If you ’re a fan of cheap foliage , I ’ve catch just the plant for you . It does n’t get much more overweening than the leave on Maranta leuconeura , the pop tropical houseplant good sleep with as the prayer industrial plant ! Although it ’s not considered the easiest species to grow , its looks definitely make it deserving diving into its care requirements so you could learn how to keep one live .
Keep reading for everything you take to have intercourse about Maranta precaution and how to grow a prayer plant life indoors !
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About Maranta
Natural habitat
Like so many of our other houseplant favorites ( Tradescantia zebrinaandBegonia maculata , for illustration ) , Maranta leuconeura is naturally found in humid , tropic forests in Brazil ( specifically Pernambuco and Mato Grosso do Sul ) . Here , it forms part of the hobo camp undergrowth .
Description
It ’s not difficult to see how Maranta became so popular as a houseplant ! This clumping perennial does n’t grow very improbable ( up to around 12 column inch ) , but it can branch out horizontally quite extensively . It sports large , ellipse leave on thin theme . The factual leaf blueprint alter harmonise to the diversity you ’re dish out with ( more on that below ) , but one affair is for sure : They are all salient . The foliage undersides can diverge from green to sinister bolshie .
This prayer industrial plant does flower , although its bantam white blossom are n’t much to look at compare to its foliage .
Maranta varieties
The genus Maranta in reality contains around 50 species , but only 2 of them are on a regular basis found in gardening . One is Maranta leuconeura , the extremely pop supplicant plant we ’re discussing here . The other one is its cousin Maranta arundinacea , which is actually very nice to look at as well , but mostly grow as a food point . It has a starchy , edible theme that has been used in South America for thousands of long time .
As for Maranta leuconeura itself , there are a bunch of different variety out there . Some are naturally occurring , while others are selectively bred cultivar create by nursery . A few of the ones you ’re most potential to encounter in your local plant entrepot are :
Where to buy
Will the real prayer plant please stand up?!
Does the name “ prayer works ” phone familiar to you ? That ’s not surprising . Although houseplant enthusiasts run to more or less concord that Maranta is “ the ” prayer plant , this coarse name is also used for a whole clump of other democratic houseplant mintage in the family Marantaceae .
The most popular “ other ” appeal plant are in the coloured and varied genus Calathea , although a good few coinage ( including houseplant favoritesCalathea orbifolia , Calathea ornata , andCalathea makoyana ) were moved from Calathea to Goeppertia lately after a scientific review , so that one ’s included now as well . You may also see the name used forStromantheandCtenanthe .
The intellect ? All of these species pray ! As with Maranta , their foliage turn up up at night , reminiscent of hands in petition . This crusade is phone nyctinasty and it ’s not very well understood yet .
( entreaty plants are n’t the only single that do this , by the manner . Oxalis triangularis , also known as imitation shamrock , is another nyctinastic plant life that folds its leaves at night . )
Caring for Maranta
Light and temperature
Like most of those pop fundamental - South American tropicals , Maranta prefer bright but indirect light . Being a part of the forest undergrowth , the species has n’t evolved to be able-bodied to apportion with strong unmediated sun .
I ’ll yield that a few morning time or eventide rays wo n’t do any harm , but being blasted in the good afternoon is a recipe for your Maranta ’s beautiful leafage getting burned . This peculiarly applies if the plant has n’t been properly acclimated to high - swooning conditions .
This species is not used to lower temperatures and will probably intercept get or even lead off shedding leave if you let things drop below 60 ° degree Fahrenheit . Keeping it at elbow room temperature is a much better idea , although higher temps are n’t much of a job either .
If you ’re find comfortable in your nursing home , it ’s likely your prayer plant is as well . Just keep it aside from A / C units , draughty hallway , and badly isolated windowsill .
Water and humidity
One panorama of Maranta deal that many houseplant partisan stop up struggling with is water . It can be a bit of a delicate balance and the mintage can react pretty dramatically to being left to dry out out even a piffling too much . Keeping it too moist , on the other hand , can cause rootage rot .
So how often and how much should you be watering your petition plant ? Unfortunately , I ca n’t tell you , as it depend entirely on the environment . I can give you some pointers , so do n’t worry ; you ’ll get a spirit for it soon enough .
Your Maranta will apprise being keep lightly dampish . “ Lightly ” means it feel slightly damp , but dead never hokey . It ’s fine if the top inch or two of the soil dry out a footling , at which point you may give the plant a sip .
This can take just a day or two during live and wry summertime days , but much longer during the cold wintertime months . Plants keep in broken - abstemious atmospheric condition also wo n’t call for lacrimation almost as often as those right next to a windowpane .
If you ’re not sure whether it ’s time yet , just baffle a fingerbreadth into the stain to gauge the moisture level . you could also raise the pot : if it ’s laboured , it ’s not time yet , as the soil is still holding water .
Did you know?
