Hello, I am a relatively new plant enthusiast and hope this question fits into this forum.
I have a wide range of plants, but this one is particularly worrying me. I picked a plant up from B&Q which I listed from their label as 'Calathea'. I believe just someone mislabelled it.

It is moist, I don't let it be dry or overwatered. When bought some leaves were upset and still some have dried areas.

The issue is, the plant keeps putting the leaves up and down. During the day it is happy, the leaves are down but at shadow they are pointing up. It makes me think this this is direct light plant, almost tropical. This behaviour happens almost daily, which makes me worried. Can anyone advise what plant this is? Or how I should be handling this?

Thank you

Rattlesnake Plant (Goeppertia insignis)

I have one and it is persnickity! Needs high humidity, plenty of water, I use distilled. Well draining soil. Mine just survives.

The synonym is Calathea lancifolia so maybe that explains the label on your plant. The leaves fold up at night - is that what you are seeing?

Yes, if healthy the leaves move up and down. Bright indirect light. Every nursery has concurred with me it can be a difficult keeper.

Thank you all! This is so reassuring. No other plants do that, so I was a bit concerned. I guess this is an active one It has been with me for like half a year but it is not really growing like others.

I think then I have everything right, it is just the way my plant is.

Seems like you are doing everything right.

@flowerbean , the leaves going up and down is normal for this Genus of plants, which are Calatheas. All Calatheas do this. You may or may not catch it in the act but they do. It is actually an evolutionary mechanism that they developed over the aeons when they were developing their existence in the rainforest.
Calathea (and the related Genuses Stromanthe, Maranta and Ctenanthe) grow on the floor of the rainforest in almost total shade, only an estimated 2-5% of the available sunlight that shines on the upper strata of the rainforest actually makes it all the way down to the forest floor. Likewise only an estimated 2-5% of the RAIN that falls on a rainforest makes it to the floor. The light and water that do make it are precious to the floor dwellers, so Calathea and Stromanthe and the others developed the deep violet/purple/maroon coloration on the undersides of most species' leaves (these are anthocyanins and other pigments) that have the capability of absorbing the reflected light that bounces up off the floor, known as 'green light'. They also developed the ability to change the orientation of the leaves, called 'praying' (hence the name that most of them are known by, Prayer Plants). This is in reaction to the light totally going away at night, and helps to channel any rain that does make it down to the floor directly to the root ball of the plant.

That is fascinating!
I had one of these and loved it... divided it and lost it. Enjoy! The person I gifted a divided part to had it get pretty big.

Hello, thank you for all of your messages. I have not logged on in a long time but read some of the newsletters :)
After all this time I can say the plant is still helathy, it does not "play" as much as before. It got bushier and bigger if anything! It is just it's normal behaviour, which I have not seen before. Amazing to have an active plant :)

Also I think it is repotting time, just I am planning to do it for spring.

Oh my gosh! I am so jealous. It looks great. Mine still just barely survives.

Great job!

jvdubb said: Oh my gosh! I am so jealous. It looks great. Mine still just barely survives.

Great job!

Thank you! I did not do anything special, just made sure there was light, fresh air and watered it. If anything this was the plant itself?! I watered it the least out of my special bunch (I am sorry but worked out well!), about once a week or so and not very much. I am very suprised it is still there although some leafs seem discolured. I have never over watered it, and maybe this is the key t success.

I recently started doing the banana fertilizer, it actually made couple of plants grow immensly :o This one seemed to enjoy it too

Your Rattlesnake Plant (Goeppertia insignis) is beautiful, great growing! I think I still have two around here somewhere that (due to neglect) are just barely hanging on.

Hopping on the jealous train:)

I've tried, limped along, and failed several times (not to discourage you, yours is gorgeous).

To be honest I can't tell calathea and maranata apart.

Mine have never displayed nyctinasty so would that automatically make them calatheas?