Calatheas, Marantas & Ctenanthe.
These are popular plants because of their interesting colours and variegation. Prayer plants are plants that belong to the Marantaceae family, which includes, amongst others, the Maranta, Calathea, and Ctenanthe plants. These are all different types of plant species but are closely related and require mostly similar care.
These plants are called prayer plants because of the way the leaves open during the day, and, as a response to changes in sunlight, fold up at night like praying hands.
This is normal behavior for these plants, so calathea leaves moving is nothing to be concerned about. The movement is more noticeable with with some varieties of Calathea you are lucky, you might even hear the leaves rustle when they move and rub their leaves against each other.
The moving of the leaves in this manner is called nyctinasty. The general purpose of the movement of foliage with all plants is to capture the light. During the day, Calathea leaves drop and assume a more horizontal position to get more light. The green part of the leaf will be facing the source of light.
They are not difficult to care for but I find that hybrid varieties of Calatheas can be less tolerant of living in our homes with us. There is a downside to many new hybrid plants. One is that they often are not as vigorous or hardy because their visual qualities have been emphasised at the expense of hardiness. Hybrid Caltheas that I’ve personally struggled to keep happy has been White Fusion and Lemon and Lime and even Misto.
As with most of your house plants, Calatheas do best when their roots are left undisturbed. Check each spring if they do indeed need repotting, I recommend Soil Ninja Calathea premium soil blend which we now stock. It contains all that the plant requires to flourish. They won’t require repotting often, if you do decide to repot then only go one plant pot size bigger each time so the soil to root ratio does not become unbalanced. Too damp soil can rot roots.
Also like many house plants, they do best in bright but indirect light. That means as close to any window as possible, but just beyond the reach of the sun’s direct rays. Either too much or too little light will cause their colors to fade.
Keep room temperatures above 15 degrees C. at all times. Never leave a Calathea too close to a window if the leaves rest against the cold glass you can lose the plant very quickly.
These plants prefer a higher humidity so a plug in humidifier is a good investment. Only use distilled water to avoid furling up the nozzle.
Let the top half-inch of soil get dry to your finger probe and then water thoroughly until some water trickles through the drain holes. Underwatering is a more common problem than overwatering so if in doubt, it is usually better to water sooner rather than later. The brown leaf edges and tips commonly attributed to low humidity are usually caused by the soil getting too dry. The brown leaf tips can also be an indicator to tap water use.
If your tap water is hard, then use distilled, filtered, or rainwater instead. Calatheas are more sensitive than most to the excess mineral salts in hard water. Another option available to you is investing in a bottle of Taptonic. Our newly launched product to join our plant care range. It removes chlorine and chloramine from tap water making it safe to use.
As Caltheas get older, their stems tend to spread sideways over the edge of their pots. This is their natural growth habit and not a sign of distress. The stems can be left to grow longer or they can be pruned back to any length without harming the plant.