If you shinny with water your Maranta properly , considergrowing this plant hydroponically . Prayer plants are expectant candidates for growing in water , no grunge require .
The other main yield with Maranta is also related to moisture , but in this case , the level in the air . Jungle habitats like the ones that appeal plants by nature grow in are often at100 percent air humidity ( ! ) , meaning that this species is n’t really used to the much drier strain in our home . This can ensue in curled leaves , dark-brown folio tips , and even susceptibility to pests that prefer petition works ’ okay leaves and dry breeze , like wanderer mite .
It can be very helpful to get a cheap humidity meter ( likethis digital hygrometerthat I lie with and utilize ) so you may keep an eye on thing . If it consistently afford you meter reading under 50 percentage , your houseplant ( almost all of them , not just your Maranta ! ) will probably profit from the use of a humidifier nearby .
Soil and planting
The right stain type is authoritative for your petition plant life ’s wellness ! Even if your watering habits are perfect , after all , it ’s no use if the dirt does n’t debilitate ( or , alternatively , dry much too quickly ) . Luckily the right mix for a Maranta does n’t have to be anything complicated .
you may apply a potting medium based on regular houseplant potting ground . Just add 10 to 15 percent peat moss or coconut fiber to ensure it retains some water supply and does n’t dry out out too chop-chop . Also include 10 to 15 percentperlite , pumice , crushed lava rock or other gritty material to help the excesswater run out well .
Some indoor gardener like to add loam to get down the pH , as Maranta purportedly care acidic soil , but I ’ve never done so and mine does just ticket without .
As for the consummate plantation owner , it ’s probably a good estimate to nullify terracotta unless you ’re a chronic overwaterer . This material is porous and can dry out the soil out too quickly for a wet - loving specie like this one . Any other material is fine as long as it has a drainage gob in the bottom . Some like a advert planter , but I ’m personally a fan of using a regular standing one .
Recommended products for Maranta industrial plant care :
Fertilizing
Is your prayer flora putting out new leaf , enjoy life and growing well ? In that case , it will emphatically apprize a little works solid food during the leaping and summer grow month . A regular balanced limpid houseplant fertiliser mould all right if you reduce it a fiddling more than the instructions indicate . you could also practice other types of fertilizer , like photographic emulsion , worm casting or even a tenuous level of homemade compost .
Stop fertilize during the winter month or if your industrial plant is n’t growing well , or you may terminate up damaging the roots .
Recommended fertilizers for Maranta :
Pruning
It ’s not unusual for a Maranta to finally lose its nice , bushy appearance . No worries ! By snip it now and then , you could easily keep it looking its best . Just select a stem you ’d like to cut and make the cut wherever you want using clean , sharp scissors hold orgarden shear .
It ’s a respectable idea to include a stem knob ( protuberance ) , because as described in the section on propagation below , this will set aside you to regrow the root word into a whole new plant .
you may also remove any crispy or unsightly leaves during pruning time ; it ’s whole normal for a industrial plant to pretermit its honest-to-god foliage . Nothing to worry about except if it ’s happening at an alarming rate .
Dividing or repotting
Is your appeal industrial plant getting somewhat out of control ? Congrats ! You must be doing something correct . you may repot your works , going up one jackpot sizing the coming springtime .
If you do n’t want to repot , you may also choose to divide your plant . Most Marantas consist of multiple stem turn in the same planter . This means you may take yours out of its pot and carefully shake thing loose to divide it , potting the different stem up separately . Voilà , you now have more prayer plant , and you did n’t even have to wait for them to root !
Propagating Maranta
As mention in the section on pruning above , you may regrow a Maranta from a root word cut , as long as it has at least one node . This sets it apart from the Calathea discussion section of appeal plants , which do n’t have stems and can only be multiplied through division .
Here ’s how you do it :
Common questions about Maranta care
How many types of Maranta are there?
There are 40 to 50 species of prayer flora , but 2 varieties of Maranta make up the bulk of nursery line of descent used as houseplants : Maranta leuconeura var . erythroneura and Maranta leuconeura var . kerchoviana .
Why does my prayer plant have brown tips?
Brown , crispy bakshish on a prayer plant are usually the resultant of improper tearing , low humidity , too much sun , or excess fertiliser . Most of these are environmental precondition that can easily be even up by using a wet meter to gauge how teetotal the soil is , running a humidifier near your plant or moving it to a more humid room like a lav , or placing the industrial plant far by from bright windows .
If you suspect you fertilized too much , the best way to fix this trouble is to repot your plant in fresh potting grime .
Are Maranta and Calathea the same?
Maranta and Calathea industrial plant belong to the same house , Marantaceae , and are both referred to as petition plants , but they are from different genera and distinguishable by their clear-cut foliage configuration and colors .
Is a prayer plant toxic to cats and dogs?
Nope , which is why it ’s such a cock-a-hoop favorite among pet proprietor ! All species that are categorized as“prayer plants ” are non - toxic .
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