Make sure your pot has a drainage hole and add rocks or gravel to the bottom to improve drainage.
Fertilizer
Prayer plants need to be fed every two weeks from spring through fall while they are actively developing. Utilize a premium water-soluble indoor plant food. Less fertiliser should be applied throughout the winter as growth is not encouraged.
Repotting
Your prayer plant shouldn’t require frequent repotting. It will, however, grow considerably more slowly after it is rooted-bound in its container.
If you decide to repot, pick a pot that is 1-2 broader than the current pot. Simply take it out of the existing pot and place it in the new one along with some extra soil mixture. Your prayer plant will grow quickly and easily if you water it well.
Pruning
You can prune your prayer plant to promote more ferocious growth. Cut the stems just above a leaf node with a pair of garden shears that have been sanitised.
In response, the prayer plant will produce fresh branches just below the incision, giving it a bushier appearance!
Propagation
Considering how difficult they can be to grow, prayer plants are surprisingly simple to propagate!
Making a stem cutting beneath a leaf node is all that is required. Place the cutting in a glass of water after being dipped in a rooting hormone, and be sure to change the water around every two days.
You may also place the cutting straight into the potting soil; just be sure you regularly wet your prayer plant and keep the soil damp.
When should my prayer plant be pruned?
Use a pair of disinfected gardening shears to prune your prayer plant by making a cut just above the leaf nodes. Two or three times a year, ideally in the fall and spring, pruning helps promote bushy growth. A prayer plant’s lanky stems and dead leaves can be removed by pruning.
The cut stems will produce new, healthy stems. You can cultivate a lovely prayer plant with superb, robust leaves and a bushy appearance by regularly pruning it.
Even though it is uncommon for a prayer plant to blossom indoors, if it does, you can cut the flowers off. These inconsequential blossoms can rob the stunning foliage of vital nutrients. However, the indoor plant won’t sustain any long-term harm if the blossoms are allowed to bloom.
Where should a prayer plant be cut?
Repot in the early spring, when prayer plant division can be used for propagation. When repotting the prayer plant, use standard potting soil. From spring through early summer, stem cuttings can also be taken. Take cuttings right below the nodes that are closest to the stem’s base. To maintain moisture levels, cuttings can be placed in a solution of damp peat and perlite and covered with plastic. To ensure proper ventilation, you might wish to puncture a few air holes in the plastic. The cuttings should be placed in a sunny area.
If a piece of the prayer plant has broken off, rooting hormone should be applied to the broken end before putting it in distilled water. Every other day, the water is changed. Before digging it out and planting it in soil, wait until the roots are about an inch long. When propagating prayer plants, keep in mind that the piece must have at least a tiny amount of stem on the leaves in order for it to take root. As with cuttings, the piece can also be rooted straight in the ground.
Do I need to trim my prayer plant?
The short answer to this is “yes”! Prayer plants can and ought to be pruned. It’s crucial to prune the plant to keep it under control. Under the correct circumstances, marantas are known to develop swiftly and can become overwhelming.
Regular pruning can also promote growth if done at the proper time of year! Trimming allows the plant to concentrate its efforts on particular portions of the plant, thus it is something to think about if you want a fuller or larger Prayer Plant.
To grow new Marantas, the trimmings can also be propagated. You might not be interested in this if your maranta is overgrown and wild. However, it is a wonderful choice for anyone hoping to add more plants to their collection.
Should I trim my prayer plant’s brown tips off?
Damaged, dying, or dead growth is intended to be removed by this kind of pruning. Even if they don’t prune their Marantas for any other reason, the majority of people will wish to perform this kind of maintenance pruning on a regular basis.
In an effort to keep your Prayer Plant from succumbing to a significant bug infestation, you might also need to trim off some of its branches. Major plant parts can occasionally be removed more easily than they can be treated.
You do not need to limit this sort of pruning to a specific season or worry about doing it too frequently, unlike the two pruning techniques mentioned above. If a leaf on your Prayer Plant starts to turn yellow or brown, or if it is unintentionally torn or broken, go ahead and trim it off. Unfortunately, a wounded leaf can’t heal, and it will eventually wilt and fall off regardless. Your plant will remain healthy and appealing with a simple removal.
What does a prayer plant’s leaf node represent?
