Prayer plant

Easy to grow? Moist or dry? Root bound? Any info would be helpful. i just bought one and want it to survive :-) Thanks, Tim

very easy plant!

they love humidity, Bright light(no direct sun), moist soil, occassional fertilizing.

Which variety do you have? I love the way they close their "hands", after dark.

Enjoy!!

I don't know what kind, didn't come with a label, but it is red/purple/green. Any idea?

Is this it?

There are several varieties.

Are you familiar with using Plant Files Search features, yet? http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/107785/

I had a huge prayer plant that I believe I lost due to over watering - now I have 3 plants that I made from cuttings from the dead one, and I am very careful with watering, I dig my fingers deep into the soil and if I feel any moisture at all down by the roots, I don't water. I have to check it alot, but it is worth it.

I find they do well in lower light too - not too low, but no direct sun is fine. The only thing that seems hard to control with these guys is the humidity, the leaves get brown tips and I think lack of humidity is the cause. I try to mist a few times a day. They grow easy from cuttings too.

If you put the pot inside a bigger pot and fill the space between the pots with sphagnum moss, keep this moist and it should create enough humidity for the roots to receive some warmth or put them in the bathroom.

This message was edited May 26, 2007 3:41 AM

I have a prayer plant that my grandmother bought for me when I was pg with my fourth and last child. I was so sick with morning sickness and she said she bought me the plant to cheer me up, that it wouldn't live long but I would enjoy it while I had it. Well grandma passed on several years ago and my youngest child will be 24 in the fall and that plant is still going strong! It is big and full and every time I look at it I think of Grandma telling me it wouldn't live long but to enjoy it while I had it. LOL But now I have a question, how do you take starts or start a prayer plant? This same youngest child of mine is now into plants big time and I would love to give him one that I had started from the plant that was bought for me when pg with him. Don't ask me how I've kept it alive all these years as I've never had much of a green thumb. I'm learning lots here at DG though and have started misting it a lot hoping to help with the brown tips on the leaves. So please advise on starting some new plants from this one. Thanks ~ Brenda
Here is a picture of it taken next to some stretocarpus plants so you can see it is nice and healthy after all these years.

Nice to have a plant with sentimental memories.

The only time I ever started new plants of this variety is when the plant itself sent out a leafed stem with roots. It is kind of strange, at first you just think it is another stem until you see this little group of 2 or 3 inch long white roots at the node. I just cut it off and planted it. It has only happened a few times, and it seems to happen when a plant is more pot bound.

I have heard that these can't be propagated by regular stem cuttings, but I don't know if that is true.

I will take a close look at the plant and see if i can see any roots on a new stem. I can see new little leaves on a whole new branch coming out but did not think to look for roots on them. Thanks...~Brenda

Brenda, if you look on down the trailing stems, there will be little nodes, like you'd see on a Philodedron. Sometimes they're covered by the leaf stems, so you have to look for them. If you see those nodes, you can cut off a piece and remove the bottom 2 or 3 leaves to expose those nodes. Pot them up in moist potting mix or put them in water and they should put out roots from those nodes.

I've tried two different ways with my prayer plant and I'll let you know how they go. I didn't see any actual roots but I could see the nodes raingazer spoke of so I tried one that way. Then as I was going over the plant closely I noticed that off to the edge was a new set of leaves coming up so I stuck a knife down into the soil and cut through the roots and pulled up this whole little section of leaves with it's own root system. It also came up with a couple of these little bulb looking things. So I planted the one with the plant that was attached to it's roots and I planted the other one separately in a small pot just to see what happens. So I guess I've tried three things : ) Whatever happens I'm having fun getting more into my plants and I still have the big mother plant to enjoy. Thanks for the advice. ~Brenda