My prayer plant, very suddenly, without any change (no recent repotting, has lived in that spot for almost two years, no change to watering habit), suddenly started withering away. I put some cinnamon on the soil and see that’s it’s dry (I always watered from the bottom). It went in the bin today but I’d love to know if anyone can troubleshoot…before I purchase my next victim 🤣
by PsychopathicMunchkin
20 Comments
I am assuming you put cinnamon on top due to mold growth? If that’s the case, by the time mold is even visible, it has already spread throughout the soil. Not necessarily going to kill it, but will affect it. It also looks like it may have died due to a lack of water. There is NO h2O inside of those leaves.
Maybe it was because of the position where it was and the lack of light.
I actually think it was overwatering. When overwatered over some time the roots die off which can lead to the plant not having enough healthy roots left to drink enough for the entire plant. This usually shows by the plant drying out from the stem closest to the soil outwards while underwatering usually shows by all the leaves curling at the same time
Prayer plants can be dramatic, but they don’t like to dry out. The soil looks very dry here.
The prayer plant is quite easy, less is more with water.
I’d definitely cut some of the leaves and see if you can propagate them. They easily grow roots in water.
Is that cinnamon? Plant didn’t die all of the sudden. It seems it has been struggling for a while
Op, this is lack of water due to overwatering-rotten roots don’t absorb anymore. I have this exact issue, so I’m in the chop and prop phase yet again. Next time I’m going to switch up the growing material, using some soil, but also larger chunks of bark(they hold moisture but don’t stay waterlogged) and perlite for drainage and aeration. For now, what you can do with this one is chop and prop, and then pot up the prop when its roots get big enough. Good luck!!
You didn’t pray enough
Don’t put cinnamon near roots, it desiccates them and draws out water
1. Your pot is way too small for a root system for this type/size of plant.
2. The overhanging stems get strangled for water as the leaves put more weight on the stem – the better the growth, the more severe the strangle!
3. The amount of soil doesn’t promote healthy growth, and as a result..
4. Root rot. Stagnated water = stagnated growth and bacterial/algal/fungal growth that will quickly kill off a house plant.
Someone sneezed
Not enough praying!
Chop and prop. I repotted mine and I could tell within a couple hours that the shock was going to get it if I didn’t intervene, so I cut it up into four pieces and put it in some water (she was down to one vine anyways) and all four cuttings perked right up in like an hour.
Watering… maybe also no light on top of the soil??
Well the roots were probably rotten but the plant wasn’t dead, you could very easily have propagated and have a full plant again in a few months. Maranta cuttings root very easily, next time give it a try before putting it in the bin.
Looks like it was overwatered. Watering frequency must depend on the temperature and sun exposure. It needs less watering during winter or rainy days. Also that soil looks too compact which means it holds too much water which caused the water logging. If it was having molds, then probably the soil was constantly wet or moist.
Did you pray?
You probably overwatered, but it might be because you underwatered!! I had a prayer plant that looked similar. I think it’s a frustrating plant because it was SO fussy. It likes just the right amount of watering. If you cut it all back it might restart: mine did.
They just hate living