Propagating a prayer plant is quite easy. Simply cut a cutting below a node, and when the roots grow, place the cutting in water or moist soil. Below, I’ll go over a more detailed guide.
Where do you cut a prayer plant to propagate?
To propagate your plant, you must cut it below a node. The petiole (the little stem attached to a leaf) joins the main stem at a prayer plant node.
The nodes can also be the places where two stems connect since prayer plants can have a network of stems that branch off of one another. There typically is a small bulge there as well.
New roots will emerge from the nodes, which are the sources of growth. This is why when propagating plants, you must cut below the node. When you cut “below the node,” the node is still present on the portion you keep.
Can you propagate prayer plant in water?
Simply take a clean pair of scissors and cut off a bit below a node to grow the prayer plant in water. The node must be present on the cutting since that is where the new roots will grow.
That cutting should be inserted into a jar of room-temperature water with the node below the surface. Verify that none of the leaves are submerged.
Put it somewhere that gets plenty of direct light. When necessary, add more water, and top it off if you notice the level dropping.
Your root system should be developed sufficiently (about two to three inches long) after a few weeks to a month so that you can insert the cutting into soil. After that, water your new plant thoroughly and take care of it as usual.
Propagating a Prayer Plant in Soil
The same procedure can also be used, but instead of using water, you should directly place the cutting into a container of moistened soil. Don’t bury any leaves, but be sure the node is buried.
Keep the soil moist as the roots grow and place it somewhere that gets bright, indirect light. Another option is to cover it with a transparent plastic bag to help keep the humidity in. Simply take it off every other day to allow fresh air to enter.
Test the cutting by giving it a very light tug a few weeks later. If you encounter resistance, the cutting’s roots have grown and you can treat it like any other plant.
How long does it take to propagate a prayer plant?
I’ve found that it often takes three weeks to a month for prayer plant cuttings to develop roots that are long enough to pot up (two to three inches). However, depending on the season and situation, this can change.
Just be a little more patient if, after a month, your prayer plant is still not ready.
Propagating a Prayer Plant by Division
A prayer plant can also be multiplied by division. To divide and pot up one or more pieces of the plant from the mother plant is to do nothing more than that.
To achieve this, take the entire plant out of the pot and look for any individual parts that have their own root systems. Untangle any roots before gently separating it from the mother plant.
A pair of clean, sharp scissors can be used to clip the roots apart from one another if you are unable to untangle them without breaking them. Do your best to preserve the majority of the root system.
Each infant segment should be potted into a suitable-sized pot and thoroughly watered. After allowing each newly potted part some time to acclimatise, you’re done!
Why are the brown tufts on my prayer plant?
When you bring a prayer plant into your home, you definitely want to take advantage of the lovely foliage’s aesthetic appeal. Therefore, it’s not amusing to notice those gorgeously patterned leaves getting brown tips or edges.
Let’s examine some of the most typical causes of brown leaves in these tropical houseplants so you can maintain their lush, untarnished appearance.
Too Little Soil Moisture
If the leaf margins or tips of your prayer plant are brown and you do not water it frequently, there may not be enough moisture in the air.
The Marantaceae family prefers damp soil that is not soggy or waterlogged. In order to avoid overwatering, many houseplants benefit from a little neglect, but this is not the case with these species.
You may need to water them up to twice a week, and you should definitely check on them at least that frequently, depending on the conditions in your home.
If you’re currently watering your plant twice a week or more, it might be time to repot it or the soil may not be retaining enough moisture to suit your plant’s needs.
Look at your indoor plant in its container. Are roots poking through the dirt at the top of the pot or coming from the holes at the bottom?
If so, it’s probably time to repot since your maranta, calathea, stromanthe, or ctenanthe is likely becoming rootbound.
If your plant appears to be drying out too soon yet being rootbound doesn’t seem to be an issue. Check the potting medium. Does it resemble standard potting soil for indoor plants?
To help them maintain moisture, many species need a rich, peaty potting medium. You might wish to include some coconut coir in your potting mix to increase moisture retention.
Coconut coir, which has the same moisture-retaining and somewhat acidic properties as peat moss but is a more sustainable, renewable resource.
How come my prayer plant is lanky?
