Prayer plants ( Maranta leuconeura ) are beautiful indoor houseplants with fascinating broad green leafage . The leaves can have pink - colourise stripes or veins , disconsolate green splotches , or red or ashen grading . Also call in petition plants , maranta plants are easy to grow indoors with few care requirement .
How to give care for prayer works : develop your marantaplant in well - drain soil , provide adequate humidity , and undimmed indirect ignitor . orison plant thrive in intermediate house temperatures between 65 and 75 ° F ( 18 – 23 ° C ) . fertilise your marantaleuconeuraplant every two weeks in spring and summertime to aid the works grow well indoors .
deal this manner for your prayer plant assist to mime their native environment intropical rainforests .
In this article , you will come up out the good care tips for maturate a prayer plant in your home or office . You will also learn about some of the most popular types of maranta you’re able to buy .
What is a Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)?
In the wild , supplication plant are perennial flowering works that blossom in springiness with modest , lily-white flowers . As a houseplant , supplication industrial plant rarely bloom . It is the stunning beaut of the flora ’s foliage that has made this a home deary . Even in low - igniter conditions , prayer plants continue to grow well and prosper .
Why areMaranta leuconeuraplants commonly call in prayer plants ? The vulgar name amount from the way the leaves fire and close in together in the evening or Nox . This bewitching show resembles put hands together in a prayer pose .
These light - to - originate houseplants have origin call rhizomes that look like belittled potatoes or tubers . A prayer plant can originate up to 12 ” ( 30 cm ) tall and has evergreen ellipse leaf with unusual scoring .
Prayer plants are excellent to total born foliage to a shelf , desk , corner of a room , or in a hang basket .
Prayer Plants: Calathea or Maranta?
Maranta ( leave ) and calathea ( right wing ) are similar plants belong to the same family ( Marantaceae ) but are unlike metal money
Generally , the terminal figure prayer industrial plant refers to leafy houseplants in the genusMaranta . Identifying specie in the genusMarantacan be perplexing because it is related to plants in the genusCalathea , which are also called prayer plant . Both genera are in the familyMarantaceae , but they are a different species .
The leaves ofMarantaandCalatheaplants turn up into a prayer personate at fall in a process squall nyctinasty . All plants in both genus have ornately patterned leaf , and some have colourful stripy markings . Some species and cultivar also have parting with different dark-skinned undersides from the top side .
This clause deals specifically with how to care for cultivar in theMaranta leuconeuraspecies . Because marantas and calatheas are interrelate , the charge tip also enforce to both types of plants .
Types of Prayer Plant (Marantas)
There are around 50 prayer plant species and cultivars to select from . allow ’s look at five of the most popular ones .
Rabbit’s Foot Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura ‘kerchoveana’)
Also called the green prayer plant , the Rabbit ’s Foot remunerator plant life is the classic houseplant that thrives indoors . The leaves of this maranta plant are gullible - gray with darker green markings on both sides of the central nervure . The undersides of the leave are silvery unripe . The coarse name “ Rabbit ’s Foot ” and “ Rabbit ’s Tracks ” come from the markings that reckon like a coney ’s footprints .
Red Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura ‘erythroneura’)
The red-faced entreaty works has glossy glum - green leaves with pronounced crimson - bleached veins in the leave . The middle section of the leaf has light dark-green scoring running up the center . This maranta plant has reddish - purple foliage undersides .
Black Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura ‘leuconeura’)
The black prayer plant has large striking benighted immature oval allow with thin pink vena extending from the center with loose green thin patterns running up the center of attention . The underside leave are reddish - purpleness .
Kim Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura ‘Kim’)
The Kim supplicant works has the classic “ rabbit ’s foot ” design of plebeian green supplication plant . This cultivar has dark purple blotch on easy green leave-taking . The plant ’s veins are a creamy - white color .
Marisela Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura ‘Marisela’)
The Marisela cultivar has fall pick - color herringbone pattern - comparable pattern . The beautiful foliage is in various shade of igniter and dark commons . The trailing nature of the Marisela entreaty plant means it ’s worthy for hanging hoop .
