Tag: Prayer Plants

Soil

Members of the Marantaceae family require a rich, peaty growing medium to stay hydrated. However, they also require excellent drainage.

G. ornata tolerates soils that are slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, with a pH ranging from 6.1 to 7.8.

And since prayer plants are prone to brown tips, it’s best to avoid growing mediums that include perlite, since the fluoride content in this common ingredient can cause tip burn.

My preferred peat-free potting mix for these plants is actually a combo – I like to mix one part coconut coir to help retain moisture with one part De La Tank’s Houseplant Soil Mix.

This provides good drainage as well as ingredients that will promote healthy growth, such as compost, biochar, and humic acid.

De La Tank’s Soil Mix

You’ll find De La Tank’s Soil Mix in one-, eight-, or 16-quart bags from Arbico Organics.

If you don’t already have a supply of coconut coir (also known as cocopeat) on hand for gardening use, you can purchase it in a compressed block, which makes it more space efficient.

Prococo Compressed Coconut Coir Block

You can find 10-pound blocks of compressed coconut coir also available from Arbico Organics.

Water

G. ornata prefers moist soil, so don’t let it dry out much between waterings. I like to water my prayer plants when the surface of the soil has just barely started to dry.

Use a houseplant watering can to evenly hydrate the surface of the soil, watering until liquid runs out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

Wait until the water has finished draining before returning it to its decorative pot or placing it back on top of the drainage saucer.

You might also want to try the bottom watering method for this plant.

Humidity

Prayer plants require higher than average humidity, and pinstripe calathea is no different.

Aim for humidity that is between 40 and 60 percent. If you live in a climate with humid summers, you should be all set and won’t need to add any more moisture to your air.

During wintertime and for those of us in more arid climates, a few extra measures can help.

I grow humidity-loving houseplants such as pinstripe calathea in my arid climate by keeping them grouped with buddies, and placed in terrariums.

The houseplant buddies help to raise the ambient humidity, and the terrarium helps to hold the moisture in. (It also helps to protect my plants from my curious cats.)

Fertilizing

Prayer plants prefer a gentle fertilizing regimen, so I like to use worm compost tea to nourish them.

If you don’t have worm compost bins of your own (yet!), you can fertilize your houseplant using worm compost tea sachets.

To use this method, you soak these “tea” bags in room temperature water and feed your plants while watering.

Teadrops All Purpose Houseplant Fertilizer

You can find organic worm compost tea sachets from Earthworm Technologies via Walmart.

Where to Buy

You can find pinstripe plants in nurseries and garden centers that carry a good selection of houseplants.

Or you can shop online!

Pinstripe Plant

You can find pinstripe plants in six-inch pots from Fast Growing Trees.

Beauty Star

‘Beauty Star’ is a cultivated variety of G. ornata.

Its dark green leaves have flushes of pale green between the midrib and leaf margins, forming a light green background behind delicate creamy pink stripes.

The stripes appear in a wispy, feathery pattern and the undersides of the leaves are deep purple.

This cultivar tends to grow only up to 18 inches tall and wide, with pink flowers.

‘Beauty Star’

You can purchase ‘Beauty Star’ in six-inch pots from the American Plant Exchange via Amazon.

Maintenance

You’ll only need to prune your pinstripe calathea if you want to shape it up a bit or if it gets the occasional brown leaf tip.

Like other prayer plants, G. ornata is quite sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations and it’s not uncommon to find brown leaf tips, even on well-cared for specimens.

Feel free to prune off brown tips with a pair of sterilized scissors. You can wipe the scissors down with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to sterilize them.

If you get quite neglectful and miss a watering or two, you might find entire leaves that have gone crispy.

Trim back the dead leaf as close as possible to the soil surface.

There are many causes for brown leaves on prayer plants – learn how to troubleshoot this issue in our guide.

When it’s time to water, this is a good opportunity to give its leaves a quick cleaning.

Wipe each leaf down with a damp paper towel, top and bottom, and make sure the leaves remain relatively dry.

As a fairly slow grower, pinstripe calathea will only need to be repotted every two or three years – do this in spring when it is actively growing.

In USDA Hardiness Zones 9b to 11, they can be used as evergreen perennial ground covers, while in areas with colder winters, some gardeners grow them outdoors as summer annuals.

However, keep in mind that since this species originates in a humid, tropical habitat, this variety would be more suited to outside use in Florida than in Arizona.

Prayer plants are nontoxic for both kids and pets, making them safe choices for households with curious children and fur babies.

How to Grow

Stromanthe ‘Triostar’ will grace your home with gorgeous eye-catching foliage if you provide it with the care it prefers. Here’s what you need to know:

Choosing a Specimen

Make sure you get off to a good start by choosing a healthy specimen. Look for one that has no yellowing or brown leaves, and inspect for signs of pests and disease.

Also, check to see that the houseplant is growing in a pot with drainage holes, and is planted in peaty soil to help with water retention.

Light

Ideally, provide your plant with medium indirect light. A little direct sun in the early morning is okay, but avoid hot sun from noon to evening.

Placing your houseplant a few feet from an eastern-facing window should provide the plant with the amount of light it needs.

If your main source of light is a south- or west-facing window, make sure to scoot the ‘Triostar’ back several feet.

Avoid placing it directly on a windowsill and note that in low-light conditions it may lose some of its variegation.