Marantas get lanky as a result of inadequate lighting. In this situation, a Prayer Plant will move its leaves closer to the light source, which is typically the nearest window. The plant tries to capture enough sunlight to support itself by developing longer stems.
Giving a prayer plant more light is the greatest way to stop or treat legginess. This can entail transferring it to a room with more light or, if you don’t have a suitable location, buying a grow light. Legginess might be taken as an indication that your plant is “hungry for more light” because plants utilise sunshine to convert to energy.
Even if the lighting environment is improved, a Prayer Plant that has already grown some lanky stems will not be able to return to having more compact stems. If the plant receives enough light, new growth will develop more fully (and possibly sooner).
The lanky stems on your prayer plant are okay to leave there; they won’t do any harm. Or you can chop them off for reproduction if you don’t like the way they look.
Why is the growth of my prayer plant tilting?
A Prayer Plant that is growing sideways or toppling over has three basic causes. To find out the cause and the remedy for your particular Prayer Plant, read the information below.
Legginess. Even if you’ve never heard the phrase “leggy,” you undoubtedly already have an idea of what it implies. The plant can start to look scraggly or unkempt since there is a lot of stem present between the leaves as opposed to compact development.
Solution: Lack of light causes plants to grow languidly. They try to expand their leaves toward the light source by developing longer stems. If this is the issue with your plant, you will likely notice that all of its development is concentrated on the side of the container that faces the window.
If you can’t do that, move your Prayer Plant nearer the window or give it a grow light. Marantas dislike direct light, but they are ineffective in extremely dark environments. Consider this plant to be medium-light, preferring a sunny yet sheltered location.
If your Maranta is lanky, you can utilise the long stem to propagate a new plant by cutting it off. This is an excellent method for making a pot appear fuller because you can use your cutting to fill in the pot’s empty spaces.
imbalanced development Your Prayer Plant may get heavy on one side and may be in danger of toppling over if it concentrates all of its growth in that one location.
The answer is a straightforward onerotate! Even in areas where the light is adequately bright, plants will always move toward the light. There may be significantly more growth on one side of the pot because the majority of our plants only receive light from a single window. To maintain uniform growth, rotate your plants occasionally (every few months is fine). Alternatively, to balance out the plant, turn the side with less leaves toward the window.
leaf and stem drooping. Parts of your Prayer Plant may fall over if the stems or leaves are drooping since they will lose their firmness.
Solution: Overwatering is frequently the cause of drooping stems and leaves (although not always). Hold off on watering your plant until it has had a chance to dry out if you think you may have given it too much water. If this was the problem, everything ought to be back to normal. Any plant components that are discoloured should be removed because they won’t grow back.
If you’re certain that overwatering isn’t the problem, consider whether underwatering, too much direct sunlight, or pests might be to blame. All of these could result in prayer plant leaves that are drooping.
Do pious plants enjoy being misted?
Plants want to be damp, like prayer plants. They prefer being damp, whether it be by frequent watering or the moisture in the air surrounding them. This is because these plants are accustomed to thriving in humid surroundings because they come originally from the marshy and tropical regions of South and Central America.
It’s likely that your house will have dryer air than their native habitats if you keep a prayer plant as a houseplant. especially if you have to utilise a heating system since you reside in a place with harsh winters. Heating systems can dry up the air, which results in leaves that are more crisp than we would prefer.
Misting your plants is one technique to avoid this. Misters may be purchased for very little money and have a very long lifespan. By misting your plant, you add moisture to the air around it and help the leaves maintain moisture, which should stop the leaves from crisping and turning brown.
Attempt to give your prayer plant a gentle misting once daily or every other day. The health of your plant should be affected by how frequently you can do it if you are unable to do it that frequently.
If you find misting tedious and easy to overlook, think about investing in a humidifier. If you don’t mind spraying your plants frequently, you can do that instead of the more expensive alternative. However, if you prefer that they get moisture automatically, spend your money on a humidifier. Additionally, you don’t need to spend a lot of money because humidifiers are reasonably priced.
You can also just do both if you’d like. Additionally, you can buy a humidifier and mist your plants. Check out our following post about the lifespan of prayer plants if you want to learn more about them.
Should I mist my prayer plant, in conclusion? Yes, you should, but don’t stop there, is our advice. If possible, attempt to increase the humidity in the space where your plants are growing by including a humidifier.