Meet the magical moving leaves of the Maranta.

Native habitat

Tropical Central and South America, and the West Indies. It's a tropical plant.

Light and position in the home

Marantas need bright light, but dislike direct sunlight. The brighter the light, the brighter the colours in the leaves will become, but direct sun will burn the leaves. The Maranta is a low, spreading plant which will grow horizontally across a surface. It is slow-growing so you don't have to worry about changing the pot.

Temperature

Marantas thrive if they are exposed to a constant temperature of 18-23 degrees, but they do not like draughts or sudden changes in temperature.

Watering 

Keep soil moist, and do not allow the soil to dry out. Water at least once a week.

Flowering, blooms and leaves

The beauty of the Maranta is in the colour and design of the leaves, but these plants do occasionally produce flowers. The flowers take a lot of energy for the plant to create, so if you see blooms appearing, remove them before they bloom, to encourage your plant to focus its energy on producing big, bright leaves.

Did you know?

The leaves on the Maranta move down during the day and raise up at night, as if in prayer, hence the nickname for this plant 'Prayer Plant'.

Why I chose this plant

A Maranta, or Prayer Plant, was one of the first plants I ever owned. I absolutely adore the striking pinkness of the leaves, not to mention how easy it is to care for.

When I first got a Maranta, I was a little freaked out by the way the leaves move on a daily basis. During the day, I thought my Maranta was drooping and thirsty, because the leaves were pointing downwards, but I soon realised that this is just part of the unique way the leaves move up and down according to the light levels.

🌱 Feeling the Maranta love? You can get your own maranta right here! 🌱

And if you're on the lookout for more botanical beauties (and let's face it, who isn't?), we have just the thing for you in our online plant boutique.