Caring & Growing Your Prayer Plant

October 1, 2021

The Maranta, commonly known as a Prayer Plant is a plant native to the rainforests of Brazil. This tropical plant got its name from an Italian Physician and botanist named, Bartolomeo Maranta who was from the sixteenth century.

“And to be honest, I think I have found my Prayer Plants new name.”

Prayer plants get their nickname from their behaviors. During the day the Prayer plant’s leaves lay flat, but at night the leaves curl up and come together to look like its praying. This movement in the foliage has made this plant the perfect symbol of gratitude.

Marantas are very common houseplants these days, the striking foliage and mild care needs make this plant the perfect addition into your home. Here are some tips for caring & growing your Prayer plant

Prayer Plant Types

There are around 40-50 types of Prayer plants, but there are only a few that are kept as houseplants.

Calatheas often get associated with being Prayer plants. Because both Marantas and Calatheas both exhibit the same praying movements, they often get miss labeled as each other. While both Calatheas and Marantas are both in the Marantaceae Family, the true OG Prayer plant is the Maranta.

These flowering tricolored tropical beauties come in a few different varieties, here are a few of the most common:

Maranta leuconeura erythrophylla: This Maranta has striking red ribs through a rich green leaf with lighter green/cream patterns down the center.
Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura: Also known as the “lemon lime” variety. This one is same as the regular erythrophylla, but this one has more of a richer and darker foliage, which makes the lighter lemony colored ribs stand out.
Maranta kerchoveana: Better known as the “rabbit’s foot” or “rabbit’s tracks” maranta. The markings on this Maranta are a little more ‘basic’ but just as beautiful. This Maranta has a true green foliage color with two rows of black splotches, which resemble rabbit’s feet/tracks.

Watering

Like Calatheas, Prayer plants like to maintain a good amount of moisture. Make sure in the growing season (spring & summer) your Marantas soil stays moist. Being native to the floor of the rainforest, this plant is used to constant moisture. Maintaining a good balance of damp soil and not root rotting a Maranta is a bit of a tricky balance. On your moisture meter make sure you keep your plants soil at about a 5-7. I find myself having to water these plants every 7-12 days.

Prayer plants have thin and sensitive leaves. Watering Marantas with distilled water is ideal since distilled water is completely absent of any kind of chemicals or anything that could cause issues. I’ve found that once I switched from watering with filtered to distilled, any brown leaf tips started becoming less and less.

Soil

You’ll want a good fast draining loamy soil for your Prayer plants. Most commercial potting soils can be ok but mixing in things like coco coir and moss can help with moisture.

Even though these plants like moisture, they don’t like to sit in water for too long. Making sure your soil is not only moisture absorbing, but also fast draining. Adding bark or perlite can create a quicker draining medium for your plant. Be careful you don’t mix too much into the soil though, or you’ll be watering every few days.

Humidity & Temperature

Being from the rainforest, you better believe this plant is going to love humidity. Just like a Calathea, Prayer plants can become crispy quickly in a dryer environment. You want your Maranta to live in an area with the humidity no lower than 50%. Placing your Maranta near a humidifier or placing on a pebble tray will help amp up the humidity for your plant to thrive.

The temperature should be around 60-80 degrees. If the plant is in temperature lower than 60 degrees for long periods of time, it can cause leaf drop.

Fertilizing

Spring and summer you better be ready to feed your Marantas because they get HUNGRY!

Fertilizing your Prayer plant in the growing seasons every 2 weeks will reward you with beautiful foliage and even some flowers. Making sure you use an organic/natural fertilizer to not cause leaf burn on their sensitive leaves. I found that the best fertilizers for Prayer Plants is fish fertilizer.

No Need To Pray For This One

I’ve often heard that caring & growing your Prayer plant can be difficult but in my experience – it’s one of my easiest houseplants I have in my collection. Once you get to know your plant and get a good feel of its likes and dislikes, you’ll have a happy and thriving Maranta in your home!