Soil

This stromanthe prefers slightly acidic soil that is rich and peaty.

I like to make my own blend for these houseplants – I use one part coconut coir and one part De La Tank’s Houseplant Mix.

This blend provides a good balance between water retention and drainage.

De La Tank’s Houseplant Mix

De La Tank Potting Mix is available at Arbico Organics in a variety of package sizes.

Prococo Cocopeat Block

And if you need a source for coconut coir, you can find a 10-pound compressed block from Prococo, also available at Arbico Organics.

Temperature

‘Triostar’ can survive temperatures down to freezing (32°F), though its foliage will be killed back.

Rather than pushing it to its limits, try to keep it in the temperature range it prefers – a comfortable 65 to 80°F.

Avoid setting it in a location where it will be exposed to cold drafts or hot, blowing air.

Like all prayer plants, this one is sensitive to temperature fluctuations which can cause the leaves to turn brown.

Water

S. thalia ‘Triostar’ likes to have moist but not soggy soil, so you don’t want to let it dry out much at all.

Although many sources recommend watering ‘Triostar’ as soon as the soil is dry to the touch, when planted in a peaty growing medium, it can be hard to gauge this.

You can use a moisture meter to help guide you.

If your plant has started to wilt or has stopped the daily lowering and raising of its leaves, you have waited too long between waterings.

During winter, you can decrease the frequency of watering.

Like the other prayer plants, ‘Triostar’ is sensitive to contaminants that are frequently found in tap water, so provide rainwater, distilled water, or filtered water instead.

Water deeply, until the liquid runs out of the drainage holes to give it a good soaking.

You may also want to try a method called bottom watering.

Although you’ll want to err on the side of overwatering rather than underwatering, it is possible to damage them with too much water.

Humidity

Triostars require humidity above 50 percent. Indoor heating during winter significantly reduces humidity levels, even in humid climates.

12. Makoyana

Goeppertia makoyana is a prayer plant from eastern Brazil that is also called “peacock plant.”

It seems that somebody, somewhere decided its foliage looked like the flashy feathers of a peacock, and the name stuck.

This species has glossy, oval-shaped leaves – the tops are creamy with medium green leaf margins, and darker green splotches radiating from the midvein.

Its other common name – which I personally find much more convincing – is “cathedral windows.”

This vivid moniker is inspired by the semi-translucent appearance of the leaves: when viewed from the underside, light shines through the leaves, revealing the same pattern on the leaf bottoms, but in purple instead of green.

Before the great calathea reclassification of 2012, this species was known as C. makoyana, and is often still described as such by vendors.

Cathedral windows exhibits a growth habit that is more upright than spreading, and can reach up to two feet tall and about one foot wide.

In 1993, this species won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in the ornamentals category.

You can find C. makoyana in a six-inch pot from American Plant Exchange via Amazon.

Learn about growing peacock plants here.

13. Orbifolia

Goeppertia orbifolia has broad, round leaves that are boldly striped in silver and light to dark green, with pale green undersides.

This stunning species, native to eastern Brazil, was formerly classified as Calathea orbifolia.

One of the larger prayer plants in this list, G. orbifolia can grow to be three feet tall with a three-foot spread.

This species performs well with slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil.

14. Ornata

Goeppertia ornata, or “pinstripe plant” as it’s also called, has dark green, elliptical, pointed leaves with thin, pinkish white stripes.

Pinstripe plant is also known as Calathea ornata and G. ornata majestica. It is native to southeast Columbia and southwest Venezuela.

Pinstripe plant has an upright growth habit. It can reach two to three feet tall with a two- to three-foot spread.

G. ornata is tolerant of slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil.

You can find G. ornata plants available from Fast Growing Trees.

Learn more about growing the pinstripe prayer plant here.

‘Beauty Star’ is a cultivated variety that has pointed, elliptical leaves which are light green with darker margins, dark green centers, and thin creamy pink stripes “painted” on the leaves.

Compared to the species plant, ‘Beauty Star’ has patches of lighter green behind its creamy pink stripes.

Because of the reclassification, make sure to look for this prayer plant as ‘Beauty Star’ calathea if you’re struggling to locate it.

With an upright habit, ‘Beauty Star’ can grow up to 12 to 18 inches in height with an equal spread.

15. Roseopicta

The species name for G. roseopicta means “rose-painted” – but that description, as well as the common name, “rose-painted calathea,” don’t really do justice to everything that’s going on with the pattern on its foliage.

As well as a feathery cream or pink outline on the oval-shaped leaves, there are wide, dark and light green stripes, a bright pink midrib, and wide emerald green margins.

And as new leaves are produced, their purple undersides are displayed.

This species is native to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and is also known as Calathea roseopicta and C. illustrus.

G. roseopicta grows to be 12 to 18 inches tall and has a one-foot spread.

This beautiful species won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 2002.

‘Dottie’ is a cultivated variety that has dark green, oval leaves appearing almost black in color, with thin, feathery pink leaf outlines and pink midribs, and undersides that are red to dark purple.

It is still often called rose-painted calathea ‘Dottie,’ and Calathea roseopicta ‘Dottie.’

‘Dottie’ will reach 12 to 18 inches in height with a 12- to 18-inch spread.

‘Rosy’ has large, rounded leaves that have blackish green margins surrounding an interior that is silvery mauve to bright fuchsia in color, with pink undersides.