houseplant

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appeal flora ( Maranta leuconeura ) are a bunch - pet , advance popularity in recent years for their artistically paint leaves and interesting patterns . The configuration of the leaf are also quite interesting , especially when they move between sidereal day and Nox in ‘ prayer . ’

Multiple prayer plant cuttings with red, green, and yellow patterns rest in a white pot awaiting propagation.

There aretwo easy ways to propagatethese wonderful plants , appropriate you to dot them around your abode or partake them with fellow industrial plant lovers . You do n’t need any specialized tool or cognition to get start . plainly follow these soft steps , and double your stock in one afternoon !

About Prayer Plants

As with many common name , ‘ prayer plant ’ can mean different things , depending on who you take . To get any confusion out of the way , we ’re referring toMaranta leuconeurahere and not any Calatheas with the same vulgar name .

This interesting common name comes from the move of the leaves throughout the day . They lie relatively flat when the sun is up , but move quite noticeably and close up at night , almost as if in prayer – hence the name .

The movement is known asnyctinastyand makes for a wonderful indoor display , specially for guests who may not have check leaves move with a aliveness of their own before .

Close-up of Maranta leuconeura in a white decorative pot against a gray background. This is a charming houseplant with striking large leaves. The leaves are oval, dark green. The surface of the leaves is decorated with intricate patterns. the veins are thin, pinkish-red. There are pale green markings in the center of the leaves.

The leaves ofMaranta leuconeuraare fabulously typical . They look almost artificial , with colorful stripes and patch of wanton unripe in the centre that count too unadulterated to be real . unlike varieties also feature slightly different colors and patterns , such as the red prayer flora with memorable pinkish pinstripes .

This , combined with their interesting movement , has made these plants essential additions to innovative houseplant accumulation .

In the right condition , these members of theMarantaceae family line can also bring forth small white-hot flowers . They do n’t often blossom when uprise as houseplant , but the master attraction is the leaves .

Close-up of Maranta Leuconeura ‘Lemon Lime’ in a white decorative pot. The leaves of the Lemon Lime variety have an elongated oval shape with a pointed tip, and their appearance resembles an artist’s color palette. The main color of the leaves is lime green. Thin veins of dark green color run along the surface of the leaves.

Why Propagate Prayer Plants?

Considering their telling aesthetic value andrelative ease of caution , it ’s easy to see why petition plants are so popular . Once you have one , you ’ll likely need to grow even more to go around around your household or share with friends and family .

But they can be ruffianly to find , depending on which miscellanea you ’re looking for . They often betray out , and the specialized cultivar are usually dear , or at least dearly-won enough to end you from buying several at once . fortuitously , you do n’t postulate to spend any supererogatory money if you’re able to find just one .

As they grow comparatively rapidly , propagate during the turn time of year each yearis almost always potential , grant you to uprise more of these try - after plants endlessly . I like to pop cuttings in vases while they develop root to double as decorative feature before pot them up .

Close-up of a Maranta leuconeura ‘Tricolor’ in front of a white background. The plant is lush, produces long stems with large oval leaves of dark green color, with intricate patterns. The surface of the leaves has fine pinkish veins and creamy green strokes along the central vertical vein.

When To Propagate Prayer Plants

Like most houseplant , the best time to propagate is from spring through to the end of summer . Warm temperatures encourage the quickest root increment , giving you time to transplant before any possible temperature drop that may slow growth over fall and wintertime .

However , this general windowpane is n’t a strict rule . One of the best thing about turn houseplant is that you cancontrol the environmentto get the plants to do what you want . To circulate over fall and wintertime , keep the pot or glass in the warmest room in the household , and you should n’t have any bother propagating .

Wait to part new seedling until you ’re quick to repot the plant . This lets you complete two tasks at once , give you two full and plush sections to replant .

Close-up of Maranta leuconeura ‘Tricolor’ in a white flowerpot. The plant forms thin stems with large oval dark green leaves. The leaves have pink thin veins and pale green strokes near the midrib.

What Propagation Method Is Best?

You have two primary options when propagating prayer plants – carving and division . Both are easy to complete and render honest result . Base the method acting you select on the size of your plant life and how much effort you ’re unforced to put into the propagation process .

