Maranta Leuconeura 'Red Vein' (Prayer Plant)

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Named for Bartolomeo Maranta, an Italian physician and botanist of the sixteenth century, the Maranta genus includes a few dozen low-growing plants native to the American tropics.
• The plant gets its common name from the fact that its leaves stay flat during the day and then fold up like praying hands at night.
• The Maranta leuconeura species has some of the most strikingly beautiful, decorative leaves in the plant kingdom.
• The popular tricolor variety has deep green, velvety leaves with yellow splotches down the midrib and arching red veins traveling to the leaf margins.
• A well-grown Maranta should have full, six-inch-long leaves rising from a short center stem and draping down.
• They are fairly common as houseplants, but not necessarily easy to keep growing over the long-term.

SOIL REQUIREMENT

• Rich, well-draining.

FEEDING/FERTILIZER REQUIREMENT

• Fertilize your plant every two weeks from early spring through fall.
• Dilute a balanced, water-soluble houseplant fertilizer (10-10-10) to half strength.
• If you use too little fertilizer, your plant will grow slowly or hardly at all.
• Too much fertilizer can burn the roots—leaves will start to brown and you can even kill the plant.
• Reduce fertilizing to once a month or so in the winter.

LIGHT REQUIREMENT

• Bright, indirect sunlight.

WATER REQUIREMENT

• During the growing season, water frequently and never allows the potting soil to dry out.
• Water the prayer plant when the top of the potting soil is just starting to become dry.
• These plants are very susceptible to drought; however, to avoid fungal problems, do not let water sit directly on the leaves or let the plant get soggy.
• Insufficient water and overwatering can cause the leaves to turn yellow and drop from the plant.
• When watering, use water that is at least at room temperature if not slightly warm.
• In the winter months, reduce watering.​

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