My Rattlesnake hates EVERYTHING! Mine don’t mind the cold, as long as they’re far away from the window. I guess it depends on how cold it gets – here in the UK minus figures, especially at night, coupled with a draught can easily kill a plant.

I put a Calathea Dottie and a Calathea Julia in the same pot… The Dottie is the slightly smaller plant, so it’s a lovely layered effect. And my couch is burgundy leather, so the burgundy and pink in the Dottie pick it up beautifully.

If I need to put the ducted aircon on for heat or cool, I will either put a garbage bag over them whilst it’s on (usually an hour at most!), or take them to the glass door enclosed alfresco, so they can hang out with the ficus elastica and monstera and other pals… they don’t mind the move in winter as long as I don’t put them into there on a really cold night all of a sudden. I have a humidifier on there, too, when necessary.

Happily we have no crunchy edges, and I find they’re more forgiving than I was led to believe. They’ll actually take a lot of cold if it’s a gradual drop. Although I think Goeppertia insignis (rattle snake) would not give a rat’s arse about anything except spider mite!

Thanks! I adopted a pair of rabbits when my last bun passed away, and they’re free roam so everyone’s gone up onto shelves. It’s safer really, though these two are more hell bent on getting behind the sofa than eating my plants. Bizarrely, none of my rabbits have ever shown any interest in any of my plants except my Calathea!

I think it’s easier for bunny parents to deal with, because we’re used to having to block off everything that we don’t want chewed. Rabbits are destructive by nature, whereas a dog or cat can live beside a plant for years and then just decide to dig all the soil out and tip it on the floor for no good reason!

Actually, I have quite a lot of experience in this area! If my Calathea get really bad spider mite infestations I cut all the leaves off. They seem to grow back really well. The only tricky thing is keeping the soil moist enough without rotting the roots, but keeping the humidity dry helps with that. Warmth, humidity, and light are the key to success, so I think you’ve got a good chance at reviving your Freddie.

I prefer to bottom water because the soil is more likely to be evenly wet BUT they don’t mind top watering.

They’re both beautiful plants!

My white star is currently riddled with spider mites and is looking a little sorry for herself – I massively advise to spray with neem weekly to avoid my fate.

Also, get a warscewiczii – they’re unbelievably soft and velvety (hence the common name ‘velvet touch’) and in my experience are far less picky than other Calathea. My white star is by far my most demanding Calathea, so if you can crack the care, you shouldn’t have any problems with other Calathea.