Green Prayer Plant                           Flowering Variegated                            Green Prayer Plant

                                                               Prayer Plant

                                                           Prayer Plant Care

Prayer Plants are part of the Maranta Family. One of the things that set Marantas apart from other plants is their habit of folding their leaves up at night, giving them the appearance of a pair of praying hands. This is what gives them their common name 'Prayer Plants'.  Plant biologists call these cycles Circadian Rhythms.

Under the proper conditions, Prayer Plants will produce small white and purple flowers.

Prayer Plants are medium to low light plants. They are one of the types of plants that thrive very well under artificial plant lighting. A curtain filtered, east facing window is ideal place for prayer plants but they can also be set in a northern window or about 3-4 feet away from a curtain filtered western window.  The native habitat for these plants is the floor of the rainforest, which receives little or no direct sunlight so prayer plants should never be put in direct sunlight.
Aside from too much direct sunlight, a southern exposure window also generates too much heat for a prayer plant.

Prayer plants need constantly moist soil, but the soil should not be soggy wet. Improper watering is one of the main things that cause the leaf tips to turn brown. When the top 1 inch of soil starts to feel dry then water the plant lightly, only enough to moisten the top 1 inch of soil. A prayer plant should never be allowed to dry out.
Prayer plants are especially sensitive to the fluoride found in most tap water as well as chlorine and other mineral deposits. Using distilled water will solve most of the problems caused by water quality.

Prayer Plants, as well as other Marantas, grow best in a well draining soil that is slightly acidic. The ideal soil pH level for Prayer Plants is about 6.0 - 6.5  A good shortcut to providing Prayer Plants with a well draining soil that has the proper pH level is to use a commercial potting soil made for African Violets. Potting soil for African Violets has a lower pH level than general purpose potting soil, which has a neutral pH level of 7.0  Another way to lower the pH level of potting soil is to add extra peat moss to it since peat moss has a pH level of about 6.0
To improve the drainage of commercial potting soil add a little extra perlite and add some vermiculite. Most commercial potting soils do not contain vermiculite. Vermiculite also helps the soil retain nutrients so plants in soil that contains vermiculite do not need to be fertilized as often, especially plants that are sensitive to being over-fertilized. When adding extra perlite to potting soil for Prayer Plants, be sure to only add a small amount. Perlite can raise the pH level of the soil. Perlite also releases fluoride into the soil. For plants that are especially sensitive to fluoride it is best to use aerolite instead of perlite. Aerolite is small bits of Styrofoam that create air pockets in the soil and increases drainage, preventing the soil from retaining too much moisture and increasing air flow in the soil.

Being from the rainforest, prayer plants need lots of humidity. Low humidity is the number 1 cause of brown leaf tips. The humidity around a prayer plant can be raised by setting the plant on a tray of pebbles filled halfway with water. Another way to raise the humidity is to group several plants together.
Plants give off moisture into the air around them. The moisture given off by each of the plants will help to raise the humidity around the whole group. I have found that regular light misting helps. I do not actually mist the plant leaves themselves, I spray the air about 1-2 feet above the plants. The purpose of this is not really to get the leaves wet, but to put moisture in the air around the plants. Also when the water that settled on the leaves starts to evaporate, it will create even more humidity in the air around the group of plants (another good reason to group plants together). Be careful when misting Prayer Plants that the leaves do not stay too wet for too long or to mist them too late in the day. This could cause the plant to develop fungal leaf spots. Especially on the edges and tips of the leaves. The leaves should be completely dry when they fold up for the night.

Prayer plants are sensitive to excess salt in the soil so that also makes them especially sensitive to being over fertilized. Most commercial fertilizers will put salt into the soil. Because prayer plants grow very quickly, especially during the spring and summer, they need to be fertilized lightly and often. I would recommend that prayer plants be fertilized every 2 weeks during the spring/summer and  fertilize very lightly about once every 4-6 weeks during the fall/winter when the plant is in it's resting cycle and growth is slowed. Only use about 1/3 of the strength called for in the directions on the package. Liquid fertilizer is best. Dilute the fertilizer 1 part fertilizer to 2 parts distilled water. If not using liquid fertilizer then mix the fertilizer according to the directions on the package (using distilled water) and then dilute the fertilizer the same as for liquid fertilizer. One of the best ways to make sure that a prayer plant has the nutrients it needs for it's rapid growth without adding excess salt to the soil is to only fertilize the plant with a commercial fertilizer about every 6 weeks and between fertilizing, give the plant a little 'Compost Tea' about every 2 weeks. Compost tea also will provide the plants with some micro nutrients that commercial fertilizers don't have. To make compost tea, put 1 cup of non manure compost into 4 cups of distilled water. Let the compost steep in the water for about 24 hours then strain the water into a storage container. This is good for most other houseplants as well, not just prayer plants. I usually water all my houseplants with compost tea once in the spring and at least once in the middle of the summer. Compost tea can also be sprayed on the leaves of most plants.

The biggest problem people have with prayer plants is brown leaf tips. Brown leaf tips are most commonly caused by improper watering (mostly over-watering), low humidity, poor water quality and improper light levels.
Brown leaf tips can be trimmed off to maintain the plant's appearance. Prayer Plants should also be pruned when they start to get leggy or to maintain the plant's  overall shape.
There are a few signs that a prayer plant is stressed. It will stop folding it's leaves at night, growth slows down and the edges of mature leaves may start to roll up. If you notice any of these things then carefully reevaluate the care the plant is receiving. Check to make sure the plant is not getting direct sunlight, that the soil is not wet, soggy or dry, that there is not a hot or cold draft and that there is not excess salt in the soil or impurities in the water. In the case of mature leaves rolling up, check to see if there is any root damage, as that is one of the most common causes of mature leaves rolling up (mature leaves rolling up is a sign that the plant has become seriously, possibly even fatally, stressed).

** A good sign that a Prayer Plant is healthy is a purplish tint around nodes on the stems. This mostly applies to the green and green/variegated type Prayer Plants. It is almost impossible to see this on the red Prayer Plant types.

Prayer plants are easy to propagate, they usually root very quickly. Take the cutting at just below a node in the stem and place the cutting in distilled water. Prayer plants are best propagated using rooting hormone. Once the roots are about 1 inch long then plant the rooted cutting in fresh, clean soil.  Newly rooted cuttings grow rapidly. After the cutting is planted in soil, the roots will grow and become well developed very quickly.