Division is the dear route if you have a declamatory plant and are happy with one or two additional plant . The plants will immediately calculate more matured than growing from cuttings , which is ideal for impatient gardener that favour not to wait around for cuttings to fill out in a container .

The constituted root system also means you’re able to care for your new plants as normal after repot without any specialized tending or transplanting needed .

Close-up of a Prayer Plant leaf in a pot. The leaf is large, oval in shape, with an intricate pattern. The base color of the leaf is dark green, the veins are thin pale green, with pale green strokes along the central vein.

If you want to produce several prayer plants at the same time , stem turn cutting are better . you may slay several cuttings at once to increase your chance of success and grow far more plant twelvemonth after year than if you hold back to divide . As mentioned , they also look cracking in vases while they make grow theme , allowing you to monitor their progression and bask the foliage simultaneously .

How To Propagate Prayer Plants From Cuttings

If you choose the cuttings road , you ’ll need asharp pair of shear . Clean them before you bulge out to avoid reassign harmful bacteria , specially if you ’ve late snip diseased plants . The other materials will bet on whether you ’re propagating in water or soil , but you should have everything you need already if you ’re a regular propagator and indoor gardener .

Choose A Stem

The correct film editing initiate with the right stem . It should have a mates of leaves and no signs of disease or damage . The tidy the stem , the higher your chance of quick rooting .

Then , you ’ll require to identify the thickening along the stem before cutting . The nodes are the little bump in the stem that contain tissue thatallow the cutting to develop roots . If you issue in the wrong plaza without a node , your film editing will likely conk out off instead of root .

The nodes along a prayer plant can be identify by running your digit along the stem to experience for the bumps . you’re able to also reckon for point where a undivided stalk splits into multiple leaves . Including three or four folio will avail base develop quick , but even a stem with a single leaf can settle down under the right conditions .

Close-up of a Prayer Plant cutting on a wooden table. The cutting has a long stem with a large oval leaf. The leaf is dark green in color, with cream and dark strokes along the central vein. The veins are thin, pinkish-red.

Trim The Stem

Using your shear , cut the stem off just below the thickening you distinguish . I wish to cut around half an column inch to an in below the node to prevent any potential node damage . Yourcut should be cleanto fend off damage to the parent plant and the fundament of your cutting .

If your plant life is large enough , count for a couple of domain to rationalize . It ’s helpful to opt stems on opposite sides of the plant to maintain the human body or cut off any overgrown areas to keep the original industrial plant look its best .

Rooting

To encourage the cut to produce roots , you could either start it in a glass of water or industrial plant it flat into the soil . I prefer water propagation to watch out the forward motion of root growth . But plant straight in the soil does lead to stronger initial tooth root growth and less chance of struggle when transplant later on .

All you need to root in water is a suitable glass and some tap , filtered , or rain . Tall spyglass are ordinarily required to lay off the foliage from tip the cut out of the glass but experiment with what you have at habitation . I have a few belittled glass vases with minute openings that go wonders – they keep the cut inside the glass without the leave of absence dipping in .

Move the glass to abright area with plenty of warmthbut just out of the course of direct sun . If the leaves are exposed to intense verbatim sun for even a few hours , they may burn , bear upon growing and your chances of successful rooting .

Close-up of a Prayer Plant cutting in a glass of water for rooting. The cutting has a small stem with oval green leaves with black strokes along the central vein.

keep to top up the water so the client is unendingly submerged . If the water dries out , the cutting can not make grow roots . Change the water all at least once weekly and clean house the container to limit bacterial shape - up .

settle down in soil requires a few more supplies . take up with a large container to forget the cutting and keep it drop anchor . You ’ll also need to fill it with alight propagate mixthat encourages root ontogenesis . I use a combination of adequate part coconut tree coir and perlite , but you could test several formula online to work with what you have around the garden .

Fill the container with your propagating assortment and lend water to moisten the grease . The excess should be able-bodied to debilitate freely from the bottom of the container to prevent rotting . Then , make a hole in the center of the kitty with your finger and entomb the cutting , leaving the leave-taking exhibit . Press around the cutting mildly to cast anchor it in place .

Close-up of planted cuttings of Prayer Plant in a white pot for rooting. The cuttings consist of long stems with large oval leaves. The leaves are dark green, with contrasting pale green strokes along the veins. The veins are thin, pinkish-red in color, radiating from the central vertical vein.