How to Care for a Prayer Plant
Read on to see about the right type of filth , fertilizer , and tearing requirements for your entreaty flora . retrieve out answer to : Where is the good location for your prayer industrial plant ? Are prayer plant toxic to PET ? How to repot a entreaty plant life ?
Best Soil for Prayer Plants (Maranta)
entreaty plants demand well - draining soil that curb peat moss and some Baroness Dudevant to create loamy soil . add coarse sand orperliteto the potting mixture help excess water to run out . Prayer plants also grow well in slimly acidic grunge of pH 5.5 – 6.0 .
To make the ideal potting sensitive for supplication plants , mix 1 - part garden dirt , 1 - part perlite , and 1 - part peat moss . Then bestow a emergency of lime dust to help poise the pH levels in the soil .
Another care tip for grow your prayer plant is to supply a layer of pebble to the bottom of the tummy . This trick help to improve air flow and allows water supply to drain easier . think always to use containers that have drainage holes in the bottom .
Best Location for Prayer Plants
The best position for your petition flora is in a bright , ardent berth . Anywhere in a room or office that is well - light , gratuitous from draught , and not beside a radiator is ideal . The most authoritative advice is to keep entreaty plant away from verbatim sun .
Usually , a south- or west - facing way is an excellent place to grow your appeal plant . If you want to put your prayer plant on a windowsill , make certain it ’s behind a plain curtain to protect it from the sun ’s rays . draw too much lineal light can be a understanding why the tips of the leaves bend brown .
One of the respectable thing about caring for appeal plants is that they also grow well in darker , low - light area . The low light is like to their native growing environs on the rainforest floor when sunlight can be minimal .
Stems that become long and spindly is one sign that your prayer plant needs more light . So , if you notice that stems are aim long-legged , move the prayer plant life to a vivid location and prune off the leggy stem .
How to Water Prayer Plants
irrigate your maranta plant enough so that the soil is alwaysslightlydamp . To know when to water your supplicant flora , bear on the top stratum of stain . If it is dry , body of water it thoroughly . If it seems too dampish or swampy , do n’t irrigate it until the soil dry out a mo .
right charge of your prayer plant life usually involves keeping the territory moist . The unspoilt crest for watering a petition plant is to irrigate it in the morning with filtered body of water at room temperature . Watering this way allow the works to imbibe enough wet during the mean solar day and avail prevent root buncombe . permeate water also forestall chemicals such as atomic number 17 affect plant increment .
The frequency you want to water maranta plant depends on several factor . Room temperature , the season , or family heating can all affect how much moisture flora take in . For example , prayer plant want more frequent watering in spring and summertime when they develop quicker .
The beneficial way to live when to irrigate your maranta houseplant is to check the dampness of the stain .
Prayer Plant Care: Humidity Levels
Prayer plant require high humidity level similar to their native rainforest environment . Mist prayer plant on a regular basis , use a humidifier or sit them on a pebble tray with water to aid increase humidity . When worry for a orison plant , remember that it needs watering and humidness .
In normal elbow room conditions , spritzing a all right mist on a prayer flora every day is usually enough to hydrate them . hydrate the leaves is especially necessary in winter when house heating dries out the air . To deal properly for your plant in wintertime , water it less frequently and mist once or twice a 24-hour interval .
Other care lead on increase humidity for your prayer industrial plant are to set them near other plants or put a small bowl of water near your plant life .
Because prayer plants can survive for 30 or 40 year or even more , you will need to dust the leave-taking occasionally . If you take a damp material to wipe the leaves , you will not only clean them , but you ’ll also hydrate them at the same time .
teetotal , brown leaf hint on your supplicant flora leave-taking are one of the signs that humidity degree require increasing . Also , avoid water the leaf as this can do leaf rot . However , a light day-after-day misting is necessary to help your plant boom .
Temperature for Prayer Plant
The ideal temperature to grow a supplication plant indoors is the median room temperature . So , keep the temperature around 65 and 75 ° F ( 18 – 23 ° C ) . Extreme change in temperature can affect the leave-taking and growth .
