Prayer Plant
Maranta leuconeura
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Humidity plus filtered water keeps the leaf edges clean.
🍂 Fall
Mite season starts with the heating, so mist and inspect.
❄️ Winter
Slower prayers: water a little less and keep it warm.
🌱 Spring
Repot or divide; new leaves unfurl fast in gentle light.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Medium–bright indirect; direct sun fades the markings
- Ideal PPFD
- 100–250 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 20–28 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Keep evenly moist with distilled/rain water; water when the top ½–1 in dries. Tap-water minerals brown the tips.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ¼–½ strength, every 2–4 wks in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Airy, moisture-retentive mix (peat/coco + perlite); pH 5.5–6.0
- Humidity
- High (55%+); a humidifier or pebble tray helps a lot
- Temperature
- 65–80 °F, no cold drafts
- Mature size
- 8–12 in tall, spreading
- Repotting
- Every 1–2 yrs in spring
- Propagation
- Division; stem cuttings below a node in water or soil.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing limp leaves, mushy stems
- Underwatering signs
- Curling, crispy edges, folded leaves that don't reopen
- Common pests
- Spider mites (chief enemy), mealybugs, fungus gnats
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Prayer Plant looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Crispy brown edges
Likely cause
Dry air or tap-water minerals.
What to do
Raise humidity above 50% and water with filtered or rainwater.
Curling leaves that stay folded
Likely cause
Thirst or low humidity. A healthy prayer plant folds at night and opens by day.
What to do
Keep the soil lightly moist and add humidity; the daily rhythm returns.
Washed-out markings
Likely cause
Direct sun bleaching the pattern.
What to do
Move it out of direct rays into medium indirect light.
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