If you have several cuttings , you may establish them together around the boundary of the same container . When transplanting , keep them together for a full plant or move them into single containers to continue growing .

After Care

If you ’ve gone the pee generation road , you will need to transpose into the soil eventually . you could leave them in weewee long - term , but this require stack of extra care and added nutrients in the water to keep the cutting alive .

Aim to graft when the roots are around an column inch or two long . This may take several week or a couple of month depending on condition . When ready , transpose it into a container with a weak and airy houseplant potting mix . void received pottingor garden soil , as these are normally too dense for healthy houseplant development .

You ’ll also need to transfer when disseminate in dirt , moving the cuttings from a soilless mix to one with all the food and textures required for long - term growth . you could usually wait a few months before transplanting , gently rend on the cutting to test whether the roots have developed sufficiently .

Close-up of a female hand with a stylish sprayer spraying a Maranta leuconeura ‘Tricolor’ plant. The sprayer has a green glass jar with a copper-gold colored spray mechanism attached. The plant produces large, oval, dark green leaves with thin, pinkish-red veins.

After graft in either case , you could find the everlasting bright and warm spot for your young plant and remain care as you do for the other member of your aggregation .

How To Propagate Prayer Plants By Division

Division is easy to complete when repotting , idealistic for overgrown plant look for excess space . If your petition plant look sparse with few leaves , the partition will only make it look sparser . Choose this method if you ’re happy to have two ( or three ) more or less smaller industrial plant than your current one .

Remove The Plant From The Pot

Squeeze the sides of the container to tease the roots , or run a knife around the edges of the pot . If the plant is quite overgrown or you have n’t watered in a while , it should easily luxate out without trouble .

call on the container on its side to gently pull the industrial plant out . forfend pull from the stems tokeep the leaves healthy and inviolate . Go slow , especially if any root are hook around the bottom of the pot . There is no rush when it comes to dividing , even if the works can wield a spot of rough handling .

Tease The Roots

Next , gentlytease the roots from the bottom , loosen any that have enwrap around each other and taken on the shape of the container . move out some of the old soil at the same time , earn the roots more seeable .

The more you card the roots at this degree , the leisurely the sections will be to identify and divide . Depending on your flora size , the procedure can take a while , but solitaire is cardinal and leads to a far less stressful split during the next stair .

Split The Plant

Identify section where you could separate the plant life while sustain a healthy number of source with each section . I like to divide it in half tokeep as many leaves with each subdivision as potential , but you may be able-bodied to cleave the plant into three if it is large enough .

Continue to tease , rock and pull out the root apart until each section digest severally . Some smaller sections may descend off severally while you ’re shaking the plant . Either pot these up into smaller container or group them with the division they were a part of to keep the plant looking full .

Repot

machinate as many containers as there are section by fill them with a lightweight houseplant potting mix . attempt to keep the texture of the new mixture as close as potential to what the plants were in ab initio . This will keep the origin happy andlimits potential issue with transplant daze .

Make a cakehole in the center of the pots and replant your division at the same level . Do n’t entomb too much of the stems , as they can rot if expose to too much moisture . Press down around the groundwork of the plant and piddle straight away to settle the roots .

When you ’re finishing repotting , you’re able to move one of the pots back to where it previously was and find raw vivid homes for the other plants . They maytake a span of week to become established , but you may care for them as you did the original plant , and you should finally see new green growth to revel .

Close-up of a Prayer Plant on a wooden table next to a broken clay pot. The plant produces large, oval, pale green leaves with dark green strokes. A lot of black soil is scattered on the floor.

Final Thoughts

If you have a gratis good afternoon and a lush plant you ’d like to propagate , try both easy methods . You ’ll have a home full of appeal plants in no time .

Close-up of a female hand holding several Prayer Plants with bare roots on a white background. The stems are thin, pinkish, with long uneven, slightly twisted roots with soil residues.

Top view, close-up of planting Maranta leuconeura ‘Tricolor’ plant in a white pot. The plant produces large oval leaves with slightly tapered tips. The leaves are dark green with creamy green strokes along the center of the leaves. The veins are thin, pinkish in color.

Close-up of a Maranta leuconeura ‘Tricolor’ plant in a white pot on an orange table. The plant has elongated thin stems with large oval leaves. The leaves are dark green with intricate patterns of pale green and pinkish fine veins.