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emmereff

My leggy, young prayer plant....

EmmerEff
9 years ago

My poor little Prayer Plant. I've had him for about a year or so and he was young, sprightly and not tall at all.

He was great until about a month ago. He's always been left 'free' on top of a wardrobe to fall freely and that received ok light. I moved him around to see if he liked other spots but that was his most comfortable.

Now he's massively leggy and spindly and has had no new shoots since being bought but continues to give new leaves. He has a lot of bends in his stems.

My favourite plant, is he ok?

Comments (10)

  • EmmerEff
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't know how to post multiple pictures in one post sorry....

  • EmmerEff
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    foliage - two of the stalks have this foliage, with leaves growing all of the time. I have tried to tame them to grow kind of upright as I'm scared of them snapping, and also the stems are twisted when let loose meaning the leaves are facing upside down and different ways.

    Sorry if this is normal, I'm a Prayer plant virgin!

    This post was edited by EmmerEff on Thu, Jul 31, 14 at 18:48

  • Photo Synthesis
    9 years ago

    Marantas don't grow upright, as far as I know. Mine grows in a hanging pot so that the foliage can hang over. Yours may need brighter indirect light. I grow mine outdoors hanging from a tree. It gets some early morning sunlight, but is shaded for the rest of the day, receiving some very bright (but indirect) sunlight. When plants don't receive sufficient light, they can't support having a lot of leaves. I just spray mine with the garden hose every other day. (It dries out pretty fast in this Arkansas Summer heat.) Mine has been blooming now for two months. At first, I almost didn't even notice the blooms, because they're so tiny. But now it's covered in them. The individual flowers don't last very long, but more spring up to replace them.

  • EmmerEff
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That is a lovely plant!

    I'm just concerned about the lack of growth near the base and wonder if it would start more foliage near the base on the existing stems. While I understand they aren't meant to be upright as such, it seems to be more trailing than hanging. Would tying them at the base help?

  • jane__ny
    9 years ago

    More light and repot the plant.

    Jane

  • EmmerEff
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Repot into smaller or bigger? It does not have a massive root ball as I checked for rot about a month ago.

  • EmmerEff
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Repot into smaller or bigger? It does not have a massive root ball as I checked for rot about a month ago.

  • Jason J
    9 years ago

    I would pot it up to say a 6in pot and put it in a really sunny window, allowing it to dry between watering....you will then see new growth, and then can cut out the big leggy guys to get a more bushy plant.

  • Joe Montgomery
    last year

    They are fussy plants each with individual likes i know my prayer plants hate drafts, dry air, and especially dried out soil I mist frequently and only let the very top of the soil dry out between waterings Best thing anyone ever told me about plants ”Most plants do not like wet feet (roots)” Make sure the pot saucer stays dry and that it can get some air through the hole(s) in the bottom of the pot I use pot feet on all of my plants it has made a huge difference in my watering and fungus woes good luck!