Maranta, like Calathea, is also known as the plant of prayer. These plants move their leaves during the day to absorb as much light as possible, and as night approaches, they fold their leaves upright. This movement resembles the folding of the hands during prayer, and that’s why these plants got the name “prayer plant”. Unlike Calathea, Maranta is much less demanding to maintain, and how exactly to care for Maranta, read below in this article.
Arrowroot – the plant of prayer
If you get the chance to buy this plant, don’t hesitate. It is easy to maintain, and it is so beautiful and special that it is simple “must have” in every interior.
There are several variations of the Maranta, but the most common one you will find is Arrowroot Leuconeura Erythroneura.
Arrowroot Leuconeura Erythroneura it is known for its dark pink “veins” that stretch across the surface of the leaf, through the middle all the way to the edges.
Its veins resemble a fish bone, so this species is called exactly that in English – the Herringbone Plant. The leaves are dark green with a light green center, and the back side of the leaf is completely pink/purple.
The effect of all those colors is phenomenal, especially with the movement of its leaves, which are almost always in a different position every time you look at the plant.
In addition, there are other variations of this plant:
- M. Erythroneura Lemon Lime (all in shades of green)
- M. Kerochoviana
- M. Black Leuconeura
Arrowroot is a creeping plant. Although at first, when it has only a few leaves, it looks like a normal upright plant. However, over time, as new leaves grow, Maranta will take on the appearance of a hanging plant. I wanted to point this out because I found them here to buy in Plodine and Konzum, maybe also in Bauhaus, and always as smaller plants that you would never guess would eventually look like a hanging plant.
Fortunately, it doesn’t matter that they are usually sold for less, because Maranta grows quite quickly and can quadruple in size in just one season. 🙂
How much light does Maranta need? Illumination
Maranta is great when it comes to light because it can handle a wide range of light intensities and durations. She will be satisfied with medium-bright lighting of a shorter duration up to strong indirect light that lasts almost the whole day. What you must avoid with it is direct lighting from the south window – especially in summer when the sun is much stronger than in winter.
Simply turn direct lighting into indirect lighting with a white permeable curtain or curtain, or for example with those window films if that’s something you’d rather have on the window.
I like super thin white curtains that still let in a lot of light but won’t damage the leaves of my plants.
You can read more about lighting in general in the article – Everything you need to know about lighting for indoor plants.
The longer you expose your Maranta to strong indirect light, the faster it will grow.
For comparison, I had two Marantas of the same size (bought at the same time) – one was 2 meters from the west window, and the other was half a meter from the south window.
This second Maranta, which received sunlight for a longer part of the day, grew 3 times more than the first. In addition, the leaves grew thicker. So dense that after a while the decorative flow was not even visible. Maranta, which received limited lighting (only a few hours before sunset), grew a lot, but not as much as Maranta, which received strong indirect lighting.
Maranta leaves will collect a layer of dust after a while, like other indoor plants. When you see that dust has started to settle on the leaves, gently wipe them with a damp microfiber cloth. In this way, the plant will be happier, it will be able to photosynthesize better, and at the same time you can get rid of potential pests in a timely manner.
How often is it necessary to water Maranta | watering
Watering is the factor that will most affect whether your Maranta will be happy or not.
Arrowroot is a plant that likes moisture and does not like dry soil.
However, over watering is also something Maranta will not like. That is why it is necessary to find some kind of balance in watering.
I water mine when the surface of the soil begins to dry slightly. So the ground is nowhere near dry, but the surface is dry to the touch. Be sure to throw away the water that seeps out through the holes in the bottom of the jar so that your plant does not sit in the water for too long. This can lead to root rot.
Maranta, like Calathea, is sensitive to minerals and salts that can be found in ordinary tap water. If you are watering your Maranta or Calathea with water from the dirt, and you see that some dry spots have started to form on the leaves, it is most likely due to those minerals from the water you are watering them with.
That’s why I water mine with distilled water and really, as far as that goes, I’ve never had any problems. You can also water them with filtered water.
How often you will need to water it depends on many factors, which I write more about in the article – When to water indoor plants. One thing is certain, in the summer you will definitely need to water it more often than in the winter.
Maranta and Vlaga
Moisture plays a big role in all plants from the Marantaceae family, so in addition to Calathea, Stromanthe and Ctenanthe, this includes Marantha.
Of all these species, Calathea is the most sensitive to low humidity levels, and it will show you this right away. Maranta is great in that regard, because it is not at all that demanding when it comes to moisture. Besides grouping them together with other plants and spraying with (distilled) water, I don’t try to raise the humidity level with them in any other way like I do with the Calathea with diffusers/humidifiers.
Is Maranta poisonous to pets?
At first I thought that Maranta, without any doubt, was definitely poisonous. But, for some miracle, regardless of all the splendor of the leaves, it is not one of the plants that are poisonous to pets.
However, I don’t like mine eating any houseplants, so when I see them taking a particular interest in a plant, I make sure to put it out of their reach. So far they have never been particularly interested in Maranta, they prefer those with thin and long leaves like Dracaena Marginata (which is poisonous of course haha).