If the temperature inside overleap to below 55 ° F ( 12 ° C ) , you may notice that the prayer works ’s leaves part to wither and rick brown . If the elbow room temperature rises above 80 ° F ( 26 ° C ) , the green leaves may show signs of leaf burn mark . This can often happen if a prayer plant is on a south - face window in direct sun .
As well as keeping the temperature right , you need to ensure that melodic phrase disseminate well . While not placing in lineal gulp , the circulating melodic line encourages right increase and riotous foliation .
How to Feed a Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)
Start feeding your entreaty plant in former spring . Houseplant fertilizer boosts ontogenesis and keeps the leave glazed and levelheaded . Usually , feed every two week is enough . The best fertilizer is a balanced solution that is diluted to half - strong suit . Continue feeding throughout the summer until early autumn .
Providing the necessary food for your maranta plant life is essential to advance healthy growth . The balance of nutrient helps to keep the red , blanched , pink , and green folio colors vibrant .
When it comes to proper eating , Libra is vital . Not enough feeding can ensue in weak growth and a generally unhealthy appearance . If you use too much fertilizer , you’re able to terminate up with brown leaves and damaged roots .
During wintertime , when the appeal plant becomes dormant , the only care you need to give it is water and mist over .
Pruning a Prayer Plant
Prune your prayer plant by cutting just above leafage client using a pair of desexualise garden scissors . Pruning two or three time a twelvemonth ( best times are in fall and spring ) help to encourage bushy maturation . trim a prayer plant also helps to remove any leggy stems or dead leaves .
raw salubrious stems will develop from the pruned stems . With regular pruning , you’re able to spring up a beautiful prayer plant with a bushy appearing and magnificent sizable leaves .
Although it ’s rare for a appeal plant to flower indoors , if it does flower , you could snip off the flush . These insignificant bloom can exhaust all important nutrients from the salient leaf . However , leaving the flush to bloom wo n’t make any endure wrong to the indoor plant .
Prayer Plant Propagation
circularise your prayer plant in the spring by cutting off healthy radical just below the last node at the base . Remove the first span of leaves from the bottom . Put in a pot control pot ground and perlite . Place in a bright location and cover with plastic that has some holes in it .
you could broadcast a prayer plant by placing a stem cutting in a glass of H2O . waitress until the roots are 1 ” ( 2.5 cm ) long before transfer to a pot . A mixture of grime , peat , and perlite or coarse gumption assist create the perfect type of soil for rise a orison plant life .
Another method of prayer plant multiplication is by dividing the rhizomes . Carefully take the industrial plant from the pot and shake off excess soil . Divide the genus Tuber solution into two or three parts and repot .
you could also use any part of a prayer plant that has broken off to propagate it . Just dip the broken oddment into a root endocrine mixture to perk up new growth .
Repotting Your Prayer Plant
Prayer plant are easy - growing plants and do n’t require repotting very often . A sign you take to repot your appeal works is a lack of ontogeny . All you need to do is transplant your plant to a pot 2 ” ( 5 cm ) wider than its current container . Add some fresh potting intermixture .
When should you repot a petition plant ? The best care advice is to repot your plant in bound or summer . Repotting at this time prevent dusty weather shocking its theme and help to promote healthy maturation .
Maranta (Prayer Plant) Pests and Diseases
pest that can affect maranta plants admit aphid , spider pinch , and mealy bug . right care usually helps to keep disease such as fungal disease and leafspot to a minimum . Not over - water your plant and steady misting help to keep stem goodish and spider touch off .
Brown leaves are usually a sign that the filth is waterlogged , or it ’s getting too much direct sunshine . If stem rot is a job , you may have to repot it to help resurrect a expire appeal flora . Remove the plant from the container and shake the soil from the root . Prune off any stagnant or diseased roots . Repot using fresh soil and water thoroughly . Only irrigate your plant when the soil becomes slenderly wry .
Mealybugs , aphid , and spider soupcon stress out plant life and move outgrowth . Try using neem oil or an organic pesticide to get disembarrass of bugs that are affecting your plant .
Are Prayer Plants Toxic?
No , prayer plants are not poisonous to humans , cats , or dogs .
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