Maranta Leuconeura 'Red Vein' (Prayer Plant)
$26.17
incl. GST
Earliest Delivery in 2 days
Overall Height APPROXIMATELY 28cm
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.