What Is the Lifespan of a Prayer Plant? (And Tips to Increase their Lifespan)

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The lifespan of a prayer plant is 40 to 70 years. However, this varies depending on the location, conditions, and care for the prayer plant.

Prayer plants are a standard option among home gardeners due to their vibrant, patterned leaves and reduced light tolerance. Still, they can be more difficult to maintain than ordinary houseplants.

In this post, we’ll look at how you can take care of your prayer plant to ensure they stay healthy and longer.

What Is the Lifespan of a Prayer Plant?

Hand holding up a maranta in a white pot

The lifespan of your prayer plant ranges from 40 to 70 years. How well you take care of your Prayer plant will determine how long it lives. Therefore, this might be anything from a few months to an eternity. 

Your Prayer Plant will only live for a few weeks or maybe a year if you can’t take care of it and give it what it needs to flourish.

Here’s How to Ensure Your Prayer Plant Stays Longer

All cultivars or prayer plants needy the same kind of maintenance. Follow these guidelines when taking care of your prayer plant:

1. Avoid Overwatering

Don’t add excessive water to these plants, even if making the soil wet seems like an option. However, as the prayer plant grows, ensure the soil doesn’t completely dry out; apply water when you notice dryness on the soil surface. 

The effects of overwatering include root rot, yellowing and falling off the leaf tips, and fungus issues. Additionally, don’t use cold water on the plants. 

The water should be at room temperature or slightly warmer; 80 degrees Fahrenheit is unacceptable. Most of the time, tap water is acceptable.

2. Fertilize Frequently

Treat your prayer plant every two weeks using a water-soluble potted plant fertilizer. During the growing season, generally from spring to early fall. In the winter, the plant needs fertilizer around once a month. 

You might wish to dilute this fertilizer because too much fertilizer might result in brown leaves or even the death of the plant.

3. Choose the Proper Soil

Prayer plants may normally be grown using regular potting soil, but ensure the container has good drainage and the soil is well-draining and airy. 

Perlite, peat moss, coarse sand, and loam soil may all be combined to create your custom prayer plant soil. Remember that excessive amounts of perlite might cause fluoride burn, which could cause leaves to become brown.

4. Ensure the Air Humid

Prayer plants may need a humidifier to keep the indoor growing space wet when grown outside their natural growth regions and hardiness zones. 

Brown ends on the leaves might result from an overly dry atmosphere. Because bathrooms are typically more humid than other rooms in a house, they are suitable places for prayer plants.

5. Understand When to Replant

When the prayer plant’s roots begin to protrude through its pot’s drainage holes, repotting is required. It’s also time to repot the plant if it stops growing or requires frequent watering to ensure the soil is moist. 

You shouldn’t have to relocate prayer plants too frequently, though, as they prefer to be rather rootbound.

6. Control Light

plants

Prayer plants grow in warm, gloomy environments and prefer indirect light over direct light. You should give the plants reduced light, managed by either position or some sort of shelter. 

Don’t put them in dark regions either since the leaves won’t fully open throughout the day if they don’t get enough light. The prayer plant is getting too much sun if the color of its leaves begins to fade.

7. Pruning

Although prayer plants do not require pruning, you may alter the plant’s growth pattern to give it a bushier look by trimming the leaves slightly above the leaf node. This kind of pruning promotes new, outward growth.

8. Make Use of Reproduction

Profit from a vigorous prayer plant by multiplying it to produce other plants. Prayer plants may be reproduced by either taking stem cuttings or splitting the entire plant. 

Pull a part of the prayer plant away when it’s time to re-pot it, carefully separate its roots, and later plant the new plant inside a separate pot. 

Trim the stem underneath the leaf and lay it in a cup of water to make stem cuttings. Ensure you refresh the water after a few days till new roots appear.

9. Control Infections and Pests

Prayer plant with ornamental leaves in pot at home

You should keep an eye out for spider mites and mealybugs when growing prayer-plants. Neem oil can be applied sparingly to the plant to eliminate an infestation. 

Because of their damp soil and humid surroundings, prayer plants are most frequently affected by fungus disease. Use well-draining soil, refrain from overwatering, and put the prayer plant leaves away from any pools of water to avoid problems.

Summing Up

With these tips on how to maintain and care for a prayer plant. The conditions feature all aspects and will work as long as there’s enough care taken.

 

Happy planting!

Frankie Blaire

Frankie Blaire

Hi, my name is Frankie Blaire, and I’m a Bachelor’s in Botany. I am passionate about all things green, but my expertise lies in Prayer plants.
In this blog, I’ll share everything there is to know about these fascinating creatures – from their watering needs to how to get them to bloom. So whether you’re a curious plant parent or just looking to add a new member to your indoor jungle, join me on this journey as we explore everything there is to know about Prayer plants!

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