. When caring for a calathea white fusion plant, the kind of water you need to use is essential.

Room temperature tap water is usually fine, but if your plant doesn’t seem to be adapting to the water source, change it immediately. Distilled water and rainwater may be the route to pick.

Choosing the Right Fertilizer

The correct fertilizer can make your calathea white fusion plant prosper, but overdoing it can seriously harm the plant. You should only use moderate amounts of organic fertilizers during the growing seasons and stop the fertilization routine right before winter.

Make sure the kind of fertilizer you are using is recommended for the calathea white fusion specifically. Fertilizers rich in nitrogen or general plant foods containing nitrogen are an excellent booster for your plant.

Very potent fertilizers aren’t suitable for your plant either, so make sure you dilute the formula to suit your plant’s needs. The time interval where the fertilizer does your plant the most good is spring until fall.

Even if your plant doesn’t look as sprightly as it should all year, you shouldn’t, in any circumstance, over-feed it. Fertilizer, for one, no matter how organic it is, contains chemicals that erode and burn the plant's roots.

How to Prune Calathea Lietzei

The calathea white fusion doesn’t need a chop unless it's to trim decaying, dry and discolored foliage and keep the plant looking its best. However, there is also a health benefit to be gained if your plant is pruned correctly.

The only leaves you should be pruning with the correct gardening tools (for this task, get the best pruning shears) are dead, diseased, and dying leaves. This prevents the spread of disease and infection to the other leaves in the foliage.

Tears, spots and discolouration are clear indicators that the leaf is damaged, and you should prune it away from the rest of the plant.

White fusion has leaves that are smooth and supple, so you should also prune away any leaves that have turned brown and are crisp and crumbly to the touch. If only the edges have these problems, prune away only the edges of such leaves.

If the flowers on the plant appear wilted or fading, you should deadhead them away from the plant. This is also important for the bloom of the remaining flowers, and for wilted flowers to be replaced by fresh ones.

Common Calathea Lietzei Pests and Problems

Waterlogged and mulchy soil are the leading causes of the diseases that commonly plague the calathea white fusion plant. The most common ones are 

• Fungal and bacterial diseases, and root rot. Even though the plant loves water and requires a high level of moisture, water staying in the pot or container can serve as a breeding ground for all kinds of pests and diseases.
• Spider mites, which use their piercing mouthparts to extract juice from the plant and damage its foliage. Should you spot the mites on one plant, separate it from the others.
  
  Prune the leaves routinely, and use an insecticidal soap to wipe away the webs.

To prevent death and disease, you should ensure that the container is well-drained of water all the time and the soil isn’t waterlogged. You can pick and choose soil types that are known for remaining well-drained.

Inspecting your plant routinely is the optimum way of ensuring that you can detect it at an early stage when something does go wrong with your plant. If you happen to see pests on your calathea white fusion, insecticidal water and soap are the main way of dealing with them.

Put this mixture in a spray bottle and spray over the plant. Always dilute any and all insect killers you use on the plant. Inspect the roots when repotting your plant every season. Root rot leads to the death of a plant if not detected and dealt with correctly. 

If some roots in the root system appear dead or dying, separate them from the entanglement and cut them off before repotting your plant.

Calathea White Fusion Frequently Asked Questions

Is Calathea white fusion rare?

Calathea white fusion is one of the rarest varieties of Calathea, but it is becoming common as its popularity grows. Like most variegated plants, the white sections on each leaf are caused by genetic malfunctions. Thankfully, they don’t affect the plant in any negative way, but simply make it more beautiful.

Is Calathea white fusion hard to grow?

Calathea white fusion, despite its exotic appearance, is no harder to grow than any other calathea. Provide it with reasonable humidity, proper water, and good soil and there’s little else that can go wrong.

The only added concern is protecting the foliage from the direct afternoon sun, which can burn the paler leaves in summer.

Does calathea white fusion flower?

Calathea white fusion flowers are like any other Calathea, but it is rarely seen in cultivation. Most Calatheas are grown for their stunning foliage though, so you won’t be too disappointed when it doesn’t flower.

Why is my Calathea white fusion turning green?

Calathea white fusion’s variegations are not a permanently set feature of the plant, and can only be properly and assuredly reproduced from cuttings.

If the seed genetics come through due to illness, or a change in conditions, you can force the plant to revert back to its variegated state by cutting back to the next set of white leaves.

Should I cut the brown tips of my Calathea white fusion?

Brown tips don’t damage Calatheas if they are caused by sun scorch, but if they are the result of verticillium wilt, the best course of action is to remove the full leaf.

Fungal problems can be deeper in leaves than is visible, and cutting part way down a leaf will simply start the browning process lower down.

Looking for other Calathea varieties? Check out our list below:

Grow Calathea White Fusion Today

While maintaining a calathea white fusion plant can require quite a bit of legwork, the fruit and foliage brightening up your indoors are all worth it in the end!